This We Believe

Pages 1-26

One of the ideas that stood out to me the most between pages 1 and 26 was the idea that teachers in middle schools are inevitably role models. Their behaviors send influential messages to young, developing minds. In order to remain positive, they will need to provoke leadership and the ability to work together. By learning from one another, the teacher can ensure that the students understand the material. What I got from this is that anything I do, as a teacher, can be translated into a lesson. This means I am going to have to think about my actions and methods. I will also have to be quick and cleverly avert a discussion to the material if the discussion becomes off topic.

Pages 27-33

This section of the book discussed leadership and organization characteristics. The first idea in this section was about making decisions when dealing with a middle school. It is important to have many different opinions from different people affiliated with the school. School leaders should ask students, teachers, administrators, families, board of education members, and the community for their input. Another point I found interesting was that administrators should further their education on education. They should research to find the best practices. This is an awesome idea- I wonder if any of my middle school teachers have changed their methods of teaching to up to date practices.

Pages 33-42

It is important for culture and community to take part in a middle school. Like a discussion in class, the social aspect of a young adolescent's life should not stop outside the classroom. Integrating academics and social lives will ensure success in any student. Making the classroom a community will ensure the students will respect themselves, others classmates, and their teachers. These personal and academic developments should be monitored by an adult advocate- someone who the student can trust. This could be a guidance counselor or teacher, but I feel it would be better for someone in the school could watch them.

Pages 43-63

There were two main parts to this section of the text. The first part was research supporting This We Believe. One part that stood out to me in this section was under Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. It was cited that for a classroom to be safe and supported there must be active learning where "students and teacher hold joint responsibility for their interactions and learning" (pg. 47). I like how it reveled that the students were also responsible for the amount they learn. If they are not motivated to learn then they would not want to learn, but that is where the teacher comes in. The second part of the section discusses the characteristics of young adolescents. There are lists that the authors came up with that describe what is happening to adolescents physically, mentally, morally, etc. One characteristic I thought was interesting was that adolescents are curious- but not necessarily in a specific content area. They are curious about the world around them, and that is why it is so important for teachers to relate content to the real world. This way, young students can relate to the content themselves and gain interest.