Megan Reynolds

Megan Reynolds

I am a teacher & designer. Connecting with students & seeing them enjoy learning is my favorite feeling on earth! I hope you enjoy this article!

8th Grade Transition Time Choice Board Tutorial for Teachers

Build your own Transition Time Choice Board for 8th Grade in minutes! Keep kids engaged & learning using these tactics & templates
To use a choice board in your 8th Grade Classroom during Transition Time you will need to create the Transition Time choices (there are lots of examples), organize the classroom, and have a goal;

Time-saving, differentiation, and dynamic classroom management are my favorite reasons to use a choice board!

Integrating choices every day you will need to hone in on the best way to apply 8th Grade Transition Time choice boards to your classroom style!

Here are a few ideas and instructions on choices, classroom management and getting buy-in from your8th Graders

Ideas & Examples of Great 8th Grade Transition Time Choices

Create a Digital Vision Board
Create a digital vision board using a collage of images & words in a doc or app like Canva that represents your goals & dreams. Think about what inspires you!
Write a "My Future Self" Letter
Write a letter to your future self. Imagine your life in 5 years. What are your dreams? What advice would you give? Seal it and open it in high school graduation!
Craft a Personal Time Capsule Essay
Write an essay about your life now, including your hobbies, dreams, and favorite things. Imagine opening it in 10 years. What do you want to remember?
Design a Dream Career Poster
Create a poster showing your dream job! Include the job title, what you’d do, where you’d work, why you love it, and any cool facts. Add pictures and colors to make it pop!
Create a Personal Goal Mind Map
Draw a big goal in the center of your paper. Branch out with lines to smaller goals that help achieve the big one. Add steps to reach each small goal. Get creative!
Compose a "Day in My Dream Job" Story
Imagine being a video game designer. Start by brainstorming a game idea, then sketch characters and levels. Learn coding basics to bring your game to life. Test it with friends, fix bugs, and enjoy watching others play your creation!
Plan a Community Service Project
Create a book drive! Collect gently-used books from friends & neighbors. Donate them to a local library or school in need. Help spread the joy of reading!
Develop a Personal Budget Plan
Create a simple budget: List your money from allowance/jobs as “income.” Write down what you spend on snacks, games, etc., as “expenses.” Subtract expenses from income to save or find ways to cut costs.
Map Your Education Pathway
Map Your Education Pathway: Outline your future! List your interests, pick high school classes that match, and explore careers they lead to. Dream big and plan steps!

Using a Choice Board to Differentiate Transition Time in a 8th Grade Classroom

Keep It Simple

Everyone “teacher & student” should know exactly what they are doing. If you don’t make it even easier! 

Differential Instruction vs Saving time?

There is nothing more irritating than “Saving Time” with a Choice Board & ending up with “More work!”.  Are you using this to hit standards or save time or both? 

"Self Guided" or "instruction-based"?

If you giving out work, should they do it on their own or are these more instructions for each choice?

General rule, if the grade is > 3 there is more work per choice.

FREE Blank Fillable & Custom Choice Board

All ages, all grades where you need 9 grid choice board. Start loving learning again! 

How To Manage Your 8th Grade Classroom During Transition Time (With a Choice Board)

I find its easiest to use a big board at the front of the classroom where all students can see the choices  then decide what they want to do

This often will be coming in from a break or transition between subjects. 

If you can get all students to know whats expected during a choice activity it becomes one-hundred times easier to manage the class & have everyone know what choices they have!  

There are three core steps you have to hit when using a Choice Board; 

1) The Set Up
2) 
The Instruction 
3) The Q+A 

1) The Set Up

Select your choices, decide on how you are going to use this time in your classroom. Build the choice board

1) The Instruction

Tell the students what they are going to be doing (this becomes easier over time) Simply start with 3 options & move from there. 

1) The Q & A

Does anyone have questions? This will help you or the next time. Remember the goal is to make this easier each time! 

Why Use A Choice Board?

So, let’s chat about choiceboards and why they’re like the coolest thing ever in your classroom. 

Picture this: kiddos bouncing into the room, eyes lighting up because they get to pick their own adventure in learning new words.

 It’s like a mini vocab party, and everyone’s invited!

We all have our own jam, right? Some of us are little artists, others are born performers, and some love to get lost in stories. Choice boards are like a buffet of fun learning snacks, so every munchkin finds something tasty that helps the vocab stick!

And here’s the kicker – when the little ones get to steer the ship, they turn into these mini captains of learning. They’re making the calls, and with every choice, they puff up a bit more with confidence. It’s a win-win – they’re learning and feeling like the boss at the same time.

Plus, for us teachers, it’s like having a secret helper in the room. We get to sprinkle in all sorts of activities that match our students’ levels and what makes their hearts tick. It’s like custom-making a learning playlist that gets every kid grooving to the vocab beat. How cool is that?