Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 15

This chapter, like chapter 9 of Turning Points 2000, is about involving parents in the classroom. However, this chapter is more about how to actually do this than the importance of doing it. There are many simple ways to get parents involved, such as sending newsletters and questionnaires to parents. Wormeli also writes about websites that function as "Homework Hotlines." These websites help parents stay in the know about what their children are doing and allow them to help their children better.

In my experience, I think a homework help website would have been very beneficial. There were many times where I needed homework help and my parents had no clue how they could help me. I think some resources for my parents and me would have made homework time less stressful for everyone involved.

Turning Points 2000 Chapter 9

This chapter is all about involving parents in the lives of students and in the school community. The authors say that it is very important to involve parents, especially in this time of life where students are both pushing parents away and craving their attention. This can be as simple as sending newsletters to parents, and as complex as having student led conferences with parents. Either way, it is important to make sure parent care and are aware of what is going on in school

In my middle school experience, my parents were moderately involved in my school life. They would occasionally chaperone field trips and would attend student led conferences. I think that it was nice for me to know that my parents cared about what was happening at school. This helped motivate me to keep up on my school work and do well. It is always nice knowing that your parents are paying attention, and I believe that this would help motivate students who are struggling, as well.

Boys and Girl Learn Differently

I think this group did a really good job with a really tough book. The book clearly had some very controversial points that the group disagreed with, which I know would be difficult to have to teach to us. I think it's great that they were able to intertwine their own opinions, the author's opinions, and even the rest of our opinions.

Personally, I didn't agree with most of the points of the book. For example, one of the big topics we talked about was uniforms and dress codes. I believe that dress codes are unnecessary and do nothing to actually fix the problem. I think dress codes are a product of a misogynist culture where females are expected to change themselves to benefit males. Why should a girl have to change her clothes so that males aren't distracted by them? Why are we not teaching boys to respect girls and not view them as sexual objects? I think that dress codes are intrinsically linked to rape culture and victim blaming, as it sends the message that boy's behavior is the fault of girl's, not of the boys themselves.

While I didn't read this book, I just feel like the general theme of the book was to enforce gender stereotypes, although it feels like they were also trying to say to break them. This is very contradictory and confusing. While the book did have some good points, I think in general is perpetuated negative gender stereotypes for both males and females and didn't consider issues such as transgender students, gender fluid students, or non-binary students.

Turning Points 2000 Chapters 4 and 7

Chapter 4

This chapter discussed one of the most important parts of middle school: allowing students to succeed academically. Specifically, the chapter is about designing instruction that will improve learning in students. A major part of this, as we have learned time and time again, is to differentiate the instruction. Everyone learns differently, meaning that we must teach everyone in a way that suits their learning style. I think this is especially important at the middle level because, as the title of the book states, it is a "turning point" in a child's education. If they have a positive experience in school at this age, they will be more likely to carry on with success and excitement to learn in high school and even college. While the models of differentiated instruction and WHERE were already familiar to me prior to this reading, I enjoyed reading about authentic instruction. I like that one of the emphasises with this model is that the content we teach should have value beyond school. I think teaching content that is actually useful beyond school helps motivate students to learn and makes it so we always have an answer when they ask "When am I ever going to use this?"

Chapter 8

This chapter is about creating a healthy school environment. As one of the end goals of middle education, according to Turning Points, is to create healthy students, the health of the school is also important. While I don't necessarily agree that it is a teacher's job, or frankly, any of our business, to involve ourselves in a student's health, I do think that creating a safe and positive environment is crucial. One point that the authors make is that students should be guaranteed to be and feel safe in school. I completely agree with this, and see that this includes controlling bullying and harassment from other students. Many students may not even feel safe at home, so making school at least one place where they are comfortable should be a priority. The text states that this includes strict and consistent policies against things like bullying and techniques such as mediation could also be involved. I also think that teaching mediation to middle school students would be a great skill for them to have for the future and would teach them how to compromise and work out problems in a peaceful and organized manner.

Whole New Mind Response

Although I missed this book talk presentation due to illness, I was actually already familiar with this book. During my practicum experience, my mentor teacher was using Whole New Mind in his freshman humanities class. The students had to do a project where they researched a career that they were interested in and applied elements from the book to that career. During this time, I briefly looked over the book and I saw how students were using it in their projects; however, I didn't get a chance to fully read it.

Looking over the powerpoint from the presentation helped to clear up what the book is about, such as that it talks about the myth of being only left brained or right brained and is more about how to use the whole mind. The powerpoint shows me that the book talks about different ways of thinking and what one can do to practice that kind of thinking. Knowing these different types of thinking and what kind of activities go along with them would help a teacher in differentiating their lessons.

I also decided to take the quiz that was included in the powerpoint that is supposed to determine if I am right brained or left brained, even though that is a misconception. I found this quiz to be really interesting because the questions were very different than other quizzes of this type that I have taken. However, I thought it was a great idea to include this quiz within the powerpoint presentation to break it up and create some conversation and even a bit of movement with the questions asked.

Meet Me in the Middle Ch. 7 Synthesis and Links

Chapter 7 focuses on differentiated instruction, a concept that we are all very familiar with and supportive of due to it being covered so extensively in Practicum. However, while this chapter did provide a lot of review for most of us, there were some new concepts and ideas that many of us mentioned in our blogs.

One thing that this chapter expanded on is, not just what differentiated instruction is, but how to actually apply it and what is and is not differentiated instruction. For example, the author makes a point that differentiating does not mean adjusting how much work students do depending on their skill levels, it is about adjusting the work to meet the needs of each student. The chapter also outlined skills that will help teachers use differentiated instruction in their classroom, such as being risk takers, organized, empathetic, flexible, and resourceful, as well as using humor. Here are some more resources that may help you better understand differentiation, as well.

With all of these details given, many of us wrote about our concerns with differentiated instruction. Many of us expressed that we feel that we know what it is and are familiar with the skills and strategies given, but have no experience actually using it in the classroom. This can be daunting, since we all know how important it is and that it requires a lot of skill to determine the needs of students and how to meet these needs. This video follows a new teacher who is trying to improve on her differentiated instruction.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapters 6,7,8

Chapter 6

In Chapter 6, Wormeli addressed the issue of accountability and how it relates to several parts of teaching. First, he writes about ways to use accountability to encourage students to produce quality work. One of these options is to tell students that their work will be displayed somewhere that their peers or other teachers will see it. I think that this would encourage students to put time into their work, as they would be concerned about what others think of them. I think a better way to get students to put effort into their work would be to have a real audience for what they are producing. That way they see a purpose and it is not just scaring them into doing well by forcing them to face the judgement of their peers.

           

One thing I found questionable in this chapter was the section about using accountability to control student behavior. In theory, I think this would work. However, something about filming students and forcing them to watch themselves or having their parents sit with them in class just seems cruel and embarrassing. I do not think accountability means embarrassing and shaming students into doing what we want them to do.

Chapter 7

I feel like I have already learned so much about differentiated instruction throughout this class and Practicum, but this chapter did give some new insight into the practice and how it related to Middle Education. One point that I found interesting is that middle school students are all over the place when it comes to their level of development. While this is still somewhat true in High School, I feel like there can be huge differences in middle school settings. I think this issue is something that really needs to be considered when differentiating for a middle school classroom.

            

Another good point Wormeli makes about differentiating is that it does not just mean adding or taking away the amount of work, it means changing up the complexity and difficulty of work. For example, Wormeli writes, “Requiring gifted students to complete more of the same type of problem that they have already mastered is a recipe for boredom or rebellion.” I think this quote perfectly illustrates why teachers should not differentiate by adding or removing quantity.

Chapter 8

Assessment is another topic that I feel like is highly focused on in Practicum, but this chapter actually addressed some of the problems I have with this type of assessment. For example, it makes the point that—while some assessment ideas proposed may seem light, fluffy, and easy—if you really consider all of the knowledge, time, and skill needed for the project, you will see that is really is a fair assessment.

However, as an English concentration, I have some concern with how many of these projects move away from writing. I think teaching writing is extremely important, and having students practice this writing whenever they can is ideal. If there are not any writing assignments for, for example, books we have read, I feel like the students will be missing out on practicing and learning and important form of writing. While I understand that there can be separate units on writing, I also feel like incorporating writing assignments into other topics is also quite important as an English teacher.

Student Oriented Curriculum

Upon hearing the title of this book, I thought that there was no way that it could be interesting. It just sounded so dry. However, I am actually very interested in this book and would like to read it. I have never even considered running a classroom in this way, but I think it really makes sense. If students have a say in what they're doing, it totally makes sense that they will be more interested and invested in their work. While I do still have some concerns about this, such as if teachers would be able to meet necessary standards, I think that reading the book would help me see that these concerns may not be valid. I think I have a much clearer idea of what student-oriented curriculum actually is now: previously I just thought it was designing lessons to suit the needs of students. However, I now see that it is allowing students to take control and actually design the unit themselves. After all, who knows the student's needs better than the students themselves?

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 3

I thought that this chapter was basically about using multiple intelligences and differentiated instruction in the classroom and how important it is in a middle school setting. However, the chapter also touched on how memory works—it is important to move information from working memory to long term memory. To do this, students can use chunking, which is basically storing a lot of little details to help recall something. Something I found interesting in this chapter is that using emotions in teaching can help adolescents learn. This makes a lot of sense since this age group, and people in general, are very emotionally charged. I think that people can identify with emotions because they are a common human experience. People will always pay more attention and learn better when there is something they can relate to—we are often told to try to incorporate student interesting into our teaching—so it makes sense that emotions will help information stick in their minds.

Another thing in this chapter I found interesting was the idea to change the order of what is taught in the classroom. Since studies show that students remember most what is taught first, an idea is to put the most important information at the very beginning of the period. The author points out that the first fifteen minutes of class are typically consumed by matters such as announcements and attendance. This means that it would be necessary to restructure the way the class works.

Meet Me in the Middle Ch. 4 and 13

These chapters discuss how to get students involved in different kinds of learning experiences, with emphasis on suiting the needs of naturalist and kinesthetic learners. Chapter 4 offers many idea of how to incorporate physical activity in the classroom in ways that are simple and can be used in many different lessons and disciplines. For example, one of the suggestions is to just simply place the turn in box in a space where students will have to get up to get to. Another suggestion was to have students stretch every 30 minutes. These ideas are simple, but can make a big difference for some students for whom sitting is exhausting.  

Chapter 13 focuses on a naturalist perspective, mainly bringing students on outdoor field trips or overnight camping trips. I think that there are a lot of things that can be learned out on trips like this that cannot be learned in a classroom—not necessarily things that we plan to teach, but unexpected experiences that students will remember and learn from. I went on a few outdoor field trips when I was in middle school and I remember enjoying them and learning from them, as well as bonding with other students in my team. I never had the opportunity to go on an overnight camping trip but I think that—for those students who choose to participate—it would be a good bonding and educational experience. However, I do not think that all students would enjoy an overnight camping trip and smaller day trips would be more beneficial for the students as a whole.

Turning Points 2000 Chapter 3

This chapter was all about standards, backward design, and assessment. It was very reminiscent of what we learned in practicum, so it seemed like a bit of a review for me. However, this book has a lot of information about what makes a good, effective standard. There is a large list that begins on page 35 that outlines what makes a good standard. I thought this list was very helpful. I really agreed with some of the suggestions on the list, and found that many of them do not seem to fit the standards we are currently using, such as “brief” and “useful and clear.” I do think that the current standards are moderately easy to use to design and guide lessons with, but could use some reform to meet all of the items on the list.

One concept that the chapter talked about that I liked is “authentic assessments.” These assessments show student learning and understanding better than traditional testing because they are complex, creative, and reflective. I think these assessments, especially the reflective piece, would help wrap up a unit much more than a test—which is more of an abrupt end to the unit. I also think it is better to encourage students to be problem solvers and create projects that require them to use their creativity because it relates better to real life. As adults, students will very rarely have to take a test, but will often have to show their knowledge in other ways and use creative problem solving.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 9

Chapter 9 of Meet Me in the Middle focuses on the benefits of block scheduling and how to effectively plan for block scheduling. I never looked at having fewer, longer class periods to be a good thing. I always thought that students would have too short of attention spans to really get a lot out of a long class period. Personally, I have trouble focusing during long classes so I assumed this problem would be even worse for early adolescents. However, this chapters shows me that if the teacher plans effectively, students should be able to learn and stay focused in these long periods.

There are actually many benefits to having a longer class period that I had never considered. One benefit to having fewer, longer class periods a week rather than many, short class periods is that less time is wasted with transitions and getting settled. Another benefit is allowing for increased wait time, allowing students to really think and reflect before forming answers. While these benefits seem small, they are actually quite important and can help to shape a positive classroom experience. A larger benefit that I had not considered was the ability to bring in guest speakers, other teachers, or have student presentation in class. Including a variety of people and activities into a long class will help students stay engaged and actually learn the material. With longer class periods, students have better opportunity to actually master material, rather than just be introduced to it.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapters 11 and 12

These chapters of Meet Me in the Middle discuss the team system and advisory programs. The section on teams made me realize why teams are effective in middle school and important to have. While I did have and enjoy teams in my middle school, I had never thought about why middle schools are structured in this way. This book notes that teams allow there to be more communication between teachers, such as coordinating homework load and due dates. I think this is really beneficial for middle school aged students because they are just learning how to deal with larger assignments and more homework. As teachers are able to coordinate, it keeps students from having many large projects due on one day, meaning that students will be able to produce their best work and not be stressed.

Chapter 12 discusses advisory programs. We had advisory groups in my middle school, but it simply served at a homeroom where we would convene at the end of the day to get announcements and to be dismissed. This chapter suggests that there should be more bonding happening within the advisory group. Students should participate in trips and activities that will help them build relationships with both their peers and their teacher. The book mentions that this way, there is a teacher who can advocate and has a relationship with each students. I would like to teach in a school that does advisory this way, as it seems to be beneficial for students.

This We Believe

Pages 1-26

These pages of This We Believe, lay out the basic keys to educating students at the middle level. This book expands on topics that were introduced in Turning Points 2000, such as the importance of taking into account the development that young adolescents experience. As mentioned in Turning Points 2000, early adolescence is when humans experience the most rapid development since infancy. However, This We Believe mentions all of the different areas in which they develop (physical, intellectual, moral, psychological, social-emotional) and how it is important to keep all of these needs in mind when educating at the middle level. I like that the book seems to somewhat base its ideas around these areas of development, because if a child does not successfully develop in these areas it can negatively affect them for the rest of their lives. Another point that I found to be very true in my experiences is the importance of middle school students being able to explore. The book discusses the importance of programs such as art, music, theater, and athletics. The book states that, for example, just because a student might not ever become a professional actor does not mean they should not try acting in a play. It states that if students are not taught to explore interests at this age, they may end up being “needlessly restricted” in the future. As I was fairly reclusive and scared to try new things in middle school, I now wish that I did explore my interests and find something to be passionate about at that age. As a teacher, I hope that I will be able to encourage my students to explore their options and interests, especially at this age.

Pages 27-33

These pages discuss the importance of the principal in creating a healthy middle school environment. It says that principals should be very knowledgeable and passionate about the age group of 10-15. He/she should also be very involved with the students and an active member of the school community. Reflecting upon my own middle school experience, I think this is one area where my school did very poorly. Our principal did not do well at building relationships with students and was really only ever seen looming the halls in the mornings and afternoons. While the vice principal was slightly more involved with the students, he was also usually only ever seen standing around in the hallway or for disciplinary reasons. In high school, the principal was better at building relationships with students, so I have seen how powerful this can be. I think having a principal who knows you and is friendly and caring would be very beneficial for a middle school student.         

Something explained in these pages that my middle school did well was creating teams. The teams in my school were typically made up of two teachers: one who taught English and social studies, the other science and math. Occasionally there were three teachers to a team, and occasionally some students had to go to a different team for math classes to be in the level that was right for them. In my school, the teams were named after colleges. For example, in eighth grade I was in the Yale team. I enjoyed having these teams because it allowed me to get to know my classmates and be more comfortable with them. I feel like I would enjoy teaching in this way because it would allow for a lot of collaboration and communication between teachers.

Pages 33-42

These pages discuss many ways to improve the atmosphere of a middle school. One suggestion is that the middle school is “attractive, inviting, clean, and structurally sound.” I found it interesting that this was mentioned. I would not consider my middle school to meet those standards. It is an old, outdated building that is broken up into two buildings and has some classes in portables. I think that the poor infrastructure of the school does affect the learning environment and makes it harder to learn. While this is true, I found it interesting that the book mentions this as it is mostly out of the control of teachers. Most schools just do not have the funding to be as nice as they should be. However, I think if all middle schools were able to be attractive and inviting, it would be clear from the start that the middle school has a caring environment.

I also found the section about including guidance counselors in advisory programs to be an interesting approach. In my middle school, seeing the guidance counselor was not something anybody would do unless they were forced to. There was a stigma surrounding going to see the guidance counselor that really repelled students from doing so. I think that if guidance counselors were regularly incorporated into student life, this stigma would not be as prevalent, as the counselors would be part of everyday life for students. If students had the opportunity to get to know counselors, they would have yet another adult they could go to and feel comfortable with in times of need. Counselors can also provide extra support where teachers may need help, such as transitioning students in and out of middle school.

Pages 43-62

These pages cover a wide array of topics, from the research behind the ideas presented in This We Believe to specific ways to address different kinds of development. In the section about the research, the authors write that curriculum should be “as diverse, varied, and lively as the students themselves.” I really liked this quote and thought it was a great way to explain the concepts of differentiation and multiple learning styles while emphasizing that the students should be the most important part of the classroom and learning should be tailored to meet their needs and styles. This section goes on to present some research about how educators have done this. One example that I found interesting was the study from Gutstein, E about “teaching and learning mathematics for social justice.” I would never be able to think of a way to connect math to social justice, but these educators were able to find a link that made math relevant and interesting to the students.

In the section about developmental needs of students at this age, I was very glad that the book mentioned that middle school students are “prone to risky dieting practices in order to lose or gain weight.” As I have family members who struggle with eating disorders, I think it is really important to start education and prevention of eating disorders at the middle school level because this is when students start to develop a significant dip in self-esteem. I think that, while it is important to teach about healthy eating, it is also important to teach students to learn to love and accept themselves as they are and to take care of their mental health, as well as their bodies.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapters 1 and 2

In the first two chapters of Meet Me in the Middle, Rick Wormeli writes about how to build student-teacher relationships and how to create a healthy classroom environment as a middle school teacher. Although I have learned about these topics in previous education classes, this book explains them specifically in regards to middle school and early adolescence. In chapter 1, Wormeli writes about how important attitude is in teaching middle school students because it is hard for this age group to separate the attitude from the teacher themselves—to them “the teacher is the attitude.” Wormeli goes on to explain the different between teachers with a low ego, those who put their students before themselves, than teachers with a high ego, those who put themselves before their students. I found this concept to be very interesting and to be something that I personally would like to improve upon now that I have had classroom experience in Practicum. While I do not consider myself to have a high ego, I do think I could improve upon considering my student’s needs before my own, as during my in field experience in my Practicum I often let my own insecurities and fears of embarrassing myself stop me from helping students as much as I could have. Wormeli writes about something else I would like to improve upon in chapter 2: creating a warm, welcoming environment with the way I interact with students. Wormeli writes about the importance of a balance between being an authority figure and being friendly and casual with students. I believe that having this balance is crucial in creating healthy relationships with students and is something I would really like to master.

Turning Points 2000 Chapters 1 and 2

The first two chapters of this text are outline the original Turning Points system that this book is based on. The original system had 8 basic principles to improving middle schools. These principles are outlined on page 2 and include standards such as dividing large middle schools into smaller communities, reorganizing schools to ensure success for all students, promoting good health, and involving families and the community in schooling. While schools that utilized the original Turning Points system showed notable improvements in test scores, there are still many improvements to be made, as well as many middle schools (notably in poor, urban areas) that are slipping through the cracks. In order to continue change and growth in the area of middle education, the original Turning Points system was adapted and expanded to bring learning to the 21st century. These new principles are explored in Turning Points 2000 by Anthony W. Jackson and Gayle A. Davis. It is important that we pay special attention to middle level education, rather than grouping it with either elementary or secondary levels. This is due to the age group of middle school students: early adolescence. Early adolescence is a time of great change and growth for students—academically, socially, mentally, and physically. Due to puberty, early adolescence is “when growth and development is more rapid than during any other development stage except that of infancy” (7). Middle school is a time of great change and also of great risk, as students are being introduced to sexual relationships, drugs, and alcohol. As students learn to tackle these new challenges, as well as social and academic pressures, early adolescence is said to be a time that is crucial in determining how that student behaves in high school and beyond.