This We Believe pgs 1-7

Middle School education is perhaps more pivotal than both elementary and high school education. This is the period in the lives of young adolescents when they undergo rapid physical, mental, and emotional changes. This is also the time when they develop the morals and values that will stay with them throughout their adult lives. In light of all these facts about students of this particular age, educators of these students should be trained specifically to help nurture that growth. No student will be exactly at the same level of development as their peers. Understanding all these facts is important to effectively meet the needs of every single student. Seeing students as individuals with different learning needs and back grounds should always be a focus in education but especially with this age group. A sense of community including teachers, peers, and parents within the school can go a long way leading and shaping students to be functioning members of society.

Pages 9-19

The culture of a school is important in determining the ability of a school to achieve its goals. This section talks about different aspects that would help cultivate a climate in which middle school students could learn the best way possible according to current research. The first step listed is having adults and teachers in positions of leadership that have been trained for this age group and are grounded in the philosophy of the school. This makes sense because the leaders will direct the progress of the school and keeping the goals in mind are important. A safe environment, both physically and emotionally, is important for budding adolescents to risk the effort to try and really learn. The last major point of emphasis is the need for every child to have an adult advocate. The transition from complete support to self sufficiency required at the high school level happens in middle school. A balance of independence and of assistance is critical. The first section of the book stated how important middle school education is. This section states the environment or culture a school would require to make that quality of education occur.

Pages 19-34
Curriculum is basically the only reason why students are forced to come to school, to learn something. Middle school curriculum should be relevant, challenging, integrative, exploratory, and prepare students for the 21st century. However there is the underlying curriculum that affects what students really learn. It’s hidden because it consists of social interactions between students and students and the teacher. Skilled teachers will harness the power of the hidden curriculum and use it to further the lesson. Technology, meaningful assessment, and constructive teacher/student relationships all assist in the learning process. It is also important to keep the students’ health, mental and physical in mind. All of these things factor in to make a middle school successful. That success is measured by the students’ learning.

Pages 35-51

Basically what the last part of the book was divided into three sections: a call to action to implement the philosophy of the essay, different ways the reader could change the middle school they are involved in depending on their role, and a break down of the changes and attitudes of adolescents. I found this particularly helpful because it is one thing to discuss the ‘beliefs’ outlined in the essay but it is another to put those beliefs in action. This book really wants the ideas in the book out and being used in the schools. The book has always put the students first and how to best serve them. I think that is a very important part of teaching to always keep in mind.

Chapter 17: The Truth About Middle School Students

This chapter was a final recap of the importance and achievement capabilities of young adolescents as the conclusion to the book. The author reminds that sometimes the students are difficult but they are just kids and have not completely grown up yet. He also states that a lot of the negative attitude of the general population about middle school students has to do with the negative attention the media gives them. Adolescents’ brains are growing, it’s just that everything else is growing too and sometimes academics take the back burner in that brain, but it doesn’t have to be like that. The chapter includes sayings that his students have written, some show an incredible amount of thought while others are less than intellectually engaging. It reminds us to consider how a middle school teacher has the immense ability and responsibility to shape and mentor the capable youth of America.

This chapter struck me as not only a conclusion to the book but a persuasive recruitment to teach middle students. The author acknowledges the good and the bad but points out the possibilities of so much more good. He enlists our help not only to teach but to help change the overall public opinion of middle students and what they are capable of. I have only read three chapters of this book but I am almost sold to want to teach middle school. Each grade level has its challenges and I know I will know which I will prefer when I student teach.

Chapter 2: Motivating Young Adolescents

The main point of the chapter was to discuss ways to motivate middle school students. Each section of the chapter is broken down to cover different ideas or suggestions and the reasons why that would work. The first two ideas I think are the most important. Knowing your students and using their interests to make the lessons more interesting and creating an emotionally safe environment in which students feel safe to share their ideas and opinions. Some other examples are use stories, create vivid lessons, have enthusiasm for the subject, state the objectives clearly, and meet every student’s learning needs. Adolescents are interested in themselves and the world and are bored easily. If the lessons are vivid, the teacher is interested, and the students understand what is expected of them it will go a long way to keep the students attention.

Motivating students has always been a challenge in schools. I did my practicum in the high school at Mt Blue in a freshman geography class. The book said that middle school students like to move around and can’t sit still. In the high school the students are lethargic to put it nicely. Asking them to move to group up was like asking them to run a marathon. Learning from the chapter that middle school students like doing activities is interesting.

Chapter 1: Stoking the Fires Within

This chapter was about attitude and the motivation of why teachers teach. An important point the chapter made was that adolescents cannot separate a teacher from the teacher’s attitude; the two are one in the same. This is important to recognize when working with students of that age. A teacher’s attitude every day in class can have a significant impact on the students’ ability and willingness to learn. The focus should be on the students and their needs in order to learn. Personal connections between the teacher and middle school students are an emphasis in this chapter.

This affects me as a future teacher because I could possibly teach middle school in the future and I learned a lot about students of that age group in this short chapter. I am by nature a sarcastic person and sometimes my humor is not understood by my peers. The author of this chapter stated that he needed to be careful not to offend his students by careless comments. This is hugely important for me because a careless comment that I let out without thinking could shut a student down permanently from learning anything more from me. So this chapter was very helpful to me in that respect.

Chapter 2: A Design For Improving Middle Grades Education

This chapter goes into depth about the changes that this updated version of Turning Points has. The biggest change is that there are now 7 points and not 8. Two of the points were combined, parents and community support, because in practice one cannot be had without the other. The other points are clarified with examples of some methodology of how to implement the points. The idea that the goal must always be in sight was mentioned and elaborated on. That change is not necessarily progress unless it moves you closer to the goal. The biggest point of emphasis is that all students can learn. The editors of the new version did not believe that people understood this point effectively so they changed the wording to that every student can learn.

This chapter affects me by going into more detail about the new version of the Turning Points so that I know the most recent research and information. The point the chapter really hammered home for me was the discussion about change. If site of the goal is lost then the means instead of the end becomes the goal. This will cause people to stop after change is made and not pursue on to the end to reach the goal. Curriculum, instruction, and assessment are all intricately connected. Changing one without altering the others will achieve nothing. It has to be a complete commitment with the eye on the prize that will have a shot at achieving the goal. That goal is that every student can achieve at a high level.

Chapter 1: A Decade Later

The chapter primarily consisted of explaining the history of the original Turning Points model, the purpose of the book, and a brief summary of each of the following chapters. The original Turning Points was a list of 8 points on which middle schools throughout the country needed to improve. This list was generated in the early 1990s and its model was implemented throughout middle schools across the nation. Based on the results on standardized tests, schools that had implemented the model scored higher than the counterparts that did not. The chapter then explains that this book is an attempt to build on the gains of the first movement because improvement is not the goal it is just progress. Achievement is the goal and should be the goal for all middle school students. Each chapter then explains a different aspect of reaching that goal.

This chapter was useful to me so that I could understand the history of Turning Points. I did not attend a junior high that was a part of this model. My siblings did and I remember them talking about how they had teams of teachers and they had classes with the same general group of students. They also mentioned doing units and projects about the same topic for different classes. The chapter also made a clear point that the reforms were not complete until every student was achieving at a high level. I think this sometimes can tie into a teacher’s personal philosophy of teaching. Some teachers do believe that not all students can achieve at high levels because that is what they see day after day. I imagine a specific aim of this book is to change that perception.