Chapter Four: The Learning Environment: Planning and Managing the Classroom

This chapter of Teaching Young Adolescents has been my favorite so far. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between these authors' ideas of classroom management, those of other people, and myself. I think this chapter gave me a better idea of how I want my classroom to managed.

If all the management procedures discussed in this chapter were expressed to students, I think they would be very overwhelmed. For the most part, I think middle school level students already have a good idea of what they are expected to do- As the authors point out, "Too many procedural expectations at first can be restricting and even confusing to students. Unless they are recent newcomers, most middle grade students already know these things so you shouldn't have to spend much time on the topic... " (p.122). However, every teacher is different, and that is why it is important that basic procedures should definitely be discussed no matter how old the student is.

Students should know what is expected of them- this will cause less anxiety, and less room for students to act inappropriately. I believe the students should be able to notice that teachers (should) have expectations for themselves as well. Teachers should model good behavior,  thus showing students that they are not "above" the procedures. This also demonstrates to students that everyone is a part of the classroom community, including the teacher. In this , all members of the community share expectations, respect each other, and are willing to help each other out.

Chapter Three: Thinking and Questioning Skills for Meaningful Learning

I found this chapter of Teaching Young Adolescents very relevant for today's middle school classrooms, and for classrooms in the future. The authors begin the chapter by pointing out that, "The key to meaningful learning is thinking" (p. 81). I believe this was a very good way to begin the chapter, because the statement itself made me reflect and think about what it means.

I think that it is definitely important that students learn to question and analyze issues and problems, rather than just regurgitating an answer. Pulling answers from memory generally doesn't use a lot of higher level thinking. This kind of thinking is useful to an extent to gain knowledge about a topic.

 However, I think that this knowledge should be taken to a higher level so that students will be able to synthesize the knowledge to discuss and provide solutions for authentic, real world problems. If they have practice with this, they will be able to do so effectively in the future as adults. 

Chapter Two: Professional Responsibilities of Teachers of Young Adolescents

This chapter discusses the many roles and responsibilities that a middle school  teacher must have. I knew about many of these responsibilities already, but the amount of detail included in the chapter  made it seem more overwhelming at first. However, as I read on, I realized that the details were helpful - I learned things that I hadn't thought of before, even if I knew about the particular topic. For example, the idea of demonstrating overlapping: "Attend to the entire class while working with one student or with a small group of students, communicating this awareness with eye contact, hand gestures, body position and language, and clear but private verbal cues" (Kellough and Kellough 61). I found this interesting, because while I knew that teachers need to pay attention to the whole class even when they are working with someone individually, I never really considered how to go about communicating this to the class. Overall, I think the point of the chapter was to show that so much can be learned, and that the classroom and strategies are constantly changing. We need to be aware of these changes and able to adapt ourselves to them - essentially remaining lifelong learners.

Teaching Young Adolescents Chapter One: Understanding the Challenge

When I read the  first chapter of Teaching Young Adolescents by Richard and Noreen Kellough,  I learned a lot about the various types of middle level schools, and  how they differ. One point that really stuck out to me about this was the emphasis on block scheduling. The authors argue that,  "Using extended periods, or Macroperiods, allows the teacher to supervise and assist students with assignments and project work as well as with their reading, writing, thinking, and study skills" (Kellough and Kellough p. 8).

Ideally, I think this could work out well if teachers use the extra time in the ways that the authors pointed out. However, I think that there are more disadvantages than advantages for this scheduling method. From my own experience with block scheduling, many teachers use the time to lecture the students about much more material than would be typically covered in a traditional classroom. Students became extremely restless and stopped paying attention, or were overwhelmed by the amount of material on which they had to take notes.The other side of this is that teachers wouldn't know how to fill the time and would assign a lot of "busywork" instead of using inquiry and integrative thematic activities.

Although my experience with block scheduling occurred in high school, I think the middle school level would have similar problems. If high schoolers became restless with these longer periods, I think middle school students would have even more trouble. Even in some college classes I find it hard to pay attention for three hours about one topic.

I think that traditional scheduling gives students more variation in their day and allows them to engage their brain in different ways more readily, rather than losing focus when they are expected to concentrate on one subject for so long. I also think that traditional scheduling allows students to be able to comprehend material better. If students spend more time on a smaller amount of material, they can do various activities with it rather than consuming a lot of material at once and being expected to memorize it in time for tests, etc.

Another thing that I noticed about block scheduling is that students may only have a class in a certain subject for less than a semester. This gives them less experience with the subject and may cause them to forget things. If they do this, teachers may have to retract on material the next year instead of making progress.

I do think that the modified block schedule could solve some of these issues. However, the alternation of different class lengths may be confusing and difficult to get used to at first for both students and teachers, and their learning could be compromised or delayed (especially at the beginning of the year).