Chapter one was certainly a great starting point to this book. It really opened my eyes as to just how many challenges I could face if I teach at the middle level. One of the things that really struck me and really got me to thinking was the difference between middle school and junior high. I realized that whether I teach in a middle school or junior high will determine how I will plan my instruction and activities.This is news to me because really up until now I never would have know that there was a difference, and I think its awesome that the author points that out because in the long run that will make me a more effective teacher for my students knowing that there are differences between the two. Knowing these differences might actually determine where I feel I might best fit when it comes to even applying for middle level teaching positions meaning would I fit better in a junior high setting or middle school setting?
A second thing that I took out of this chapter was that when I am teaching the middle level grades, I have to be mindful that this is a huge transitional period throughout these years. This is very beneficial to know because it may explain some of the situations that you may come across behaviorally, emotionally, or socially with your students. Along the same line, this also helps with how you may deal with individual students and their situations because you know going into it that they are in transition which means that they may respond differently to different learning and social situations differently depending on what transition they are in whether it be them moving from end of the adolescence spectrum to the other which piggy backs on Erikson's identity versus role confusion.
A third and final thing out of many that I noticed about chapter one is in relation to the blooms taxonomy. This will be extremely beneficial as I do my lesson planning for my middle level classroom because blooms taxonomy reminds me that there are different levels and domains that need to be stressed when teaching a lesson, I love how this class and book is starting and I cant wait to learn more as the semester goes on!
Hi Madison:) I completely agree to your post, and this chapter really had me thinking about the huge difference between high school and middle school too! I agree with the emotions and the struggle of them (middle school students) trying to gain a self of identity during this time period. I also loved that the chapter stated ways to help a teacher make the transition easier! I think you did a great job in capturing the key points of the chapter. I agree with the relation to the blooms taxonomy you were talking about. That is a main and very vital part to lesson planning. That can really help a teacher in aiding their students' learning.
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