Blog #1: The Ah-Ha's of Middle School (Blog Post #1)

"Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives" (Lederer, 2011 as cited in Smith, 2017 p. 3). My past teachers are what lead me to want to become an educator. One of the most influential teachers that I had ever had was my mom. My mom is a secondary English education major. She teachers mostly juniors and seniors. All of my life I have grown up in a school setting. I have watched her year after year, teaching new students, creating new connections, and helping lead teens into their new adult life. One thing that has stuck out to me most is the amount of students who remember my mom. Every single place I go, when I say my last name, past students begin to praise my mom and tell me how much she helped them. I have seen how many students my mom has helped and how many students remember her and I want to do the same.

"Some day, as a teacher, you will feel that you are not making a dent in the problems your students face" (Smith, 2017 p. 6). One of my main concerns that I had when going into Middle Level Education was being able to support each of my students during this difficult time. When I look back on my middle school years, I remember drama, bullying, crying, questioning, and a lot of confusion. Middle school is hard in every aspect; not only does the class work become more difficult, but also the friendships, the athletics, and the emotional aspects begin to get tougher and more confusing as well. This frightened me at first. However, after talking with middle school teachers and meeting with other future Middle Level educators, I can comfortably sat Middle Level seems to be one of the most rewarding grade areas to teach and I can not wait to conquer the challenge.

"Teaching middle school is not a job for those whose primary aspiration as an educator is the transmission of content. Unless you become knowledgeable of and responsive to the lives of young adolescents, you'll be a frustrated teacher" (Smith, 2017 p. 7). When I came across this quote, I read it a few times over. All my life I had teachers who I felt like I never was able to make a personal connection with, I realized that those teachers taught the curriculum and did not teach the students. In the short while that I have been in the Middle Level program, I have learned how important this time is in a students life and how important it is to be there for them in all aspects of their life, not just to teach them material. There are so many ways to teach students. After reading this passage, I realized that this was a piece that I had missed out on during my middle level expierence. All of the teachers that I had were trained as Elementary or Secondary Education teachers and had only received endorsements for Middle Level. I did not realize what an issue this caused until reading this passage. I felt little to no personal connection with most of my middle school teachers and it lead me to struggle in some course. Although I was still able to maintain my High Honor Roll, I definitely did not feel emotionally supported by all of my teachers. This is something that I want to fix with my future students. I want to make these personal connections and ensure that my students feel comfortable and heard in my classroom.