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.