Teaching in the Middle Grades

          Regarding this week’s reading from AMLE This We Believe, it talked a lot about school culture. One of the aspects of school culture that the text talked about is having a school climate in which there is limited harassment and positive interactions. One way in which the book stated this is when teachers and staff talk to each other in a respectful manner, staff and other administration call students by name, and the way in which students interact while in school. The text also talked about the idea of advisors meeting the needs of every student. The text mentioned that advisors for students can look like someone who is not necessarily a teacher, but a volunteer at a local business, retired teachers, and coaches, etc. It was particularly encouraging to read that advisors would be the person who recognizes behavioral changes in students from their spending time with the student. That advisor would report to the teacher or counselor and action would take ...

          For this week, there were two articles that were assigned for reading. The first article, Food For Thought on Differentiated Instruction and 3 Ways to Plan for Diverse Learners. In the first article, I thought that it was important as to how it stated what differentiated instruction is and is not. It is NOT individualized instruction, which is what I thought differentiated meant. However, it was rather that differentiation means that a teacher makes time for a whole group, small group, and work with individual students. The teacher does different things for the whole classroom rather than 30 individual students. The first article also talked about flexible grouping meaning that teachers pair students of all different strengths in a group together. This is not putting one student in the same group with the same skill leveled students, but rather, giving them more opportunities to work with students who may have one strength that they are not as strong i...

          For reading the AMLE This We Believe Book this week, it talked a lot about the role of leaders in a school setting. There were quite a few things that stood out while reading. I particularly liked how the reading stated that good school leaders ask for input from parents and students about how to better the school and receive input. I thought that was a great idea. It seems so simple, yet, I do not think that is implemented enough. When I was in school, I or my peers were never asked about our opinions or what we would change or improve. Students were never incorporated into school decisions that were made. I am not certain if my parents were asked either. I am not necessarily blaming my school for that, but I think the school would have looked a lot different if student input was actually asked for. I was also shocked to read about how many roles that principals of school districts really have. The text talked a lot about how school principals determi...

          With this week’s reading, the pages from AMLE This We Believe talked a lot about different ways in which middle grades educators can help students learn. Page 13 describes four essential attributes in helping middle schoolers achieve. They are developmentally response, challenging, empowering, and equitable. Out of all of these attributes, the goal of equitable stands out. This goal is to help ensure that every student has the right to learn whether that be challenging yet relevant learning opportunities for every student. This relates to a specific time in my middle school experience with spanish class. I was having a difficult time test taking and remembering the vocabulary. Rather than my teacher simply thinking that I “wasn’t trying hard enough” she provided me with a word bank for every test. This was a way in which my teacher helped challenge me yet provided me with a learning accommodation that fit my needs. The reading talked about different as...

Within this week’s reading, there was a lot that stood out within This We Believe. One thing that I appreciated was how the introduction of the book stated that it is quite difficult to find a curriculum or unit that fits all middle schoolers needs. This is because each middle school student, between the ages of 10-15 experience such dramatic changes within their bodies. I think this is important to state for future middle school teachers; I don’t think that it is stated enough. The textbook also talked about how important it is to teach students the love of learning, not just in finding the answers (4). I think that all teachers can get stuck in trying to get students to learn how to test to get the correct answers rather than truly loving learning. This makes me think that it is difficult for students to learn when they are already dealing with a higher demand of independence and responsibility, as well as their own personal changes. There was a particular passage in the text on pa...