While it is generally known that all levels of teaching, from kindergarten to college, are not easy, most will agree that teaching middle school students can be difficult.
While it is generally known that all levels of teaching, from kindergarten to college, are not easy, most will agree that teaching middle school students can be difficult.
While middle school is undoubtedly one of the hardest age groups to teach, it can also be the most rewarding for teachers and students alike, but there are a few things we’d like you to know to understand it truly.
Between trying to engage with teenagers, battling hormones and tantrums, and getting them off their cell phones for five minutes, we want them to enter high school with enough knowledge and direction to help them succeed.
As an adult, if you think back to your middle school years, not many people would say they remembered a particular class or teacher that stood out or homework that inspired them to think about college or a job. No, you probably think about the person you had a crush on for a summer, how you worried that your braces made you look dorky, or some dramatic fight with someone whose name you can’t remember anymore.
So, if we as adults can’t recall our middle school education, how are kids nowadays different?
The last thing they care about is class, which is a constant source of tension between teachers and students. Finding the right balance of learning and fun is particularly tiresome with middle schoolers because they have so much teenage drama going on it can be hard to break down the barriers.
If you are a teacher, you are likely putting out fires left, right, and center, six hours a day, five days a week, while devising tactics and lesson plans to help them get into high school with a decent amount of knowledge.
Not only will you have to deal with the students, but you will also have to deal with the parents of these children.
As adults, we assume there will be a camaraderie with parents as teachers and parents are largely on the same side in trying to get the kids the best education possible. Still, it is a hard line regarding other issues that can arise in teenagers.
While teaching middle school is very tough, it is worth being able to shepherd students through their difficult and often awkward teenage years and help them become successful.