Personal Narrative: My Life As A Middle School Student

My first impression of Will was that he was extremely small for the average sixth grade student. He was about 4’10” or so and maybe 75 pounds. He was perfectly dressed in Under Armour sports attire and matching Nike athletic shoes and socks; an outfit I have since learned defines his “away from school” character. Will came to school with every possible supply on the list the sixth grade team had mailed to him weeks before properly labeled with his name and homeroom teacher. This young man was ready to begin life as a middle school student. After a little research, I discovered Will had perfect attendance every day of kindergarten, first, third, fourth, and fifth grade. Randomly during second grade he missed 9 days of school. Sometime during second grade he was referred to the speech department for hearing and speech. He was identified in third grade as AIG in both math and reading. Will comes from a Caucasian family where he is the only child. While perusing his

A classroom designed to address the specific needs of students such as Will would allow him to grow to a higher potential. At this time, our school system does not have the qualified teaching staff to accommodate an additional AIG classroom to accommodate students with elevated academic needs. It would be great if we could have a smaller AIG group where the students could get more individualized attention and be challenged to a higher academic level. If this divided classroom situation were to occur, the growth factor for these students could be unlimited. At the same time the students who are in the current AIG classroom as a nurturing situation in hopes that they will grow and become a truly identified AIG student, could also benefit from the smaller classroom size and greater focus on their academic