Week 3: Closure Continued

Diversity and socioeconomic status is something that each teacher needs to understand and be prepared to face. It seems hard sometimes to relate to people who are different or come from a different background than you. The chart laid out a pretty clear difference between the social classes and for the most part I agree with what is listed. However, I think the problem comes when you have students who fall in between two of theses "clear cut" groups. I do agree with the suggestions given for managing behaviors of those with generational poverty. I think it can be hard to treat each student fairly when they all come from such different backgrounds but I think it is so important! Not only should teachers encourage their students and make the classroom a great place but they should also remember that each student brings something different to the table that could be beneficial for someone else. Also, teachers need to be sensitive to the fact that many of the problems they face with students are not just the student acting out but that they could be a result of the environment in which they have been raised.

Week 3: Closure, Social/Emotional Development

I found this weeks reading in Coming of Age to be particularly interesting. Although I knew that students viewed friendships and being accepted as very important since, after all, we all were in middle school at some point, I had no idea that the majority of students say that is the most important reason they come to school. I also found it very interesting that students who feel accepted are more likely to do better in school. With those two things noted, I realized just how important it is to be aware of students in the classroom and how they seem to be fitting in and adjusting to middle school. I have often wondered how I would respond to students who seem to cause disruptions in the classroom. I still remember how frustrating it was to have students in my class in elementary and middle school who constantly hindered the learning process with their behavior so I can only imagine that kind of frustration would only be multiplied as the teacher. All of that to say, it was very helpful for me to learn about the difference in neglected and rejected students. I now understand that it is more of a need for attention than anything else. As someone who was once a girl in middle school, I cannot imagine going through middle school in this day and time. From online bullying to an unrealistic standard for young women to live up to, the pressures and day to day life for these students seem to be so challenging. I think it is very important for teachers to educate their students on bullying and to make a point to make their classrooms a positive, encouraging environment. Finally, it is important for teachers to reflect back on their time in middle school and realize that we, too, faced some of these same struggles students today do and use that as a motivation to do what they can to help solve these problems.

Field Observation 1

This week I went and observed three different 8th grade boy basketball games. The first game was a primarily African American team and the other two games were between Caucasian teams. The young adolescents I observed were between 13 and 15 years old. In the first game it seemed that they were already very physically developed as one of the players, a 7th grader, dunked the basketball on numerous occasions. They all seemed very coordinated and although you could tell they would still need to put on more muscle, they had definitely hit their growth spurt. One of the boys on the team was 6'4"! However, in the other two games it seemed they were exactly as the book had described young adolescent boys. Some were tall, some were short, some had body hair, some of their voices had changed- altogether there were quite a few stages of physical development displayed. Just as the book had described, some of them seemed out of proportion. One particular student had really big feet but was not very tall. I could tell that he had not fully developed to his physical potential.
All of these observations made me realize that teaching these young adolescents is going to involve treating them as individuals and not like a big group. After seeing students the same age at so many different stages it makes me realize that this age group is not at all at the same place in their physical development. It must be very confusing to look to either side of you and see that while you are standing at 5'6" the person to your right is 6'2"! I think that by realizing that each student is an individual and going though all sorts of changes, it has made me more aware and I think I will be able to be more of a help to my students because of it.

Week 2: Closure

"Beautiful Brains" Article:

In this article the author reflects on what makes teenagers act the way that they do. He references philosophers that have written about the teenagers mind many years ago. The interesting thing is- Aristotle described teenagers the same way we do today in 2013. They tend to not make the safest, most mature decisions and one philosopher explains this by writing that they value the reward over the risk. I found this article to be very informative. I had never actually thought more about the teenagers mind past the idea of “what were they thinking?”. This article made me realize that there is a lot more involved in the brain of these young people than meets the eye. The fact that the brain is reorganizing itself is very interesting to me. I think that understanding the development of their brain will help me be more understanding in a classroom setting to the way they may respond to a situation.

"The Oversexualization of Young Adolescent Girls: Implications for Middle Grades Educators"  Article:

This article is all about how the media and today’s world portrays the “ideal” woman. Whether that is in advertisements, television shows, movies, or even songs, the young woman today would have an impossible task of avoiding this oversexualization of women. Even in last weeks national championship football game the star of the show was Katherine Webb, Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron’s girlfriend and the reigning Miss Alabama USA. The commentators even had to release an apology the next day because commented continuously throughout the game on her good looks. Middle school is a difficult growing time for both boys and girls but with this type of hype surrounding women it is even more challenging for girls. This oversexualization leads to girls feeling insecure and constantly worried about their appearance. The problem in the classroom is that if that is the only thing their mind thinks about all day every day there is no room for school work. Another problem is that this lack of self confidence can also flow into their work at school. I think teachers can combat this by being encouraging to their students and being available to talk to them if they want to open up about what they are going through.

Week 1: Closure

1. The main thing that I learned from the reading this week was the idea of having your attitude as the tone that sets the atmosphere for the whole classroom. Today while we were in orientation, the quote about "middle schoolers being like sharks when there is blood in the water" made me think back to this. Although the quote was in reference to a teacher being nervous, I think it is also true if a teacher's attitude is poor even if it is for a short time. These young adolescents can pick up on this and it can rub off on them or worse instigate them to add to your reason for having a bad attitude in the first place. On the other hand, having a positive and encouraging attitude can be just as contagious and this is the type of attitude I think we should all strive for in our classes here and our future classrooms.
2. My question for the week and it goes along with the topic of attitude: What happens if you, as a teacher, always bring a positive attitude into the classroom but there is a student whose negative attitude seems to affect the class? What is the best way to handle that?
3. I am very excited to get to understand the growing mind of a young adolescent. This time can be so hard for that age group and I want to learn as much as I can to be able to teach them to the best of my ability.

1: Introduction and Course/Program Goals

My name is Elizabeth Ann Miskelly. I graduated in May from Mississippi State with a degree in Business Administration. My family has a furniture business so I think I spent my four years of college convincing myself that I wanted to pursue a career in the business world. I spent all of the spring and summer traveling and interviewing for different positions only to realize that this was not at all what I wanted to spend my life doing. At the end of the summer I began to look into the different routes I could take to becoming a teacher. When I found out about the MAT-M program through Mississippi State it was exactly the type of program I was interested in. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you as we start this new chapter of our lives together.

Since we haven't met yet here are a few things I enjoy: traveling (not necessarily to different countries but anytime a road trip opportunity arises, I am the first one to agree to go), riding hunter jumper horses, training riders, and going to horse shows, and finally, tutoring and babysitting some of the cutest kids on Earth.

Some goals I have set for myself include learning as much as I can about becoming a future educator. I have a business background so I feel as if I am totally clueless when it comes to all of this right now. I want to learn how to understand middle school students today and their way of thinking in order to be able to teach them to the best of my ability. Finally, I want to set a goal of having a 4.0.
My general expectations for this class include learning how to manage a classroom of middle schoold students as well as how to teach a diverse classroom.

Three things middle school teachers do that are beneficial to the overall learning experience of middle school students-
1. They teach the students how to be independent in their studies and thought process
2. They expect the students to be responsible with their work and due dates
3. They let the students take responsibility for their actions instead of "baby-ing" them through middle school

Three things middle school teachers do that are detrimental to the overall learning experience of middle school students-
1. They treat students as a group instead of as individuals
2. They expect students to be independent without first teaching them ways to stay organized and on top of assignments
3. They do not cater to the ever-increasing diversity in the classroom

I think that I can offer the class community with feedback and hopefully some notes from in-class experience. I am on several substitute lists for schools in my area and if there is anyone in the class like me who has no in-class experience I hope that I will be able to share with you all what I observe and that we can learn together from it.