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.