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My View
is uneven; some middle school students look like they belong in the elementary school and some look like they are ready to graduate from high school. They often feel misunderstood and don't usually understand themselves. They face social, emotional, physical and cognitive upheavals. Their lives are not easy. Nor, is teaching them! Middle school teachers must have a sense of humor, the ability to be flexible and the patience to listen. They must love their subjects in order to keep the attention and interest of Independent these easily distracted students. Educators did not always recognize the special needs of this age group. Traditional junior high schools were watered-down high schools. Students went from self-contained elementary school classrooms into a more impersonal world of changing classes and having a lot of teachers, where they were judged mostly on their academic strengths and weaknesses. In 1971, when I began teaching on Nantucket, Cyrus Peirce was definitely a junior high school. Shortly thereafter, the staff began to consider what it would take to make us a middle school. Massachusetts also began to recognize that teachers of this age group needed specific training focusing on the needs of middle school youngsters; teaching certificates now differentiate between teachers of grades 6-8 and 9-12. Cyrus Peirce gradually evolved into a middle school. We sought assistance from the New England League of Middle Schools, read books and articles, went to conferences, visited model middle schools and invited experts to Nantucket. Agoal of the middle school is to help students transition from elementary school to high school. Middle schools integrate the social and emotional needs of their students alongside their academic needs. Middle schools try to incorporate as much hands-on learning and cooperative experiences as possible. Cyrus Peirce students start every day in small-group advisories where they set personal and academic goals and discuss issues associated with growing up. Teachers in middle schools are grouped into teams, giving them the ability to focus on the needs of their students and to develop interdisciplinary units that help students to see the links between what they are learning and real-life applications. One of the first things we did at the old Cyrus Peirce building was symbolic. We got rid of the bells! This allowed each teaching team to develop its own schedule. So, today, our sixth grade team has a different schedule from the rest of the school. Their class periods are shorter, recognizing that their students have shorter attention spans than older students. Flexible schedules allow us the time for important group projects. Hands-on projects are perfect for young adolescents. Recently, for example, the entire eighth grade took several mornings to participate in an engineering project, building egg containers designed to withstand impact when dropped from a height. On another morning, the class used nets to gather sea life with the Maria Mitchell Association in Madaket Harbor. These projects simply are not possible in schools where the schedule is not flexible. Another hallmark of a true middle school is exposure to a variety of exploratory subjects. In our sixth grade, students are exposed to industrial arts, art, peer mediation, American theater, computers, chorus and health. In grades seven and eight, students no longer take as many exploratory classes. Instead, they choose which most interest them. In addition, Spanish and French are added to their curriculum choices. In this way, we help students to think about their future and what courses they wish to take in the high school. Cyrus Peirce Middle School has had to adapt some of our middle school practices over the past few years because of new regulations involving standardized testing. Nevertheless, we strive to remain true to our middle school ideals and seek ways to make learning appropriate for this challenging and fun age group. I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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