There once was a math teacher who taught three different preps. She had an out-of-date textbook and a district scope and sequence as her materials, and the internet of course. She loved teaching math and literally jumped for joy when her kids had those “light bulb” moments. So she wasn’t satisfied with just anything on the internet.
It was problematic.
The easy thing to do was to just find something, anything to use as teaching materials. But, she also really cared about her students enjoying math and learning that they too can be “math people.”
So she would spend hours scouring the internet, modifying resources to meet the standards and constantly “tweaking” things.
It was a time-consuming process that took away from other valuable responsibilities she had as a teacher.
But those days when the kids were “getting it” and saying things like “this is so easy” made it worth it!
I now use the videos for students to complete the handouts and practice while I can meet with small groups to supplement with skill building related to the handouts. Accountability has been shifted to students to use the videos for instruction and to take responsibility for their own learning. I am more of a facilitator, helping them “get it”.
It has saved me so much time with planning and I can spend more time at home with my family. I teach 6th through 8th and algebra 1 so it normally takes a long time to plan. Everything is cohesive and helps transition from year to year. The videos are also wonderful. I use them in one of my classes as a flipped classroom. I also use the videos for when students are absent and it helps them to not get behind. I am so grateful that I am able to use this curriculum.
Math doesn’t have to be taught from an out-of-date textbook.
Math doesn’t have to be boring or stale.
Math can be hands-on, cooperative, and student-centered. Students can enjoy learning the content, make real-world connections, and build their math foundation with the right materials.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could utilize resources from a trusted source?
Or even the reassurance that all of the standards are represented in the curriculum?
Standards-based math resources are no longer difficult to find or hard to come by. You won’t spend precious time modifying something to “make it work” or reinventing the wheel so that it meets the standards.
The Sunday Scaries are a real thing, but they don’t have to be.
When your lessons are laid out and ready-to-go, it takes a huge weight off your shoulders.
You can actually look forward to the week because you are prepared and rested. It is possible to leave your classroom on Friday afternoon without a bag of work to take home or a pile of papers to grade.
Scaffolding math concepts in a progression from basic to complex
Organizing your scope and sequence in a way that makes sense for STUDENTS
Drawing students into the content with collaborative activities
As former classroom teachers, we understand how teaching is a giant juggling act! You are doing your best to keep from dropping the ball and we want to help lighten your load.
To ensure vertical alignment and create a cohesive content base, unit overviews are provided to give you a foundational understanding of where students are and where they need to go.
Each unit offers teacher tips that address engagement ideas or common misconceptions to streamline your planning. The included pacing guides provide a reference of how to implement the various resources.
The guided notes provide visuals and scaffold the concepts in such a way that students refer back to them — a teacher’s dream! Real-life application and problem solving strategies have been incorporated throughout the units to ensure that your students can apply the concepts.
Short instructional videos that are aligned to the student handouts allow for flexibility in classroom structure — use them for at home support and extra review, as support for when you are out, or in a blended learning environment.
Teaching slides are included to mirror the student handout materials, optimizing sizing and spacing so that teachers can project and annotate the content in their classroom.
Each unit includes at least six hands-on activities to support cooperative learning, higher-level thinking skills, and student practice in a fun way! Teachers have commented that they love hearing their students using academic language and justifying their reasoning.
Digital activities allow for interactive practice for use with Google Slides and PowerPoint. The corresponding exit tickets are a great way to formatively assess students.
Two meaningful projects per grade level are intended to deepen students’ knowledge while encouraging creativity and inquiry. These exploratory projects allow students to experience mathematical concepts in everyday life.
Each unit includes at least one editable quiz and an editable unit test. This allows you to customize the unit assessments to meet the needs of your students. Perhaps you would like to reduce the number of questions or answer choices for an IEP or 504 plan, or maybe you want to offer a pre-assessment prior to teaching the unit. The editable assessments provide you the opportunity to make these customizations.
These quizzes and unit tests are also available in Google Forms™ to ease the grading burden.
New to 2023-2024: Two additional PDF versions of the unit tests have been created with corresponding questions to ensure that the same concept is assessed at an equal level of difficulty. These can be used as a pre-assessment or re-test as needed.
“I just wanted to email you and thank you and your team for all you do! This year my 8th grade math team and I used your entire curriculum and we saw scores that we have never seen before (93% passing)! I work at a low income Title 1 school where majority of my kids came to me hating math and over half did not pass the STAAR test the year before. I seriously believe that because of your materials my students started to actually enjoy math. I personally used almost everything in the curriculum and my students grew this year more than I could have imagined! Every student but 1 passed the STAAR test this year and this is coming from the same group of students who came to me with less than half passing during 7th grade!
I just want to say THANK YOU! You have a truly made a difference in not only my teaching but many others on my campus as well!!”
“I am one that looks at the kids that fail and forget to celebrate the kids that succeed…I’m a little driven. Over half of my 67 8th grade on-level students (I also teach the Algebra) have never passed a STAAR Math Test. Only 17 of the 67 passed last year’s STAAR Test. Scores came in Friday. I had 46 pass the first go around. I had 6 kids get commended. Five missed passing by one question. The other two teachers at our school were at that level of success as well. One of my fellow teachers had a kid that had NEVER passed a Math STAAR Test get commended.
I want to say thank you for taking the time to do what you do for kids and teachers across Texas. We have hooked our 6th and 7th grade on your reviews. We are your town criers in as much as we have exposure to other Middle School teachers at conferences, etc…”
It is so simple to use and very printer friendly. My kids’ words every day are, “THIS IS SO EASY.” I am a first year teacher and this is the best purchase I have made my whole life. I seriously would have spent 1,000 dollars on this. It is that valuable to me. Thank you for creating this and also a big thank you to the MTM team!
We got our state test scores in AZ…drum roll please… 20 points higher passing percentage than the district in 7th grade. This is my second year using MTM and both years my kids learned so much!!
I have loved having a resource that is ready to go, hits all the points I would want to cover if I were creating my own lessons, and saves me SO much time. The curriculum and materials are logical, to-the-point, and attractive, and the supplemental activities are engaging and we’ve been able to use them in lots of fun ways. My biggest win is the time I’ve gained back trying to create lessons and piece together materials from TPT.
This was the best resource for a first year teacher. I found it super helpful, because I was worried of what or how to go about teaching math to my students. I know that I can ask my colleagues in my department to help but MTM was so helpful! I was able to understand how to teach my students to where they understand as well it helped me mentally to prepare what we are going over in the classroom. I feel the biggest win was definitely how open the material is and how easy it is to access the materials.
A license to use the resources is renewed each year
A license to use the resources is renewed each year
Our school licensing is calculated per teacher per content area. It is based on the number of teachers utilizing the resources, not the number of students in each section. Click the button below to learn more and request a quote.
Maneuvering the Middle currently offers alignment for both TEKS and CCSS.
In September 2023, All Access by Maneuvering the Middle was reviewed for alignment to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills by an independent curriculum review service, Learning List. After the standard-by-standard review of our curricula’s alignment to content, context, and cognitive rigor, All Access received 100% alignment in all four grade levels.
Student-friendly guided notes that are scaffolded and ready to use. Visuals present the concepts in such a way that students refer back to them — a teacher’s dream! Real-life application and problem solving strategies have been incorporated throughout the units to ensure that your students can apply the concepts.
Hands-on and collaborative activities to practice the concepts. Scavenger hunts, find it and fix it activities, puzzles, and cut and pastes are some of the ways we have incorporated different grouping structures and made math fun!
Teacher planning resources to streamline your prep! Practical and ready to go.
Engaging and high-quality practice designed for use with Google Slides + Google Forms. No more drill and kill online!
These resources are supplemental and can provide students the opportunity to review previously taught concepts, receive additional practice, or act as homework, test reviews and alternative assignments.
Higher-level thinking questions that promote analyzing and synthesizing the content.
Professional quality student video library aligned to our MTM curriculum.
Did you have a student out and need them to get caught up? Is a student struggling and needs some additional help? Considering making your classroom more self-paced? Do you have a parent asking for additional resources?
The flexible and easy-to-share videos will take one more thing off your list!
Two meaningful projects intended to deepen students’ knowledge while encouraging creativity and inquiry.
A complete and organized review of the grade-level standards — flexible so you can meet your students’ needs.
A word wall including 190 middle school math terms and their definitions formatted to easily display in the classroom as a strategic visual for essential vocabulary. A Spanish translated version is included, too!
Maneuvering the Middle began as a solution to a need. A need to have standards-aligned resources that empowered teachers and engaged students!
Other materials were lacking – not fully aligned to the standards, dry and repetitive, missing true scaffolding that students need.
Almost a decade later, Maneuvering the Middle strives to empower teachers through high-quality math resources, so that math is both engaging and attainable for kids.
Maneuvering the Middle resources are designed to be attainable for students, standards-based in design, rich in real-world application, and flexible in implementation. Thousands of teachers across the country use our resources and we are constantly working to improve them for you and your students!
This is a full curriculum that is designed to meet all the grade level standards. Many teachers and schools use this as their primary curriculum.
However, it can also be used to supplement other required curriculum by providing interactive activities, student videos, and scaffolded guided notes.
Yes, we are thrilled to share what we have been working on this year.
Coming on or before August 3, 2023 to active All Access members:
To read additional details about the resources, click here.
Our units are designed to function independently of each other. You may need to pull from different units depending on the scope and sequence you are asked to follow. We encourage you to take a look at the units and standards to ensure that they will work with your district required calendar.
Our Standards Reference Guide Google Sheet is searchable so you can easily locate all of the resources that will support each standard.
Has your state recently transitioned away from CCSS? Email our team to request a standards alignment guide to compare our CCSS curriculum with your state’s new standards.
In 2014, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics published a book, Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All. In Principles to Actions, NCTM sets forth a set of “strongly recommended, research-informed actions for all teachers, coaches, and specialists in mathematics; all school and district administrators; and all educational leaders and policymakers.”
Though Maneuvering the Middle has not conducted a formal study, we design our materials to support the NCTM Principles to Actions. Please review the NCTM Principles to Actions and feel free to reach out to our team for additional information.
We would be happy to send you a sample to help you determine if our resources are a good fit! Please complete this contact form, specifying the state you live in, and which resources you are interested in.
Yes, we work with schools regularly! If you are wanting to purchase with school funds, we offer a different license with additional features for administrators to accommodate for staffing changes. Click here to learn more about our school and district licensing.
This membership includes a license for ONE teacher and their students. Please purchase the appropriate number of licenses through our Schools Accounts, if you plan to use All Access with your team.
MTM All Access is a recurring membership subscription. All subscriptions purchased from the shop at maneuveringthemiddle.com via personal credit card (not including school purchases) are set to auto renew annually. In order for a customer to cancel their subscription, a request must be submitted to Maneuvering the Middle® five (5) business days before the next billing cycle.
Should a Customer choose to cancel, Customer no longer has license to access or use the Maneuvering the Middle Resources.
Please see our full terms of use.