Monday was a day to go over our upcoming schedule, and also to do an interesting activity about the Middle School books we read over Thanksgiving break! Over the break, we all had to pick our favorite book from our Middle School years and re read them from a different, older perspective. Once we did this, Mrs. Turner made us write the title of our book down on a sticky note and post in on the Promethian board. We then compared books and saw which books were the same and which were not (which were most of them). After comparing, we partnered up with someone who read the same or most similar book to our own. With our partner, we then wrote a lesson plan explaining how we would teach the book to a middle school class. This was a great way to make a transition from Elementary School to Middle School.
Tuesday, we had the privilege to listen to a guest speaker from Hillcrest Middle School, Janet Kirby. This lady was an amazing speaker. She probably made everyone second guess themselves when thinking of teaching something other than Middle School. She talked about her story, including her transition from teaching Elementary school to Middle School. She described how Middle School was her calling, and how rewarding it is to teach students who are at that particular age. She discussed how much you can influence a child at this confusing, unknown part of their life. It was a privilege hearing from Janet Kirby.
Wednesday, we got to listen to another speaker- Kelly Weeks from Langston Charter School. This was very interesting, mostly because most of our class hadn't experienced a Charter School and knew nothing about it. Mrs. Weeks discussed the policy of the dress code, and how that allows one to judge a person's character based on what's in the inside, not what's on the outside. She also explained why the classes are single gender- it allows the kids to focus on more important things, rather than getting distracted by the opposite gender. She also explained how the school is very personal, and focuses it's attention on the individual and their needs. The school is free, and gathers most of their funding from parent donations. She was very interesting to hear from.
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Thursday and Friday we had our Middle School observations. It's always great to be able to observe and be able to experience the classroom setting on our own. We got to understand the teaching adaptations based on the age and development of the child, versus how children in elementary were taught. We got to choose from many schools, including Hillcrest Middle, Mauldin Middle, and Langston Charter School.
"A good teacher is like a candle- it consumes itself to light the way for others." - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
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