Multi-Age Classrooms

We have recently decided to mix things up a bit on our teaching and learning team and have grouped our seventh graders and eighth graders together in two separate classes for social studies and science. We kind of took a "dive in head first" approach to this grouping and mixed them basically arbitrarily. Yesterday was the first day we tried out this grouping and we (my team teacher and I) both agree that it went fairly well. We will continue to use this grouping structure as well as look at different ways to group our 40 students throughout the year.

I have looked at a bit of research done on the topic of multi-age classes at the middle level. Maranacook Middle School in Readfield, Maine has different teaching teams grades six through eight. Each team has a different make-up of these students. The parents do have the option of having their student on a multi-age team or not because Maranacook has both types of teams. In researching the effects that a multi-age middle school classroom might have on its students, I had trouble finding a definitive "good" or "bad". A lot of the research I found stated that there was no negative academic effect seen or known in these classrooms, but that no direct positive effect could be determined either. I did find, however, a research article from the NMSA entitled "Is Multi-Age Grouping Beneficial to Middle School Students?" that stated that there were some positives associated with multi-age grouping at the middle level even if they are not of academic persuasion. "It enhances students' self-esteem, decreases behavioral referrals, reduces the effects of labeling, encourages the formation of close communities, and leads to social and academic continuity." It seems to me that these types of positives in a middle school classroom could very easily lead toward higher academic achievement as well.

On a side note I did notice that throughout this research article from the NMSA, the writer continued to mention looping and the positive effects that this type of organization has had in middle schools. As a teacher who has gone through a couple of looping cycles, I have to agree. Students at this age need consistency even from grade to grade. They need someone they know they can trust and relate to and gaining this trust and understanding can sometimes take a very long time.

Middle School Mentality

They might look like teenagers. Sometimes they can even get mistaken for adults, but they continue to remind me day after day that they are definitely still kids. This afternoon during announcements, right before dismissal, my eighth graders were milling around the room waiting to leave school for the afternoon. They want to get out and play their soccer games, or go to their friends house, or hang out at the library down town. I looked around the room as they were all anxiously awaiting the words, "At this time all students are dismissed." Three boys, who look like they might be college searching soon, or who might even pass for college students, were happily playing with my finger puppets of Edgar Allan Poe, William Shakespeare, and Charles Dickens. They were making them talk to each other, and fight each other; they were simply enjoying the puppets just like a young student would. Even after five years I am constantly reminded that looks in middle school can be deceiving. I am reminded that these kids are just that... kids.

lost middle

I loved the University of Maine at Farmington... wait... let me rephrase. I still love the University of Maine at Farmington. I graduated with a K-8 teaching certificate in December 2005, ready to explore the wide world of teaching. My professors were spectacular, both as educators and as people. I had leaned everything I needed to know about teaching through my theory classes and my practicum and my student teaching. If I could go back in time and go through my undergraduate courses all over again there would be nothing I would change... well... almost nothing.

I'm not sure how much has changed since 2005, but when I graduated there were not many classes focusing specifically on middle level education. Actually I think there was one to be exact. While you could go through the elementary program and get the K-8 certificate, or through the secondary program and get the 7-12 certificate, nothing really focused on middle level education. I continue to wonder about this. The longer I teach at the middle grades, the more I realize that they really are their own entity. I'm beginning to think that we should start treating them like that from the beginning... from education of our teachers.

True Teaming

Not counting when I was actually there myself, I have always loved the atmosphere of middle school. Maybe that's one of the reasons I like teaching middle school so much. I can still remember how hard it was getting more responsibilities as far as academic work and sports and chores at home. I can still remember how hard it was to fit in one day and not the next. I remember being so interested in what was going on both academically and socially (most of the time the social outweighing the academic, but nonetheless interested in both) in my classes and with my peers.

One of my greatest aspirations for this year is to truly team teach. This year I am working on a small team with one other teacher. I am teaching language arts and social studies and she is teaching math and science. While we both have individual curricula to follow for these subjects, we have been working hard to integrate what needs to be taught through all content areas. These subjects should not each be taught in their own vacuum. It is important for students to see the connections between their world and what they are learning in school. It is also important for students to feel like they are part of a team, like they are part of a community. We are off to a great start with our teaming process, but it hasn't proved to be extremely easy to do. We will continue to work at it and refine what we do, all the while keeping in mind the benefits of true teaming with middle school students.

First Day

I'm beginning to feel like a veteran teacher. I have been at the same school for five years now. I know the ropes, the ins and outs of everything from the duty schedule to the curriculum to fixing the copier when it's jammed. So why do I still get nervous before the first day of school. Every year I spend endless hours getting my classroom ready, and getting everything organized for the first day. And every year the night before the first day that students show up I barely sleep. Is this normal?? Does this ever go away???

Things are a little different for me this year. My classroom has moved, I have a new team teacher, and I am teaching a new subject, but I'm still not sure that these changes should warrant the nerves I begin to feel as the first day of school approaches. I don't think I ever felt like this as a student in school. I know I used to get excited and probably got a little anxious, but I'm pretty sure I never had any sleepless nights before the first day.

What's really strange about this anxiety is that it always goes away so quickly. I spend all this time getting ready and all night before the first day worrying, but when the kids actually show up it's like we didn't even miss a beat. We jump right back into everything and I continue to wonder why I go through these emotions every year. I wonder if they will always come back to me at the start of the new year. Something inside me tells me I can plan on it.