Why I teach Middle School

According to a veteran teacher for the state of New York, Mrs. Abreu, there really is no other way to teach middle school other than to take to it like it were scotch...Try to get it down, get used to it and eventually, it'll be all that you order!

I think this analogy is dead on in that it may not sound like it will be fulfilling or fun, but middle school is a pretty special place and after you realize that, it's difficult to order a different teaching assignment.

It's always funny to watch people's faces when I tell them I have been teaching middle school for the past 15 years. They wince, say wow or just give the blank look. It tells me that they remember what a difficult time that was when they hit puberty. I take great pride in knowing that I give my kids a safe, challenging and understanding learning environment. If you can handle the delayed gratification, and the sheer wackiness, middle school has a lot of job satisfaction.

Middle school by definition is already its own category with its own unique age group and challenges. Our students are in the middle of the greatest physical and cognitive life changes they will ever face. As a result, they require teachers who are not only trained in an academic subject area but also in understanding the best ways to foster cognitive growth.

Relating to middle schoolers, being fair but goofy, being flexible in approach but consistent in consequences and turning on light bulbs are what make great middle school teachers. There is no better moment for me than being around 6th graders as they learn to see the layers of meaning and to think critically and analytically. The letters and posts I receive from past students indicating the "big ideas" they took from our time together validates student centered, collaborative learning.

Just last week we were at the pool watching our homeroom advisory houses race in recycled plastic homemade boats. And as I watched the kids cheering in the crowd, dressed in crazy outfits waving homemade banners, and I gazed at my colleagues imploring their teams to go faster, and I watched the kids on the boats working harder than I thought anyone could ever work using cardboard paddles atop water bottles; I smiled and said to the parent next to me: "This LOOKS like middle school!"

What one of those 301 pubescent, not-quite-adult, but not-little-kids, (stuck right in the middle of growing up) will ever forget Earth Day 2011 in Dubai?

I know this middle schooler won't. You are what you teach and I quite like being a 41 year-old sixth grader.

Boat Race from Doug Catanzaro on Vimeo.