Chapter 9: Planning for Block Scheduling

Chapter 9: Planning for Block Scheduling
This chapter dealt with trying to help teachers effectively plan out an eighty minute class which is common when in a block schedule. The chapter outlines important parts of forming a good lesson plan for you class. It starts off by making sure that you focus on your objectives, namely the things that you want your students to be able to do once the class is finished. For instance, if you are teaching a class on fractions, an objective could be for students to understand the two parts of a fraction. The chapter also talks about the importance of both formative assessment, assessment on progress, and summative assessment, can the students do the work, and do they understand the materials. A more interesting topic that is brought up at the very end is how to deal with student absences. It is difficult for a student to make up work when he or she misses a class in a block schedule because the class meets every other day. The chapter offers a couple suggestions to this problem; one is to start off each class with a review of the previous class information; another idea is to have teachers stay after school two or three times a week; or another one is to have one day a week where there is no block schedule, and every class meets that day.
Most of the information covered in this chapter I already had covered in practicum. Things such as the importance of backwards planning, or planning that starts with what you want your students to learn, the need to do both formative and summative assessment, and making sure that your lessons connect with students through their interests and their learning styles. Backwards planning is great because it helps the teacher realize what the big picture ideas and concepts are and then it is easier to plan instruction in order to reach those goals. The one thing that I did not completely agree with was how the argument was for block scheduling and against “all classes every day”. My high school did not use a block schedule, so I had six classes every day and was responsible for six classes worth of homework on a given night. It was a lot of work and it was hard at times to deal with, but I felt it prepared me for college more than a block schedule would. Obviously, the block will prepare you for how college is set up from a schedule standpoint, but I don’t think that it really helps to prepare you for the work load. Once I have the chance to teach in a block schedule, I might have changed my mind on what schedule is more effective.

Chapter 12: Teacher Advisories - A Proposal for Change

Chapter 12: Teacher Advisories – A Proposal for Change
This chapter was about creating a successful advisory committee. According to National Middle School Association’s Research Summary #9, an advisory program “is when one adult interacts with a small group of students on a regular basis to provide a caring environment for academic guidance and support” (pg. 146). Most people would assume that an advisory committee would be something similar to a guidance councilor, and in a way it is, but the example in the book is of the teacher taking his advisees out on a nature hike. It is a good way to get to know students, what they want to do in life, and find out ways that you could maybe help them reach those goals. It also serves as a chance to improve the community because you could take your students out into the area and maybe work at a food pantry or help out at a local daycare. It also talks about how these trips can help students who might not be the greatest academic students shine in other ways.
I was glad to read about this sort of thing and actually see it work out correctly. When I was in practicum, I was sent to Mount Blue High School, and they did use the advisory committee concept. Unfortunately, the mentor that I had did not take it very serious – in fact, a couple times a week the students would come in and all he would do would be to read their grades, out loud, and then tell the students who were doing poorly to get their act together. Once that was done, he would ask if anyone wants “any kind of advice” and when no one said anything he told them they could leave. The sad thing was that these kids really needed help and could have really used someone who would sit there and listen to them, but it was just not happening. I understand that it took place at the high school level, but I don’t think it should be any different. Students should still get the opportunity to get advice. If the administration knew that few teachers really did anything with it, I think they would have just scrapped it and used the time for something else.

Chapter 11: Teaming

Chapter 11: Teaming
This chapter talked about how to effectively team teach at the middle school level. It starts out with a story about a girl named Umber, who is now living in the United States after moving from Pakistan. Umber has some difficulty with English and history because it is heavy in English, and she has not fully grasped the language. The story shows how the entire middle school team met with Umber’s mother to talk about ways to help her succeed in school; most importantly, the teachers talked amongst themselves about ways to shorten assignments or spread out deadlines so that she could get her work accomplished. The chapter also talks about the importance of making the information being covered in school relevant to the students. One of the ways that the book suggests to do so is by collaborating with the rest of the team to try and cover similar topics at the same time – this way, students can see how a given topic, like genetics, can be linked to subjects other than science. Lastly, the chapter speaks about the importance of having team planning times to work on the collaborative units, and the importance of communication. Without good communication, the teachers will not be able to work together to form lessons and the work will then suffer.
I liked the story at the beginning because I felt that it served two purposes; on one hand it shows different ways to differentiate instruction to help your students get the work done, but on the other hand it also showed how collaboration and team work takes place amongst middle school team members. I am a firm believer of the importance of making the information relevant to the students, so I think that when ever you can make real-world applications out of topics then your students will understand more and do better in school. I think that there would be little chance that the teachers could have helped Umber if it were not for the fact that the school must have been smaller and not one of the massive 2,000-plus student schools; this also shows how important it is for smaller class sizes and more individualized attention. I am looking forward to working with my classmates on our unit because I think it will be fun to put something together and get to listen to people from different backgrounds and subjects.

Chapter 6: Organizing Relationships for Learning

Chapter 6: Organizing Relationships for Learning
In this chapter, the focus is placed on how to build an effective middle school. The chapter looked at things from a strictly structural view, from a student’s view, and from a teacher’s view. When it comes to the actual physical structure of the school, the chapter suggests small schools that have no more than 600 students should be the norm; those students should be teamed with roughly five teachers so that the overall numbers are about 125 students and five teachers. The chapter does suggest that for larger schools it might be wise to break the school into houses or communities in order to reduce the student-to-teacher ratio for better learning. From a student’s view, the chapter discusses how it is vital for students to be able to develop close, meaningful relationships with their peers and their teachers – according to their findings, it shows that students who have those solid relationships do much better in school. The other suggestion, which deals with the relationships, is to have both the same teachers and students stick together for many years in order to build a good, working relationship. The chapter also had suggestions for teachers. They mentioned the importance of matching teachers based on their learning styles and personalities when forming teaching teams; this is meant to make sure that the team can agree and work together.

After reading this chapter, I had to agree with the suggestions made by the Turning Points group. I totally agree that the schools should be kept small in order to reduce class sizes and help students get the attention that they need. By shrinking class size, teachers will have a better chance of getting to know all of their students and be able to tailor their lessons to suit each student. This method will also help students and teachers have better relationships, which is vital to the success of the whole middle school. From a teaching standpoint, I know that I would much rather be teamed with other teachers who I can get along with and want to collaborate with. If the teachers like each other than I think more work will get done; if more work gets done then there is a much greater likelihood that the students will succeed.

Turning Points 2000: Chapter 1 synthesis

Chapter 1: Turning Points: A Decade Later

Abstract:
The opening chapter discusses in detail what the Turning Points document/model is and the reasons why it needs to be implemented in schools. The list consisted of eight points: create smaller communities, core of common knowledge, organized to ensure success, that teachers and principals need to have a major responsibility and power, staff your school with expert teachers, promote good health, structural change, and it is crucial to get together and synthesize the lessons learned with most current research. This list was formed in the early 1990s and was then implemented in schools across the country; looking at the research and data, the schools who made changes to the system had markedly increased scores in reading, writing, and math. The chapter also talks in great details about the problems that middle school students are going through these days such as: teen pregnancy, teen STDs, and drugs. These are all major problems that teachers need to deal with on a daily basis. The chapter also does a great job of point out how middle school students are going through a period of great change whether it is biological, psychological, or social. The chapter leaves the reader with a sense that middle schools and middle school students have been neglected and much more focus must be placed on their growth and achievements.

Reflection:
One of the overwhelming themes of people’s reflections was that they learned quite a bit about middle schools in general. I got the sense that more than a couple people would be more interested in teaching middle school after reading this chapter. Many people acknowledged that the middle school years are one of, if not the most important, time in a kids life; at this stage, they are rapidly changing physically and emotionally yet they are completely capable of learning a great deal of information while dealing with all these “issues”. The vast majority of people commented that the Turning Points ideas were great and should be implemented in all schools because they are “cheap” changes, which benefit poorer schools, and because Turning Points has a track record of success. There were a couple people who agreed with the Points but wanted to also mention that there needs to be a fundamental shift across all schools – they mentioned that just making these changes are not enough; the teachers and administrators have to change their held beliefs on certain issues, namely whether or not EVERY student can learn, in order for the program to work. I also thought it was very interesting that many people brought up the idea of breaking the schools into communities either because they have heard how great that works or because they had those communities when they went to middle school. I think that is something we should definitely look at as a class when we are designing our middle school.

Chapter 17: The Truth about Middle School Students

Chapter 17: The Truth about Middle School Students
This chapter was very much about Rick sharing the positive aspects of middle school students; his goal was to dispel any “false” statements that some people may make about adolescent children. He also talks in great detail about how, in most cases, only the negatives are talked about. Rick talks about how people focus on “teen sex, or STDs”; they seem to always talk about all of the negative aspects. He takes painstaking steps to help drive out those notions and to make sure that people focus on thing such as “this student sang at the Kennedy Center” or “this student raised $22,000 for the diabetes foundation”. He does a good job of this by sharing quotes from his “graffiti wall” that he had built in his classroom. The “wall” was a section of the room with blank sheets of paper on it; the students were told they could write anything up on the wall as long as it was ok for your “mother, grandmother, or fellow students could take and would not offend anyone”.

Before reading this chapter, I often thought of many middle school students as immature and excessively talkative – this comes from some bad experiences dealing with middle school students. After reading this chapter, I have a very different opinion of middle school students; I thought that all of the quotes his students wrote about were brilliant, witty, or just flat out funny. I had to agree with him when he said that he often hires middle school students to babysit for his kids because they always want to make people happy and are in constant need for reassurance. I remember being in middle school and it was very important to make sure that you did the things so you could fit in. I think it has to do with paranoia of the age – middle school kids think everyone is watching them at all times; sometimes that makes teaching easier because they think you’ll see everything they are doing at a given time. I feel like many people out there should read this book because they would develop a different opinion of both middle school students and teachers.

Chapter 2: Motivating Young Adolescents

Chapter 2: Motivating Young Adolescents
Motivation is key to any person, situation, and it is necessary to be successful; motivation for middle school students is no exception. In this chapter, Rick talks a lot about the ways a teacher can motivate students such as proving that you love the subject you are teaching; making things fun for students; and being able to relate the information to their everyday lives. I think that any teacher will admit that if their students are not interested in the materials then they will not bother to even try and learn. Another very important part of the chapter is his discussion about how a safe environment is indeed necessary for students so that they can produce the best work and feel comfortable enough to talk out in class. If the students do not feel safe or comfortable enough to speak then they will be hesitant to do the work, and you may have a very quite classroom. It is important to remember not to make comments about students because sometimes what you view as a joke ends up being misconstrued, and the student takes it as an insult.

This chapter stood out to me because I am very interested in coaching and a major aspect of being a good coach is to manage to get your athletes motivated; I feel that teaching is no different. I also agreed with Rick on the notion of a safe environment for the students. I can speak from personal experience, if I do not feel comfortable in a classroom then I will most likely not speak at all; mind you, I am twenty-one years old, and if I won’t speak in a college class because of that then I cannot imagine a middle school student wanting to speak in a class that makes him or her feel uncomfortable. I was also happy that he spoke about some many of the concepts and ideas that we used in practicum, such as differentiated instruction, multiple intelligences, and reading strategies. When you finally realize as a teacher that school isn’t about you but about the students then I think you will be the most successful. If you can put our ego aside and focus on making sure that the student are learning then you will be a good teacher.

Chapter 1: Stroking the Fires Within

Chapter 1: Stroking the Fires Within
This chapter was quite interesting because Rick Wormeli talked about the joys of teaching middle school, how to teach middle school, and most importantly to be very proud of your job. Rick talked a lot about how great it is to teach middle school because the students really want to learn, and you can have such a great time working with them. He talks about how students will joke with him or give him a slap on the back when things go well or even rest their heads on his shoulder when he reviews their work. I thought a great part of the chapter was when he talked about how it is vitally important to just listen to your students; too many teachers want to just do their job and leave instead of sitting there and listening to their students when they need things or just need a person to listen to them. Rick also spoke a lot about how important teaching is as a profession, and how we should all remember that we have a worthy profession. He talks a lot about how some people think teachers are only the “rejects” that couldn’t get a better job – sadly, for their sake, I hope their kids get good teachers in life.

In the end, I thought the beginning was the best because he spoke about how important it is to teach students – too many people think that teaching is an easy job that takes little effort, but that really is not true. It is also important for teachers to not be afraid to admit what their occupation is. After reading the first chapter, I got more interested in teaching middle school because he makes it sound like such a great job. When he describes his students, you can truly realize that they actually want to be there in school, and actually enjoy him as a teacher and as a person – I think that in high school you can run into students who don’t really want to be there or who really do not like you; that can be quite depressing and frustrating. I’m looking forward to the other chapters; maybe he will completely win me over for the middle school job.

Chapter 2

Turning Points 2000 Chapter Two
The big over-arching theme of chapter two is the notion that schools should work to create safe learning environments and help to create “well-rounded” students who are life-long learners. What is vitally important to take away from the Turning Points idea and platform is the notion that this structure is meant to help change the lives of ALL students, not just most of them; schools should not try to help the wealthy over the poor or try to help the white over the black students – schooling is meant for every student no matter what they look like or where they come from. The sooner we realize that the better everyone will be. Two other points in the chapter that stood out to me were the notions of a healthy environment and of doing the job correctly. It is vital to have a safe and healthy environment for students or else they will dislike going to school, will not open up to their peers or teachers, and will be miserable; the obvious result is that they will just not show up to school. It has to be a safe and fun place and, when that happens, students will greatly enjoy going to school. The other important thing is that if you are going to make changes then you better do them in full instead of “half-assed” so that the things do change and make school a better place for kids.

I agreed with everything that the chapter spoke about, but I especially agreed with the line “staff middle grades schools with teachers who are expert at teaching young adolescents”; I think that a major problem with our schools today is that the people being hired to teacher either are just not good at it, don’t want to really do it, or were trained so poorly that they couldn’t be a good teacher if they tried. I am of the mindset that too many teacher education programs continually pass students through the system so that they can keep up a reputation or because they so desperately need the tuition money – this does nothing except ruin the lives of the students that these teachers will eventually go teach. I really think that the programs need to be more strict on who they allow in and spend time throughout the year checking up on students to make sure they are not drinking excessively or using drugs. Teachers have to want to teach or else they will not make their students want to learn because, like wolves, students “smell” fear and can sense when a teacher does not want to be there. I am all in favor for more accountability for teachers so that we can hopefully adopt these items from Turning Points and refurbish our education system here in the United States.

Chapter 1

Turning Points 2000 Chapter One

I thought that chapter one laid down the groundwork for not only the importance of middle grades education but also showed not only the ways to change the schools but also how to interpret and understand the changes. As the chapter points out, the United States Educational system is in a bit of disrepair given the problems with tests scores in reading, writing, and most glaringly math. I also felt that the book talked about the need for adequate funding but it also hinted at the notion that some things cannot be solved by money but instead fixed by broad changes. The chapter also does a good job of also explaining and pointing out the fact that these problems affect all students but especially those students who are from lower SES levels or are minorities – I feel like that is one topic that gets overshadowed here because of the lack of diversity at the college and in the surrounding areas.

After reading the chapter, I really began to think about how the middle school years are usually the ones where students are most interested in learning and want to come to school – then you reach the high school level, and students try to do everything that they can to avoid school and work. I also felt that one area of concern that many students and educators either do not know about or flat-out ignore is that being an adolescent is a tough “job”. As the book points out, an adolescent’s body changes more than any other time, other than infancy, and students are faced with new emotions (such as love and lust) along with seeming incredibly uncomfortable in their own skin. I think in order for teachers to effectively teach their middle grades students they need to know about these things and make sure that they can make adjustments to emotions and other things in their classrooms. If a student freaks out and starts to cry or gets really angry, the teacher should be able to handle the situation and just talk to the student. Overall, the only way for the system to get better is for more money, that is directed to the right places, and for teachers, students, and parents to want more out of their kids and to want to strive to be the best; unless there is a shift in society’s view on school then it will take a while to adjust or make any changes to a broken system.