Hi, there! I am Michelle Bozeman, the teacher-author behind Mixed-Up Files. After 23 years teaching grades 5-8, I retired from my classroom to work full-time writing curriculum resources.
With four kids at home and teaching multiple grades, sometimes up to seven preps, I struggled to find or create the materials needed for the amazing teacher I aspired to be.
Now I blog and sell resources online at Mixed-Up Files to share my work with other busy teachers. I would love to help you engage your students in a meaningful lesson and save you a few hours of planning at the same time!
My Teacher Life
When I began teaching in 1994, thematic units were the hottest teaching trend, we didn’t have standards or a curriculum guide, and innovative teachers searched for new ideas in a monthly Mailbox magazine (’cause the internet as we know it didn’t exist).
I started out teaching fifth grade “everything but PE!” and then moved to seventh-grade science for two years. Through a partnership between our school district and the city, I became the Education Director at a hands-on science center.
I even spent one year as a doctoral assistant teaching at the university level, but quickly decided that adolescents are my favorites.
For the next 15 years, I taught English and literature to sixth through eighth grade. Over that period, trends in education have come and gone. One thing that remains constant is the importance and challenge of engaging students in their daily learning.
My Values
As I develop new teaching resources (or polish up older ones), several factors are non-negotiable for me. These are the aspects of a lesson or unit that were important in my own classroom and that I strive to provide for you at Mixed-Up Files.
- Elements of student choice
- Standards-based
- Academic rigor
- Easy to differentiate
- Clear and complete teacher support
My Team
This is truly a family endeavor. I work from a home office (basically, I took over my husband’s storage building) in my back yard. The nature of creating digital resources also allows me to take the office, in the form of my laptop, on the road wherever we travel in our rv. Often, the back-to-school season finds me searching for a cell signal in a campground or on a mountainside.
As my children have grown up, I have enlisted their help, too. Doesn’t that always happen to teachers’ kids? My daughter, who is now a graphic designer, worked as an intern for a summer. We both learned from each other and loved that experience.
My sons, James and Josh, work part time in the Mixed-Up Files office. James specializes in photography and video design. Josh takes care of website maintenance and scheduling social media.
Boy is our resident office cat. He wandered up one day asking for snuggles and now is our biggest obstacle to productivity!
Contact Me
If you have ideas or suggestions for how we can improve a resource, I welcome your input. I’m also available to answer questions and will do my best to provide support or assistance within 24 hours.
You can reach me at
Email michelle@mixed-upfiles.com
or through the Contact Form on this website.
