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.