Middle school motivation

One thing I love about middle school students is they are still excited to learn new things. The first week I was here, they responded to a query about how much they had learned with an enthusiastic "I learned A LOT!" and went on to describe several topics that interested them about frog adaptations. Last week we had a section of material that was covered by a blend of lecture and reading from the text. The students started to look a little glazed but came right back with minimal intervention when they were asked to pair up and find some information to share with the class. This motivation to learn makes teaching fun.

Content continuum

I've noticed how valuable it is to have good communication in a district when planning the curriculum. For example, it is really helpful for the science teachers at the middle school to be aware of what students are learning in elementary school and what they will need to know when they get to the high school. Even though we have content standards, these can be interpreted in different ways and it is great to cooperate with other teachers both to make sure everything is covered and to know whether or how much students are taught about certain topics in previous classes.

Testing

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