It was good to see you all today. I'm excited about continuing this term, as I think you're going to warm up and do a great job.
I need to pass along that in the reflections many of your peers chided those of you who did not read your assignments. Everybody needs to read in order to participate. It's not fair to those who are prepared if you come unprepared and hold back the class. Often times middle school students don't do their assignments...but that shouldn't be the case for middle school teachers..... A word to the wise......
Thanks for the good suggestions to help with group organization. I always learn things from you guys and gals....it's great.
Feel free to pick one of the responses below to agree or disagree or bring up things you want discussed on the blog. It's for your discussion purposes.
My responses - open for discussion from you:
1. A junior high can become a middle school. It requires a change in structure and philosophy. We will be talking about this more the next couple weeks. If we finish and you still don't understand, ask in class.
2. Nothing will 'happen' to MCE majors if the license band changes. But if more teachers are licensed to teach 1 - 6 or 6 - 12, there will be more competition for your jobs.
3. You can teach what ever grade you want that's on your license regardless of school structure. K-8, 1-6, 6-12 It doesn't matter.
4. Articles like we used to today can be found in any education magazine. Today's Education; Education Weekly,,,,there are tons.
5. In K-12 schools the effect that the older students have is totally dependent upon the set up of the school. Often the 7 - 12 students don't even see the younger ones. It can also be most helpful to have older students available to tutor the younger ones and provide that 'big brother', 'big sister' thing.
6. Someone wants to know what it was to go to a separate 'middle school'. Could one of you answer that, please?
7. Right now it seems that the best place to go for jobs is south. I know they're always looking for teachers in the Carolinas, Florida, Texas, Las Vegas. Also, there are usually inner city jobs available in most cities.
8. Yes, your different research papers may have sources in common.
9. In my opinion, there is no grade level that I 'liked better' to teach. They're all different and they all have pros and cons. I truly believe in enjoying whatever I'm doing at the time. Every morning I make the choice to have a good day whatever I'm doing.
10. Same things goes for the preference K-8 or 6-8 - you do your best wherever you are. Personally, I have middle school philosophy wherever I am. My kids come first, then the content.
11. If you don't have a car, you'll set up a ride before you pick a school, and you'll have to go where your ride goes.
12. You'll add reading to your license when you apply for your license as a senior when you're finishing your student teaching.
13. Obviously, as we discussed today - especially in your groups - the 'preferred' grade configuration is definitely an opinion.
13. Summary - middle schools are student centered....junior high more content centered
14. If you went to school in a farming based community, you need to go to the inner or suburbs.
22 comments:
Hi!
I just wanted to say that Friday's class opened up my eyes to the differences of middle school and junior high. I never really thought of the two as being different, but it is something very important to understand. I also like how the readings we do incorporate into the lessons and that we discuss them because in most classes we read and never talk about anything we read! Thanks
Samantha
Hey!
I never knew the difference between a Junior high and a middle school, I thought they were the same. I went to a k-5 elementary and then a 6-8 MIDDLE school and then the high school. My graduating class was the last class to be sixth graders in the middle school. Now my home town is k-4, then there is an intermediate school (5-6), then the middle school (7-8) then the High school. To me, this doesn't seem like a great way to organize grade levels. I feel that students will have to switch buildings/atmospheres to many times. I personally loved going to a middle school. Looking back, I loved our middle school. All the teachers where very caring and they did a lot of teaching together. In eighth grade we read a book in english about the civil war, learned about the civil war in social studies, and did a civil war video in computer class. I feel like I would rather teach in a middle school setting.
Alex Marquis (9:30 Friday class)
Great input, Alex. I tend to agree with you that the new set up you described wouldn't do much for continuity. What you've described in your middle school sounds exactly like one of the things that's supposed to happen.
Diann
Hi!
I agree with Alex. I went to a Middle School as well and felt that it was definitely student centered. I just didn't know that that was the intended philosophy until now. I would rather teach in a Middle School because I think that having a student centered philosophy is most beneficial to the students and their learning.
Stefanie (Friday 9:30)
Hi Diann!
Thank you for posting all of those answers to everyone's questions , it really helped me! Also, thank you for posting the different places that we can go for our field placements! See you on Thursday!
Forest Clayton
I had read the in class article "Why Go To School?" and found it to be strikingly interesting. In the article, it explains that school defines people by test scores and GPA's. In contrast, schools could help these kids explore who they really are. Also, many schools don't teach about social responsibility. Teachers need to somehow incorporate how to inspire the student how to make the world a better place. Also, children need to also be taught how to make peaceful decisions since there are so many murders and robberies these days. Finally, how much do students really know about the rest of the world? It said in the article that 63% of Americans 18-24 couldn't even find Iraq on a map, after 3 years of war and 2,400 soldiers killed. Obviously, teachers have a lot of responsibility already trying to teach the basics to the students, but there is so much more to a students life than knowing chemical equations or how to square root a number
Hello!
Thank you for posting up the answers to eve Everyones questions. They helped me a lot because I didn't even think about some of the things you said. Friday's class was very helpful because I wasn't sure what the big differences were between Middle School and Junior High. I really liked the group activity we did because it helped answer some of my questions that came up.
Lynesha Richardson
nthobe,
I'm glad you commented on that article. I found it quite accurate and a good testament to the responsibilties of being an educator. The thought provoking part is why I include it. However, the writer also needs to remember that parents have a part in this task as well. We cannot possibly do it all..that's one of many reasons that a partnership with students' parents is so important.
Diann
I really enjoyed class on friday. Like everyone, I was completely obvilious that a junior high and middle school were two completely different things. The article I read really helped me to prepare for class (How efective are K-8Schools for Young Adolescents?) I only have one question: Are we suppose to have a school picked out before we come to seminar thursday, or should we just come with an idea of where we want to go? Will we actually sign up thursday- or are you just handing out pre selected school assignments?
~Crystal Williams
Hey!
I learned a lot in Friday's class. It really helped me to see that I would prefer to work in a middle school instead of a junior high. I really like how the readings were brought up in class. Also, the comment about the jobs in the south seems like a great opportunity, especially for people who want to get out of Ohio.
Leigh
9:30 Friday
I want to comment on the 2nd thing...that nothing will "happen" to MCE majors if the license band changes.
As much as I wish this wasn't true, I agree there will me a lit more competition for my job because schools would rather have teachers that are more flexible to teach grades at their school (such as 1-6) and since I will only be able to teach 4-6 at a school like that, it will make it harder for me to get a job. It just makes more sense for a school to hire a teacher that could teach 1-6. I have said this since I started looking for colleges and realized I would have to do 4-9. I would much rather do grades 1-4 and only have to do one content area as opposed to two.
This is extremely frustrating to me because I did not chose to do 4-9 grades, I was forced to by the State and now that they could possibly change their minds makes me sick.
Danielle
Danielle,
You are correct. As stated, the licensure band change will affect the job market for you. Hopefully the state will provide some type of structure to allow you to pick up the additional licensures of 1 -3 to balance the playing field. Of course, that will probably only happen if those who are affected by this rally and force them to act.
Let me clarify that you do not have only 'one content area' if you're trained in early childhood. You have to be proficient in ALL content areas as it's your responsibility teach all core classes.
I understand your frustration.
Diann
Before Friday's class, I thought the only difference between a middle school and junior high was the grades. In Defiance, it is set up middle school 5-6 and junior high 7-8. They were different buildings but were connected for band, choir, etc. I think that ours was the case where the name really didn't describe what it was. I would personally rather teach in a junior high setting, where I can teach one specific subject. I also read "Why Go To School" and found it to be quite an eye-opener, and encourage others to read it. As for the license change, I think the competition will be harder, but if me, a senior, gets a job in a couple of years, wouldn't experience reign over a first year teacher certified in more grades? Just an opinion...
Erika Buchholz
Hey!
Thank you so much for posting the answers to everyone’s answers! I really appreciate it! It helps a lot! Fridays Class was very informative I like how we discussed the differences between a junior high school and a middle school. Cant wait until thursday!
Leeann Huey
Hi!
I think it is great that you post all of the answers to the questions you are given!! That helps when i have a question that i forgot to ask! Also thanks for actually explaining the difference between a middle school and junior high. I always thought the difference was just the grades!
~*Allison*~
Hello!
I went to both a middle school, which was grades 5-6, and a junior high school in grades 7-8. Before Friday's class, I never really thought about the differences between the 2 schools. However, looking back, I can see how much middle school focuses on the students, while the junior high focuses more on concentrations. In middle school, we lined up at the door and were with the same students and teachers all day long. We had recess and went on a great deal of field trips. In contrast, we starting switches classes in junior high and had a different teacher for every subject. Also, we were allowed to sign up for different electives we were interested in- like music, home ec, industrial tech, etc. Even though it was kind of annoying switching school buildings every 2 years, I think it was beneficial. It definitely helped to ease the way into high school! See you tomorrow:)
-Kerry Flahie
I really had no idea that there was a difference in junior high schools and middle schools. As I think about it I never really thought about it before. I went to a K-12 school that was on one big "campus" so I never really had a transition. I hope that we have more discussions like that one. I love it how we are really challenged to think about different things in this class and not just lectured the whole time.
Kathryn
Hello,
This has probably already been said but I seriously did not know that there was a difference between junior high and middle school. This concept is new to me simply because I went to a school in which there was only one building for K-12 students. The only transition that I experienced was changing from staying in one classroom with no locker to changing classes every period and having a locker. Also, one other thing I would like to bring up is how different the atmosphere is when changing from elementary to junior high or middle school. When making this transition I realized that teachers are completely different in the way that they treat homework/classwork. The teachers in elementary constantly remind their students to do work but once a student moves to junior high the teachers seem to tell you about the assignment only once. This may be to get students ready for high school but it seemed very universal among my teachers and some students did not take this well. Did anyone else notice this type of thing happening? Is this a normal thing that happens in Junior High? Thanks
Kyle D.
Kyle D,
My middle school (6-8) was very much like my elementary school and I don't feel like I was hindered in the transiton to highschool. While working with middle schoolers, I found that students in middle schools had better attitudes than those in junior high. I actually prefer middle schools over the "junior high" atmosphere.
Jocelyn Ardell
Kyle,
I went to a Middle School and i felt like my experiences with homework and classwork were in the middle. Once I got to middle school, the teachers reminded you less, but more than they did when I got to high school.
Jessica Kremer
Kyle,
I went to a tiny K-8 school that at most had 200 students. For us, there really wasn't a transition...ever! Being reminded of homework never really progressed because we didn't get that much homework, which none of us complained about! When we moved to the Catholic high school we were shocked. I guess that was our "middle school" transition. We weren't ever reminded of homework which we got tons of. None of us had ever had a final or mid-term exam before and in high school we did in every class. My peers and I felt robbed when we did go to high school because we'd never had to do the things most kids do in middle school and junior high. I know the whole not reminding kids of homework and giving them more homework seems harsh, but I wish it would have happened to me.
Emily
I went to a Middle school with grades 6-8. I realize now that my school really was fulfilling the Middle School philosophy, and I think it was very beneficial. Middle schoolers are already going through so many changes in their life, I can't imagine what it would have felt like in a school (like some Jr. Highs) where the students were not put first over the content. To respond to Kyle's question, I thought my transition from elementary school to middle school and then to high school went really smoothly. Both changes felt pretty big at the time, but looking back, the teachers did a great job of helping us transition.
Erin Morley
F 9:30 AM
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