During these past few weeks of pre-student teaching , I have learned quite a bit about the classroom that I have been placed in. I have been reminded that teaching middle school students is not the easiest task. Students at this age are in the process of many changes: emotionally, physically, mentally, and socially. I remember like it was yesterday that awkward time in my journey of growing up so I still feel like I can relate in some way. Socially, students at this age are expected to be more independent and take care of themselves. For the first time, they feel like they have to please their friends and peers by acting and dressing a certain way and by doing things that they may not want to do. They desperately, more than anything, do not want to be embarrassed or made fun of so they will do anything they can to prevent this whether this means being the quiet student or the student who constantly makes trouble. Of course, this is not the reason that every student acts out or is quiet, but students this age do feel pressure that may cause them to act the way they do not want to. Mentally, middle school students are undergoing a brain transformation. According to the Society for Neuroscience, this transformation will not be complete until the early twenties! Most of the changes occur during the adolescent years. On top of that, they experience all of the physical changes that come with growing up. No wonder these students can get emotional and seem irrational; everything around them is changing as well as themselves!
In the classroom I have been placed, some students cause a bit of trouble and distractions during lessons. At first, I became apprehensive about my decision to teach middle school. Then I remembered what it was like to be that age. Of course, this is no excuse to disrupt class, but I did understand the pressures these students may face. I watched the teacher react to these students. Her manner was calm, yet her tone was assertive. She told the student what he or she was doing and calmly stated the consequences for the action. She was mostly effective with this technique. This reassured me, yet these incidences also reminded me why I want to teach. I asked the teacher why she wanted to teach middle school students. She smiled and told me that it was their lively spirit and they give her a challenge and a feeling that she is making a difference. I feel the same way!
Do any of you have any challenges in your classrooms? If so, how do you or your CT deal with them, and do you feel those challenges help you to make a difference? Please let me know!
* Article found at http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainBriefings_Adolescent_brain
I am really excited to hear more about your experiences working in a middle school classroom. It has been a long time since I have worked with that age level and I have forgotten how big the differences are between middle school and high school students.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that being said the students in your class seem to have something in common with the students I am working with: they are disruptive! I am working with Tier II sophomores, so their reading levels are well below where they should be for their age. They are very disruptive in class, and I have yet to figure out a really effective strategy for keeping them on task. I would love to hear more about what your teacher does with disruptive students and how she deals with those situations.
Personally, I think it is important to keep students quiet and focused when doing assignments. All it takes is for one student to be disruptive before the whole class is no longer paying attention. Also, I think seating charts help to keep the class more under control. Does your teacher use a seating chart in class?
I am exciting to hear more about her classroom management techniques and your experiences in a middle school classroom!
While reading your post I was reminded of my dad, who taught middle school for over 20 years. He always talked about the delicate age these students were at, also, and all the changes that were happening within them. Like Hannah said, a seating chart is an amazing tool for a teacher to have. I think it's beneficial even in high school, but especially with middle school it gives an extra dose of control that the class needs. That way if a student is having a problem focusing on the lesson due to who they're seated next to, it can be fixed by simply moving them elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteWhile I commend you for choosing middle school to teach, for there are many different challenges than high school, I have to say that I think you really will enjoy teaching that age group. In some ways, the naivety is still there. This isn't always true, of course, but I've noticed an extreme difference in the freshmen I observe with my CT and some of the older age groups. The students may be a little less mature, but they still seem to be dependent on really wanting you to like them. The freshmen seem to hold a sweetness that tapers off a little as they grow older and more independent. Not to say that the older groups aren't sweet, they just don't seem as needing of a figure to keep close to them, almost as a maternal figure. Anyways, that may be far off-base, but it's something I've noticed, and I look forward to reading more about your middle school kids. My dad always said that you have to stick to the rules with middle schoolers, no matter what, because any kind of leeway used with any student at any time ALWAYS is noticed and causes a raucous and a "why didn't you get him/her in trouble?!" from the students. Good luck!