Middle School Sure Has Changed

This past Monday, I began my middle school field placement. I am placed in a 7^th and 8^th grade classroom in a more rural district, which is a contrast from my high school field placement last semester, as well as where I went to school.

My coordinating teacher teaches an array of language arts classes, ranging from the basic language arts class, to advanced, and then she also teaches a college and career readiness class which is for students who will be first generation college students.

Monday was my first day in field, so I spent the day learning about how my coordinating teacher runs her classroom, and I also had the chance to get to know some of the students.

Being the youngest in my family, I have been removed from the middle school grades/ages for quite some time. I was really surprised to see how much things have changed in the seven or eight years since I was in 7^th and 8^th grade.

When I was in 7^th and 8^th grade, cell phones had just started to become slightly more commonplace among my peers, but it was still normal for students like me to not have a cell phone. As students trickled into the classroom, I noticed that a lot of them pulled out their phones, which I was somewhat surprised by, especially since students are not allowed to use them in class.

For the college and career readiness class, each student has been provided with a laptop so they can complete their homework, which also surprised me. I think this is a really interesting program they have implemented, so when I go into the school again on Monday, I am hoping to learn even more about it.

Picture of me in 7th grade outside of the middle school
I attended..

Other than the technological differences that really stood out to me from when I was in middle school, I noticed that for the most part, middle schoolers are generally the same.

While I did not take part in the Accelerated Reader (AR) program during middle school, we were still expected to have a book to read for sustained silent reading (SSR). SSR bears some resemblance to the AR program, except AR has a set list of books for students to pick from and students are expected to take quizzes based on those books.

As I continue to complete my 30 hours of middle school field experience this semester, I look forward to having the opportunity to teach as well as learn more about the differences between 7^th and 8^th grade and high school from a teacher perspective.