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.