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.