Planning For Block Scheduling

Abstract Chapter nine in the book Meet Me In The Middle focuses on how to schedule and organize a lesson fo the students. The chapter focuses on the fact that teachers have about eighty minutes with their students, so they should maximize the experience and the learning ability of the students. How can we do this? Well, one of the suggestions is to make a schedule for the class and writing it on the board so that the students understand what is going on for the day. The chapter also goes over two forms of assessment, formative and summative. We are given suggestions for both types of assessment.

Reflection I thought that this chapter was interesting, but I knew a lot of the stuff that has been mentioned to me before in classes. I feel like the book that we read from in the education classes we take have a lot of the same ideas in them. However, I did think that it was helpful to learn about the block scheduling and how it works. We did not have block scheduling in my middle school, so it is good to learn about.

Organizing Relationships For Learning

Abstract Chapter six in Turning Points 2000 is about how a middle school should be ran. It says that the amount of students in a class is very important. The ratio should not exceed 25 students to 1 teacher. However, the smaller the school and the classroom sizes are, the better the ability to be taught and get a one to one experience is for the student. This chapter also says that school should use a team approach when grouping teachers and students. Another thing this chapter touched upon is that teachers should have plenty of time to organize and design a good curriculum for the students.

Reflection I do agree with some of this chapter, but I also think that it is based on the ideal school. Not every school has the capabilities to have less than 25 students in a classroom. I think it is also really hard for teachers to find a time during school hours to work on curriculum, even if they have a free period, sometimes students pop in to chat or for extra help and that free period is no longer free. A lot of what this chapter suggests would be nice, but not realistic.

Teacher Advisories-- A Proposal For Change

Abstract Chapter twelve in Meet Me In The Middle is about the advisory program that should be seen in a middle school. There should be at least one teacher that knows each student very well. This ensures that students will have academic success and will have someone to talk to if they have any other issues. This book suggests that there should be days when students just spend time with their advisors doing fun activities. These activities do not always have to be related to academics, but they create a bond between a teacher and a small group of students. Students should also have one on one time with their advisor in order for them to get to know each other and to allow a positive relationship between a student and an adult.

Reflection I do not know how I feel about the commitment in this advisory program. i agree that students should have one on one time with their advisors and that a student should have at least one teacher they can run to when they have problems, but I don't agree that this should take away from academics. I strongly disagree that advisors should be able to take their groups on trips for a whole school day. This is fun, but for the students teachers this is very inconvenient.

Teaming

Abstract Chapter eleven in Meet Me In The Middle is about how teams work well in a middle school. To be a middle school teacher, you have to understand that you are going to have to be able to work with other. We also need to understand that the subject we teach is not more important than other subjects, but it should work well and integrate those other subjects. This is why a teacher who is in a middle school needs to be very flexible. This chapter also tells us that everyone, not just the teachers, are part of the team. The students also are part of the middle school team and we tend to work around their academic schedules in order to make the middle school experience as god as possible.

Reflection I really liked this chapter because the teaming in the middle school is part of the reason I really want to teach middle grades education. I loved that the teams consider when they schedule assignments so the students do not feel overwhelmed because they have three projects due at once. I also loved that the team would meet at least once a week and not only talk about what they were doing in the classroom, but also how individual students were doing. Some teachers would know certain students better than others and it was really important that they collaborated.