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.