This We Believe!!!!!!!!!

This book turned out to be just a really looooong mission statement for the education of middle school students. Not unlike most missions statements, it was specific yet oddly vague. It highlights dozens of ways to be, ways not to be, things students need or don't need, ways to teach and ways you should avoid teaching, all while not really telling you anything. You can tell someone to act responsibly and give them examples of how to be responsible, but until there comes a time when they act responsible without your guidance, it's difficult for them understand the concept. I doubt that I will truly understand the ideas of this book until I have an opportunity to try them out for myself.
You hear all the time about growth in middle schoolers, but it's usually cast in a very negative light: puberty, drugs, alcohol, cliques, learning about sex, being embarrassed by their parents etc. I'm excited to learn more about these changes in a positive way. The fact that there are so many issues that middle school students need to deal with, just tells me that it's even more important to focus on this age group because these are big decisions they're facing. I personally find it to be the most fascinating time in life. The way that one pimple can affect your life, the way it does to a student in middle school, is beyond understanding.
To be a middle school teacher requires more than your average amount of enthusiasm. You need to be crazy, and show them that it's okay to let go once in awhile and act like a clown. These students learn in a pretty special kind of way; they are old enough to know that the choice to learn is theirs, they can either choose to pay attention or not, but they're young enough that they really have no other choice but to attend school. We, as middle school teachers, are left with a room full of students who are not as enthusiastic about our lessons as we'd wish; we need to appeal to them in different ways in order to spark an interest in them other than moving up to the high school.
I thought the overview in the back of the book was a great physical resource to have, although it's almost a decade old now. In fact, I'm sure a lot of the information in this book would be different if it was rewritten for 2010. I have no doubt that the overarching sentiment of adolescent growth would remain true, but there are major factors to consider that just weren't present seven years ago: China has become real competition insofar as the ability for most college students to go to school for free if they plan to major in education with a concentration in math or science, technology has become our new best friend, figuratively and literally for many adolescents, and the stakes are higher than ever in this economy for students who can't afford to attend a post secondary school.
Aside from the explicit teaching, we need to become good role models for these children. The way we talk to our colleagues, the way we drive out of the parking lot, even the way we blow our nose during class can become nonverbal advice, innate references, and unconscious excuses for the way our students will act in the future. It's almost like being a celebrity, without all the money, women, and fame; these kids look up to you, and even if they don't realize it, they are looking at you for clues about social etiquette, anger management, even personal hygiene. I personally believe (and I bet there's a ton of evidence for it too!) that middle school is the place adulthood begins; it is your first taste of personal freedom, and it can have miraculous or devastating effects on the rest of your life, and as teachers, we need to give them the best advice we have.

Ch 1, 2, 17

Chapter One - Stoking the Fires Within
A.
Chapter One is separated into three sections: Introduction, Taking a Look at Ourselves, and Listening. The author discusses current views of teaching as a profession, both up and downs, and reflects on his own teaching style. He shares stories from his own days at school, gives straightforward advice for new teachers, and touches on communication issues between teachers and students. Overall, this first chapter seems to be all over the place, giving lots of good tips, but having no real “glue” to bring it all into a cohesive text.
R.
I don’t know if it’s just because I’m tired, but this chapter feel like it’s all over the place. His stories are certainly interesting enough for a textbook, but he really doesn’t start off on the right foot as far as “stoking” my own fire for learning. The chapter starts off a little preachy. He criticizes use of bumper stickers as a “degrading stereotype.” I think they’re funny, and if someone took the time to ask me how I felt about teaching, even if I did have some of those mugs around, I’d probably say it was worth every headache. Not unlike having children, sometimes you have good days, sometimes you have bad days, and sometimes you wish you had a day off, but you love your kids no matter what. I also got a really awkward feeling when he discussed letting student physically touch him. Anyone else? I guess I haven’t really ever considered the question, but I don’t remember touching my own teachers in middle school. Eh?

Chapter Two - Motivating Young Adolescents
A.
This chapter is ALL about how to motivate students. It not only includes tons of examples like chasing students with giant sharks, but also discusses general strategies like effective communication and providing background information before jumping into lessons. This is a decent chapter if you are a really boring person who needs a little creative kick in the butt. I’m sure there are hundreds of websites available online with ideas on how to motivate your students.
R.
This chapter was fun. I will probably refer back to it for ideas when we make our units because otherwise I will probably forget everything the author suggested. I have personally found that the best way to motivate a student is to make the lesson all about them. Say you’re trying to get them to think about setting, instead just ask them how many differences they can find between the town they live in and the town the character lives in. Say the character just found out that they’re pregnant, have the students (boys too) think of the first 5 things that would cross their mind if they had just found out they were pregnant. I find students of most ages to always be in the mood to talk about themselves. I can’t really blame them though, I still fall for the same trick in college.

Chapter Seventeen - The Truth About Middle School Students
A.
As the last chapter, this provides the wrap up form Meet Me in the Middle. Wormeli ends on a personal note, urging educators to spend more effort convincing others to focus on the amazing achievements made by middle schoolers instead of obsessing about the bad. He shares how he left blank wall space in his own classroom for students to write whatever they felt like. These statements, made by students, are only more proof of how young, yet insightful, these children are.
R.
I agree with what Wormeli is saying in this chapter, but whenever I think about starting clubs or programs within the school or community, I get really stressed out. We keep reading these books about teachers who have made such huge differences in the education world, and I just feel like before I even think about how my classroom is represented in the media, or what kinds of programs I can run to get the kids involved in the local community, or anything on that grand of a scale, I need to learn how to be a teacher first. One step at a time please, I’m a sensor you know. I need to stress about creative hooks, classroom setup, and my grading scale before I can convince the world that middle schoolers are the best thing since sliced bread.

Chapter Two - Turning Points 2000: A Design for Improving Middle Grades Education

Chapter Two - Turning Points 2000: A Design for Improving Middle Grades Education
A.
Chapter Two focuses on the 5 “vital” changes in the Turning Points 2000: creating a main goal, reordering the list, exchanged the word ‘core’ for an alternate definition, added an instructional point, and combined families and communities. In general, there are no excuses for the original Turning Points. This new and improved list has been created for the changing times and changing needs of students. The chapter reinforces the idea that these “designs” are not necessarily in order and are all heavily interconnected in ways that will blow your mind. This system is not just “stuff [that] affects all this other stuff”. They caution that half-assing an implementation of this “system” will not likely benefit your school. Instead, you must be dedicated to putting the system in place properly, working together and constantly strive for better results, and above all, to focus on “every” child for the success of every child.
R.
So far so good. The actual points seem valid, the evidence is there, the authors are optimistic. I still don’t quite understand how this “stuff” affects that “stuff,” but I’m sure it’s coming. At this point, (haha, get it? point, like turning point) I really just want to know how everything works. I’ve got my essential questions and my standards, and they all seem sound, but now I really need to know the teaching and learning sequence before I give anything the green light. I recognize a few “designs” from my own middle school days, such as the team teachers and small communities. I’m interested to know how these authors are going to turn something as general as “provide a safe and healthy school environment” into something tangible that I’ll be able to implement in my own workplace.

Chapter One - Turning Points: A Decade Later

Chapter One - Turning Points: A Decade Later
A.
After reading the first chapter, I’ve decided that this could be an interesting book. Chapter one is a basic overview of all the progress made in the last decade after implementing “the middle school movement.” This chapter covers everything from grants given, to results yielded, to student statistics through over time and also gives a little blurb about each of the chapters to come. One of the first questions this chapter really sets answer is: “Is this as good as it gets?” And of course, the answer is no; the “middle school philosophy” is just getting it’s legs with great improvements already being seen and so many more to come. For those of you that read Turning Points, I’m sure this will be the perfect follow up.
R.
This seemed to be a pretty standard first chapter. I was personally excited because this is the first class I’ll be taking that isn’t going to lump grades 7-12 together and just tell me that, “I’ll obviously need to make adjustments for different grades.” It’s refreshing to focus on a specific period in life and come across tangible information for each grade I’m interested in. The authors provides tons of research/evidence to back up from this design has and will be successful in school, although I don’t see much comparison to other models. Because I have very little experience in an actually middle school, it’s harder for me to just toss my hat into this model. What I’m saying is that I have a lot of questions. Perhaps I should read on?