Mindset Presentation Reflection

I think that Laura and Lydia did a great job with their book talk presentation. One thing that I really enjoyed about it was the activities they chose to use throughout. Not only were there plenty to keep us engaged, but they really got us thinking. I thought the brain teaser in the beginning were interesting. Even though I did not do particularly well with the riddles it got me thinking about how I felt and how I responded when something didn't come easy to me. On top of feeling frustrated I would also say that I felt kind of anxious when I couldn't figure them out. As a I sat there reading them it was like I had a mental block and I wasn't able to solve any of them, meanwhile my classmates seemed to be solving some of them. Another part that I liked about Laura and Lydia's presentation was the fact that they gave a breakdown of actions of fixed and growth mindsets, then towards the end they gave us some examples of the application of growth mindset. Overall, I think this was a well thought out and well executed presentation. I was left with no questions by the end of the presentation.

Turning Points 2000 Chapter 9

Chapter 9 of Turning Points 2000 talks about how parent involvement in schools can help improve student learning, as well as how to get parents more involved in schools. It is proven that families that support their child’s learning tend to be more successful in school. Schools also benefit from parent involvement in their schools. One thing that I found interesting from this chapter was the data that was found regarding the involvement of parents in at higher levels. I think it is interesting that as students begin middle school and high school parents tend to become less involved. This change occurs because parents think it is important to allow their children to mature and advocate for themselves as they get older. Many parents also become less comfortable with the high level of work and as a result they tend to help their children less with homework. However, middle school and high school are the times when parents should be most involved. I think that in order for a young adolescent to learn how to be successful and disciplined in school and in life they need the support from their families. This chapter also suggested ways in which schools can increase parent involvement. One of those strategies involved teaming and splitting up family outreach. From personal experience from student teaching I can say that this strategy is very successful. You learn more about your students when you are in contact with their parents than you would ever learn about them normally.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 15

Similar to chapter 9 of Turning Point 2000, chapter 15 of Meet Me in the Middle discusses the importance of involving parents in the school community. The author starts off by explaining the resources that he has used to get parents involved in his classroom. One thing that stood out to me is that me points out that online tools are not only useful for parents and students who have been absent, but it is also useful for students with learning disabilities. I thought that this was interesting because I never really thought about using an online homework tool to accommodate a students with a learning disability. However, I think it is a great way to give extra time to respond to information and for processing information for students that need it. I also think that online homework tools are great for improving communication between parents, teachers, and students. As the author says in the chapter it eliminates the “he said, she said”. I think that better communication between parent and teachers gives students more support, but also encourages them to take more responsible when it comes to their school work. One of the other techniques to help get parents involved that stood out to me was the index card inquiries. I think it is a really neat idea to reach out to parents and ask them what they think their children need to be successful in school. Parents know their children better than anyone, so to gain their perspective on things is really important.

"A Whole New Mind" Book Talk Response

This presentation was very informative regarding how to incorporate the right brain into the classroom. I liked that Kally, Jordan, and Marissa began by giving a quick overview of the book. I was a good starting place and gave us as an audience an idea of where the presentation would be going. I also enjoyed the different quizzes and activities throughout. They really required you to think creatively to complete them. I think I enjoyed the drawing activity the most because they seemed like the most challenging and I loved the meaning behind the activity. I think it is so important to make connections to the real world and other subject areas when it comes to any content. I also liked the idea of making connections between topics that don't seem to go together. The only question that I had throughout the presentation was what purpose the story served in regards to the presentation. I was unaware that we would be revisiting it. So, that is my only suggestion for this presentation. I would have just made it clear that we would be revisiting the story later on so that it doesn't seem like there is a connection missing.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 7 Synthesis

Chapter 7 of Meet Me in the Middle discussed the topic of differentiated instruction in the classroom. This is a concept that many of us are familiar with, so it was interesting to see what each of us found important in this chapter. Many of us touched on the point that students have a multitude of interests, strengths, weakness, abilities, and experiences that they are bringing with them when they enter a classroom. Knowing that as a teacher you are responsible for engaging every single one of those students is definitely a daunting task. However, in many of the reflections I found that my peers found this chapter incredibly helpful in providing some strategies and advice to help them in the future. Some strategies that were discussed were using a variety of instructional strategies, giving students more choice on projects, using real world examples, and integrating the multiple intelligences throughout different lessons. In addition to the strategies, one of the key pieces of advice that most of us seemed to pick out from the chapter is that as an educator you need to be flexible. If students are struggling with assignments or are dealing with family issues, you as teacher need to be accommodating to those students. Many of my peers also found comfort in Wormeli admitting that he doesn't always teach the most engaging lessons, and sometimes lessons don’t always go as planned the first time. The important thing is that you are taking risks in your instructional strategies and you are differentiating your instruction throughout your lessons as much as they allow.

Turning Points 2000 Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of Turning Points 2000 discusses how to promote a healthy school environment for students. For schools this includes things like classroom management and discipline, and even helping students lead healthy lifestyles. The chapter began by addressing classroom management and discipline. One of the key factors to having a good discipline plan for your school is being consistent. I could not agree with this point more. I think it is incredibly important that all staff is responsible for consistent discipline. If not, students will start to determine which rules need to be followed and which ones might be okay to break. Another subject that was discussed in this chapter was conflict resolution. I found this section to be pretty interesting because it involved peer mediation. I have never heard of this concept before and I find it pretty intriguing. Part of me thinks that students may not take a responsibility like this very seriously, but the other part of me thinks that this could be a very powerful experiences for all students involved. I think that the students that become the mediators gain so very meaningful experience and skills that can be used later on in life. The last topic from the chapter that I want to touch on is school-based health services. I have actually done work in a school that offered this. At times it seemed inconvenient when a students was pulled out of class to go down to the dentist, but I also think that it is an amazing resource that they are offering to students and their families. Ultimately I think it keeps more engaged in the classroom because they are less likely to be sick or missing days of school to attend appointments.

Turning Points 2000 Chapter 4

Chapter 4 of Turning Points 2000 explains the process of designing instruction to better meet the needs of diverse groups of students. The chapter begins by laying out instruction’s key connections. Overall, instruction must connect to the curriculum, to the assessments that you will give students to evaluate their progress, and to the students themselves. A quote on page 65 concerning how to connect instruction to your students really jumped out at me. The quote reads, “teachers must also become students of their students”. I think this quote really explains how well teachers need to know their students in order to make their instruction meaningful and engaging. The chapter goes on to discuss a few methods of designing instruction. I am familiar with WHERE, but the one that I seemed to be most familiar with was differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction is really focused around the students, and how the teacher can cater to all students’ interests and needs. It made me pretty happy to read this section and see how much of this I was already doing in the classroom with students. However, one thing that stood out to me as something I would like to incorporate is the concept of having an anchor activity. I like the idea of having some free time to work with students independently that need extra help, without restricting those who don’t need as much assistance. Another thing that I noticed that came up a lot in this chapter was the idea of tracking. I liked that they stressed throughout the chapter that grouping strategies are okay as long as it does not mean the students stays there forever. Grouping must be fluid as students improve, and as the author says on page 91, “initial ability need not destine a student to permanent placement".

Student-Oriented Curriculum Book Talk

There were many strong points throughout Sarah and Drew's presentation. I enjoyed the fact that it was interactive and it gave us a chance to get up out of our seats and participate. I also learned a lot of valuable things about student-oriented curriculum. I learned that a lot of schools use weekly goal sheets at the beginning of the week and weekly evaluation sheet at the end. I think this is a great way to hold students accountable for their own work and progress. Another thing that I thought was strong in this presentation was that they provided some great resources that will be useful to all of us in the future. Finally, I think that it was interesting that Sarah and Drew connected their presentation back to Turning Points 2000. I thought that was a cool way to connect what they read about back to what we have been doing in class. If I had one piece of advice I think it would have been a time saver to have created multiple KWL boards for the beginning activity or to have utilized the white boards around the room. I think it would have minimized the wait time.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 8

Chapter 8 of Meet Me in the Middle talks about using effective assessments in the classroom. As I mentioned in my reflection for Chapter 6, differentiation is not just about making accommodations on assignments, but it is also about accommodating students’ needs on assessments. We all know that assessments are most commonly used to measure growth or what students may already know, but I thought the way that the author describes assessments in this chapter was powerful. The author suggests that “assessment should promote learning, not just measure it”. I like this idea because it implies that the student is not just attempting to regurgitate information, but they are able to learn something about themselves and their learning process. Another idea that stood out to me that the author brings up is focusing on essential knowledge. This is definitely key to creating good assessments. I often feel like teachers get caught up in small details they think their students should know, or worse they think they are challenging their students on assessments by giving them trick questions that do not really matter. Lastly, the importance of assessments being valid indicators of knowledge stood out to me. Although the author does not address this directly, this section made me think about how things like late work or participation weigh into grades. Overall I hold the same belief that assessments need to be a representation of what a students really knows about a given topic and they need to be fair and equal for all students.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 7

Chapter 7 of Meet Me in the Middle discusses differentiated instruction in the classroom, which is a subject that is very familiar. Differentiated instruction is the key to being a successful teacher and having successful students. According to the author differentiated instruction means that we meet the challenge of the student, or in other words we meet the student where they are at. This does not just mean differentiating assignments for students, but how you instruct and assess as well. There were a couple of ideas that the author discuss in this chapter that really stood out to me. The first is when he says that educators should always be looking at the reasons for our assignments and what we really expect students to get out of them. I could not agree more with this. Not only does this help teachers to avoid the usual question of why students are being as to do certain assignments, but it forces teachers to create more meaningful learning experiences for their students. The idea of varying instructional approaches stood out to me as well. This is something that I became very familiar with during my student teaching and actually became very good at. In fact, I was doing it without even noticing it. As a result of my varying approaches, I saw more engagement in the material and even less issues regarding behavior. If students know that you are going to find a way to teach the material in a way that makes sense to them, then they are going to give you their full attention.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 6

Chapter 6 of Meet Me in the Middle discussed student and teacher accountability. This is a concept that I find incredibly important because I think it is key to teach students how to be accountable for their own work and their own learning. I also think this is key concept for teachers to understand as well because, when we talk about accountability we are not just talking about students, but educators need to be held accountable as well. Teachers should be held to a high standard and held responsible for their work with students. Their goal is to challenge students, but also find a way to make sure that every student has the opportunity to learn. A few things that stood out to me in the conversation about holding students accountable was the concept of checkpoints, the concept of teachers creating bad habits, and risk-taking. I really like the idea of using checkpoints. This is something I have used with students and have even experienced as a student. I think it is a great way to help students stay on top of larger projects. The concept of teachers creating bad habits for students if a teacher is too relaxed about due dates also stood out to me. This is something that has happened to me as a student, and as a result it is something I strive not to do as a teacher. Finally, I loved the idea of risk-taking. I think all too often we tend to underestimate our students instead of holding them to a higher standard and asking them to take risks. It is definitely something that we as educators need to work on.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of Meet Me in the Middle is all about strategies on how to get students to remember important information and to develop reasoning skills. The two strategies that stood out to me about memory were chunking and emotions. Chunking a tool that I have used before with student that has proven very successful. I think this is a tool that many of us use without thinking about it, so to apply it in a school setting works well for students. I idea about emotions also stood out to me because I have never thought of that as way to help students retain information. However, it is clear that it could be a very powerful tool in the classroom. There were also some strategies regarding reasoning skills that I found very interesting and would consider using in my own classroom one day. I really liked the idea of giving students three different articles on the same current event and asking them to pull out differences. A big theme in studying social studies is understanding bias in certain texts, so this is a tool I will definitely be using in my classroom. The other strategy that I liked was posing a conflict that is relevant to your students’ lives and asking them to look at both sides of the argument. I like this idea because it involves topics that are important them and as a result they will be more engaged in the task. Lastly, I really liked the idea of having lateral-thinking problems for students to think about as a part of class or during their free time. I think it’s a great way to get students practicing their critical thinking skills.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 13

Chapter 13 of Meet Me in the Middle talked about taking student on outdoor adventures. The chapter outlines the many benefits to doing providing these times of learning experiences that include, getting students out of the classroom, gaining basic, yet powerful skills, and helping student see authority figures in a new light. The last of these benefits is the one that I found particularly interesting. It is clear that on outdoor adventures like the ones described in this chapter, students really develop a new sense of respect for their teachers as they are experiencing this adventure with them. The chapter goes on to discuss the many adventures that you as a teacher could take your students on. I am going to be honest and say that I have never considered taking students on overnight camping trips or multiple day excursions. However, this chapter has opened my eyes to the benefits of doing such a trip. Although a lot of these trips have to do with science, math, or basic survival skills, I still think that I would considering doing such a trip as a teacher. Two of the activities that I found interesting and would consider doing would be the Freedom Trail and the Civil War outdoor activities. Either of these adventures would be a great tool to use in a history classroom. I think they would be incredibly powerful learning experiences for students. The only thing that I would be worried about is finding the people and the resources to pull it off.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 4

Chapter 4 of Meet Me in the Middle was all about active learning inside and outside of the classroom. The chapter begins by bringing up the point that not only are young adolescents growing and need to be active, but being active can even result in deeper learning. I really enjoyed the story that the author tells about his student who just was not understanding ratios, so he took them outside to learning about them. I like how he framed the lesson around that one student, but in a way that didn’t make it obvious that he was the student that wasn’t getting it. Instead the lesson was turned into a meaningful experience for all the students in the class. The remainder of the chapter offered ideas for teachers to use to get their students more active in their classrooms. From that list of ideas there were a couple that really stood out to me. The first was having student actually get up out of their desks to pass papers in. It is so incredibly simple, yet it is so effective. I know this is something that I did with my freshman during student teaching, and it just gave them an opportunity to stand up move around, maybe even be goofy for a few seconds, before returning to their desks. The other idea that stood out to me was the carousel brainstorming. I did a similar activities during student teaching with my students and I thought my students really enjoyed them. Again, it gave them the opportunity to get out of their desks and work with the content in a different way.

Turning Points Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of Turning Points 2000 discusses the use of standards and the development of appropriate assessments. To begin, I really liked the idea behind standards being used as the basis of middle school curriculum. This idea is that standards support excellence and equity. What this means to me is that standards are meant to outline knowledge and skills that students should gain through a curriculum, but that they should also be achievable for every student in the school. This chapter also stresses the idea that academic standards should be useful and worded in a clear way. I think that this is incredibly important because students should be gaining knowledge and skills that are useful to them in real life situations. In addition, students should also be able to understand what the standard is asking them to be able to do, meaning they should be able to understand the standard as it is written. One concern that was brought up in this chapter when it comes to working with standards is covering material. I think that this is an important topic because this is something that every new teacher is concerned about, including myself. Like the book says teachers can get caught up going faster through material to try to cover as much as possible, while leaving students behind. However, I find it helpful that the texts suggests to prioritize what to teach based on what is most vital and least vital. For me this means that I have the ability to adapt my teaching and the learning sequence in my classroom to fit the needs of all students.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 11 Synthesis

Chapter 11 of Meet Me in the Middle discussed the benefits of grade level teaming in a middle school. As I read our reflective statements there were a few common topics that were prevalent throughout most statements. The first topic that was addressed by most of us was the benefit that teaming has for students. As most of us acknowledged in our statements, young adolescents are going through periods of transitions and changes in middle school. With teaming these students are provided with additional support that can individualized to their needs. In addition, teaming allows teachers to have discussions about upcoming assignments so that they are able to stagger due dates for large assignments. This is also a benefit to students, making it so they do not become too overwhelmed with school work on top of the physical, psychological, and emotional changes they are dealing with. We also addressed the benefits of teaming for teachers. Through teaming teachers are provided with a greater opportunity to communicate and plan units together. This allows for subject integration within the grade level team. Almost all of my classmates made the point that in the real world disciplines are not separate from each other, so students need to be given this opportunity to interact with an interdisciplinary curriculum. Another important point that was brought up around teaming is having core values. This is something that many of us found important to the structure of teaming. In order for a team to be successful and have vision they must have a common set of core values to drive them.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 9

Chapter 9 of Meet Me in the Middle talks about the benefits of block scheduling, as well as how a teacher can appropriately plan for that block of time. One major benefit of block scheduling that stood out to me is the ability to to better maintain the momentum of the learning. Block scheduling gives a teacher the opportunity to better pace their content, as well as integrate more learning objectives into a single lesson. For students block scheduling is a huge benefit because it allows the teacher to give more individual attention to the students who need it. In addition, it takes pressure off of students because they fewer classes each day. Another thing that stood out to me in this chapter is the suggestion the author makes on how to space out your time. He suggests that a teacher should always start with off with materials and methods that will get students engaged. Then, after students have finished a task is an appropriate time to focus on clerical duties. He also suggests to always save time at the end for reflection of the lesson. I like this idea of saving clerical duties for the middle of the lesson when students are already engaged in the material. Students will likely have an easier time transitioning back to the material after the clerical duties have been taken care of. The rest of the chapter outlined how a teacher might develop a lesson plan to fit a block of time. One thing that really stood out to me about this lesson plan is the instructional strategies that were used. I liked that it incorporated real life experiences like going to the store and picking out items to bring to the checkout to see if the calculations for sales tax were correct.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 12

Chapter 12 of Meet Me in the Middle discusses the idea of teacher advisories. Based on this chapter I learned that teacher advisories can be extremely beneficial for students when it comes to building relationships with peers and teachers. I enjoyed the story that the author told have his advisory trip, where students had an opportunity to see a side of their classmates that they had not seen before. It was clear that those students really valued the time that they spent on that trip. It also seemed like these students were able to apply knowledge and skills that they had learned in the classroom when they got stuck in a tough situation. This chapter made me reflect on my own high school advisory experience. At the time the advisory program was not very successful. I could see the struggle that was mentioned the chapter of working with a limited time block. We only allotted seven minutes every day to advisory and had an extended block every month or so. As students we all felt that we had developed a relationship with a teacher, but we did not feel like advisor was worthwhile in the end. I liked the idea of incorporating full-day experiences to make the time more valuable. I also enjoyed the suggested activities that were provided in the chapter. I personally like the idea of getting students involved in the community or doing social events with my students. These activities would be a great way to get students involved in their community and interacting with peers and staff.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 11

Chapter 11 of Meet Me in the Middle talks about the benefits of teaming for teachers and students. One of the benefits of teaming for students that is argued in this chapter is that teachers have more of an opportunity to make changes and individualized plans for students. This individualized attention for each student provides all students the opportunity to learn and to grow. Another benefit for students is that subjects can be integrated. Skills and subjects in the real world are not separate from each other. I believe that a major objective of education is to provide students with the skills to be successful throughout their life. A great way to do this is to ensure that teachers are implementing subject integration within their teams. On the other hand, a major benefit of teaming for teachers is that it allows them to set core values. Core values allows teachers to guide all decision making and chances that need to be made that will benefit students. It also allows teachers to promote a sense of community by celebrating team achievement and progress throughout the year. In addition, teaming allows teachers the opportunity to meet on a regular basis. As the chapter mentions it is important to have a planned subject to to discuss at each meeting, so time is used in a productive manner. I strongly believe that teaming provides teachers with opportunities to improve what they are teaching to students, and to learn more about their colleagues and their students.

This We Believe

This We Believe 1-26

Pages 1-26 in This We Believe discusses three topics regarding middle school education. The first is the importance of middle school education. Middle school students are unique and diverse in many different ways. Young adolescents not only go through physical and emotional changes that impact their educational experience, but society is constantly changing around them. These are changes that teachers must keep in mind when planning and implementing lessons. The second is the main goals of middle school education, which outlines 13 major goals. Two of the goals that stood out to me as being extremely important were students developing their strengths and talents, and students assuming responsibility for their actions. In order for students to be successful in the classroom, I believe it is incredibly important for them to be aware of their strengths and advocate for themselves. The third and final topic that is discussed in these pages are the attributes and characteristics of middle school education. One characteristic of middle level education is that students and teachers are engaged in learning. One quote that stood out to me on page 16 was that “successful middle grades practices purposefully empower young adolescents to assume this role, one that includes self-advocacy”. As mentioned above, I believe that self-advocating when it comes to one’s strengths and learning is key to being a successful student. I also agree with the idea that assignments and tasks must be challenging but achievable to students, and high expectations should be held for every student. This idea is key to keeping student engaged and motivated in the classroom.

This We Believe 27-33

Pages 27-33 in This We Believe discusses leadership and organizational structures within schools. The section begins by stressing the importance of having a shared vision.This shared vision should focus on promoting the learning and success of every student. It also stresses that school structures need a committed and knowledgeable leader to be successful. One thing that really stood out to me in the discussion of leadership was the statement on page 29 that “successful principals use the expertise of a variety of people…” In order to build an environment where everyone feels like that their opinions are valued, it is important that decision-making does not rely upon a single person. This is why I like the idea of teaming and having a leadership team that works alongside the administration. Another concept that stood out to me in this section was the idea of professional development programs that are based in a certain school. I like this idea because it makes professional development seem more relevant. From my experience with professional develop I find that many teachers find it boring and tedious because it often does not apply to the immediate need of the school they are working in. One thing that I am left curious about in this section is block scheduling. The section mentioned that during longer periods some students can be provided additional support and others can do other enrichment activities. I’m curious how this would work in the current middle school structure and how effective it would be for students.

This We Believe 33-42

Pages 33-42 of This We Believe discusses the middle school culture and environment. In addition, it also addresses how to get the parent and the community involved within the school community. One thing that is incredibly important to a safe school environment that is mentioned in these pages is how the members of the school address each other. Teachers and administrators should speak to each other with respect, and all staff should address students by their names. Students and staff should be able to feel like they can interact with each other comfortably. Another integral part of a middle school culture and environment is the idea of advocacy. I really like this idea of each student have an adult advocate within the school. This not only provides students with an adult that they trust in the school, but it allows them to set goals and to learn valuable skills. Equally important to a school is guidance and support services. These professionals use their knowledge to not only assist students, but to assist teachers and staff. Finally, the last thing that is addressed in these pages is how to involve families and community members. Involving families leads to higher levels of achievement for students and even less behavioral issues for many students. Getting families involved can be tricky, you always need to be sensitive to family structures and the local culture, but keeping that communication open is beneficial for all involved. On the other hand, involving the community in the learning process can be an incredible resource. It can provide students with a real life learning experience that they can’t get in the classroom.

This We Believe 43-62

This section of This We Believe takes the opportunity to reiterate the importance of providing an appropriate education for young adolescents. The section includes a call to action, which outlines ways in which an educator might begin to make some changes in their middle school. Also in this section is the research that was used to write and support this concept for middle school education. It is clear that a variety of sources have been used to develop a well rounded framework. The section ends by once again address the unique characteristics of young adolescents. I think it is important that they mentioned in this section that the importance or impact of a certain characteristic can different influences on different students. It is also noted that these characteristics are not experienced in any order, but are indeed intertwined meaning one characteristic can affect others. The area of development that stands out to me the most is psychological development. I think this is the area that I might be most sensitive towards because it was a major struggle of mine when entering middle school. Young adolescents are attempting to navigate a new place, a new schedule, and new teachers. On top of that they are trying to find their place within friends groups and within their community. I think this is something that educators need to be incredibly aware of when planning and interacting with young adolescents day to day. At this time students need a safe and supportive environment in order to navigate the changes going on around them.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 2

Chapter 2 lays out multiple ways of motivating and engaging middle school students. There were a few strategies from this chapter that I find are incredibly important when trying to motivate and engage your students. There were also a few instructional strategies that I had never thought of using that I may end up using in my future classroom. I completely agree with the quote on page 463 that “Getting young adolescents to pay attention and learn is 80 percent of our battle in middle schools”. From the little bit of experience that I have with working with middle schoolers, I can say that this has been a battle at times. If you are unable to gain students’ attention your lesson is not going to effective for your students. When it comes to gaining attention I strongly believe in two strategies that were mentioned in this chapter. The first is having an interest in getting to know your students. If students feel like their teacher is interested in them they will value the time they spend in that teacher’s classroom. The second strategy is creating a good learning environment. If students feel safe and supported in the classroom they will be more engaged and more likely to participate. Lastly, a few instructional strategies that I had never thought of, but will most likely end up using are PQRST and exclusion brainstorming. I really like the idea of making readings a bit more structured, because as the author mentioned students often find reading from a textbook to be boring. Giving the reading a purpose will engage students with the material more. I also liked the exclusion brainstorming strategy. Trying to get students interested in a subject is half the battle when it comes to motivating students to participate in the classroom.

Meet Me in the Middle Chapter 1

Chapter 1 of Meet Me in the Middle starts to explain how teachers can create a good learning environment for their students. It begins by discussing teachers’ motivations for teaching, as well as teachers’ attitudes. In addition, the chapter also stresses the importance of listening to students. There were a few ideas that stood out to me throughout this chapter. The first idea was that teachers should be going to work everyday prepared to enlighten their students. Although to most of us this seems like it should be a given, this is an important thing for teachers to remember. It is a teacher’s job to go to school everyday prepared with meaningful and effective lessons, not just a lesson to fill the time. Another idea that stood out to me was the idea of teachers with “high” egos versus “low” egos. This is another important thing to be aware of as a teacher, especially when it comes to students making mistakes. It is important to for students to know that it is okay for them to make mistakes in your classroom, and if you are constantly reminding them that they have made a mistake they are not going to want to participate in your classroom. Finally, the chapter brings up one final idea that I think is incredibly important, and that is teachers should be listening to their students. By listening to students, teachers are not only learning about their students, but what they could be doing to better support their students in their classroom. I really enjoyed the example given by the author because it shows that miscommunications can happen, but in the end the student and the teacher each learned something about each other.

Turning Points Chapter 2

Similar to chapter 1, chapter 2 also discusses the Turning Points model. However, it goes more into depth on the changes that have been made to the model, as well as how the model works together as a whole. One of the recommendations for this model that I liked the most was to “organize relationships for learning to create a climate of intellectual development and a caring community of shared educational purpose”. This idea of creating smaller communities within a bigger school is also something I became familiar with during my student teaching. From observing and participating in this process, I now strongly believe in the benefits it provides to teachers and students. This model provides teachers the opportunity to learn a great amount about their students, and it also provides students with the extra help that they need to be successful in school. Another section that stood out to me was changes to classroom structure versus practice was discussed. It is clear that in the past when this model has been implemented it has done little to create changes to classroom practice. Without changes occurring both in structure and practice little impact will be made when it comes to students’ performance academically. This dilemma reminds me a lot of what is going on in a lot of schools that are still figuring out how to implement proficiency based education in their schools. They are attempting to change the structure of their school, without having a full understanding how their practice must change (other than the standards that they will be required to teach and asses). Although it is a bit of a different scenario, it makes me curious to see how students perform academically under proficiency based education.

Turning Points Chapter 1

Chapter 1 discussed the Turning Points model that was proposed about ten years ago. While structural changes from the original model seem to have had an incredible impact on student performance, it is clear that little changes have been made to curriculum, assessment, and instruction. In addition, little has changed in addressing the needs in high-poverty areas. On page 6, Jackson and Davis suggest that “the poor quality of middle grades education in America’s cities means that up to half the students in our nation’s largest cities are unable to make a successful transition to high school”. This is quite a stunning statistic, and something that stood out to me in this chapter. If students are unable to make a successful transition into high school their drive to move onto higher education may be diminished. This statistic also stood out to me because I became invested in working with students transitioning into high school last semester during student teaching. It was apparent that some students seemed to be more socially prepared for high school, but not as academically prepared, and visa versa. Another thing that struck me was that a core value of the Turning Points model is equity for outcomes for every student. This means that teachers must have high expectations for all students from all backgrounds. I think that this is a very tricky issue for most teachers because it seems easy to get caught up in trying to assume who will succeed in your classroom and who will not. I also think it is difficult to change your mindset when you having categorizing students in this way. However, I do agree that this must be done in order for every single student has the opportunity and the support they need to succeed.