I thought chapters 9-11 were interesting and informative, and found myself highlighting line after line. One line from chapter 10, "Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century" reads, "A volatile mismatch exists between the organization and curriculum of middle grade schools and the intellectual and emotional needs of young adolescents" (170). To be honest, I'm not sure if this quote is entirely true, but I can understand why some may think in this way. Since I'm in a middle school for a couple hours every day this semester, I have easy access to the curriculum, and even better, the chance to observe middle school students in their middle school environment. I'm sure we all can say first hand that if the assignment/activity/lesson is boring, the students are not going to respond in the way we most likely intended. The students need a curriculum that speaks to them, and keeps them engaged. My co-op (for her reading class) lets the students read over a number of stories in their Literature books, and had them decide which stories they thought the class should focus their attention on. I love this idea because she's not only letting the students take control over what is being read, but she makes an honest effort for her students to be engaged. I'm at my placement for first block Reading, and second block, eighth grade English, and its' amazing to see the difference in the students.
In the first block, where my students are constantly engaged, the room is quieter and more focused. Overall, much more work gets completed in a single day compared to the eighth graders. On the other hand, eighth grade has to do a daily grammar sheet and journaling which takes up the majority of the block. When the daily assignment are finished, my co-op gives them a quick grammar lesson and the class is over. The second block has more disturbances and more confused students. Overall, the curriculum needs to be suitable for the kids. I see first hand what happens with the curriculum does not match the students interests, abilities, or emotions: the students become bored, and there isn't much learning taking place.
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2 comments:
I agree with your comment. If schools are going to try to reach as many kids as possible, then the curriculum needs to meet the interests of the student. If the curriculum is more engaging to the student, they will be more interested in the learning process. However, this is fine line because you cannot gear all of the material to meet the student interests because this may not fully prepare them for the grades ahead.
I once had a high school english teacher who taught us the finer points of writing. She would give us a short story that dealt with a lot of issues that we were familiar with or topics we were interested in. We would have to write our reponse to that story, but then afterwards we could do whatever we wanted to in the class. Many people rushed to finish the assignment, and then talked for the duration of class. In the last 10 minutes, it was one big party in our class.
Looking back on that, I felt that I was shortchanged in that the motication wasn't to learn, but to get the assignment done so I could talk.
I agree that a mismatch agrees in the organization and curriculum of middle schools. I do not think it is as severe as it once was though. This is because over the years the amount of research has increased in the education field. As a result, many (not all) teachers knows that middle school students must be treated as their own unique group in school. I believe this is due in part to how teacher education programs have changed. For instance, at UW-Milwaukee we all required to take this course about teaching middle school. Previously, according to the book, universities did not offer middle school courses. Middle School was not treated as unique because the changes puberty caused were not understood. There are many emotional and physical changes they go through which merits a different type of teaching. Middle School students are not in high school but they are not in middle school. As a result, middle school teachers should take into account how unique middle school is. Interaction with peers is important in middle school so why not more projects that involves interaction with peers?
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