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.