Middle School Teaching Experience Paper

One important event that has impacted middle school teaching practices is when middle schools actually came to be. Early on, the traditional educational format was to be in elementary school for eight years and then have four years of high school. This student arrangement was ok for the time period it was used in, which was the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. “Educators and others have spent more than 100 years since trying to develop a successful school in the middle that would both meet the developmental needs and interests of young adolescents and serve as a transition between the elementary school and the high school” (Manning & Bucher, 2012, p. 4). The use of middle schools helped students who are 10-15 years of age developmentally as well as instructionally. These students are too old to be with elementary students and not quite old enough to be with high schoolers. I chose this event because middle school is a great middle ground for these students to continue to develop.

I have worked for a public school system for almost ten years now, support staff positions. During my time in and out of the classroom, I have noticed the difference between middle schoolers and elementary students. Once I get my teaching license, I will be certified to teach K-6 with a middle school. The preparation to teach middle school is different than elementary. Just like the scenario at the beginning of the text that talked about the student teacher (Ami) going to student teach seventh grade. “She thought to herself that Mrs. Gillespie sounded as though she was teaching a college class and listing all those essential concepts found in good middle schools” (Manning & Bucher, 2012, p. 3). This is a great example that shows the necessity of how new middle school teachers need some middle school training to teach these adolescent