The Wonders and Challenges of Middle Level Teaching

           The middle school student is a very interesting creature, one that is quite hard to describe. One moment, the student yearns to be treated as an adult, but the next wishes he or she could live the simple life of a child. Middle school students are caught in a transition from childhood, a period of playfulness and innocence, to adolescence, a time of increased responsibility and physical maturation. These factors make middle school students unique and challenging to teach, as there are no other students like them and they are only this age for a few years. These factors also make middle level teaching one of the most rewarding experiences a teacher can have. In this piece, I will discuss the wonders of middle level music teaching, as well as the challenges that it often poses. I will also discuss the concept of choices and how important the act of decision making can be for a middle school student. Finally, I will end with a reflection of my own middle level experience. 

            When a teacher walks into a classroom of elementary students, they often know what to expect. The same can usually be said for a classroom of high school students. When a teacher sets foot in a middle level class, however, one is much more likely to be surprised. This is because the students’ brains are at their last crucial stage of development, “and they are at their most receptive point for intellectual and moral reasoning” (Wormeli Pg. 9). It is at this point in time that the prefrontal cortex is developing. This part of the brain “is responsible for moral and abstract reasoning, planning, understanding consequences, and being aware of the effects of one’s words and actions on others (Wormeli Pg. 9). This means, quite simply, that middle school students are just beginning to be able to think in ways they have never been able to before. As a teacher, one is given the opportunity to help these students realize their potential. Teachers can help students realize that all questions do not have specific answers and that discussion is a powerful tool. This is the first time in the students’ educations when a classroom discussion has ever been mentally possible. This new classroom tool opens up doors to new learning possibilities, such as peer teaching. One of the best ways students can learn is from each other. As wonderful and exciting as this new stage of development is, middle level teaching definitely has its challenges.

            Middle school students are trapped in a period of rapid physical development as well, not just mental development. This causes middle school students to crave physical activity. Newly developing muscles give students the strength to run, jump, climb, or play like never before. This need for activity can sometimes cause very short attention spans. One solution for this is to teach lessons that involve a lot of movement and dance. This keeps the students engaged and active at the same time. Avoiding situations where students are sitting, absorbing information can help the teacher cut back on behavioral issues as well as help ensure that the students are actually learning something from the lesson. There are unlimited ways to keep students engaged in a lesson. “Just because we can’t think of how to do this doesn’t mean it can’t be done. When we’re struck for ideas, that’s when we turn to colleagues, print or multimedia sources, or even to our students’ ideas. We should never limit our instructional practice and our students’ learning to our own creativity” (Wormeli Pg. 11).  It is virtually impossible for a teacher to always come up with a creative, engaging, and fun lesson completely on his or her own. Teachers should use every source available to them so as to ensure they never run out of tricks.

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