Ok. Moving to the Columbus, Georgia area in about a month. I have had a couple of good interviews for a couple of schools at the high school level. Today an asst. superentindent e-mailed me to ask me if I would be interested in middle school. Of course, I am going to say yes, but I have never taught middle school in my life. Infact, the only experience I had in a middle school as a sub was so awful I swore never to step into a middle school again. Still, I need to have a job before this month is out so if that is all I can get, that is what I am going to have to take. So, what are some of the differences in areas like curriculum, classroom management, etc.
It really all depends on the population, but there are a couple of differences I noticed this semester (I spent 2 months student teaching at a high school, and I've been student teaching at a middle school for the last 6 weeks). The first is that Middle school curriculum is tough to get used to. I'm a content freak. I enjoy reading Shakespeare and Chaucer. I like getting into the meaning of different texts. That's my thing. Middle school content was SO much more simplistic. It's very basics-oriented (I had to remember a few terms about grammar that I'd forgotten ). Teaching middle school is more about teaching than content. Even in 50 minute periods, you need to come up with compartmentalized lessons. They need to change gears every 15-20 minutes or you will just lose them altogether. Another thing to get used to with the middle school is that the kids are just all over the place emotionally. Some are already plunging full-bore into puberty. They don't want you to talk to them. They won't do homework because it's not cool. If you yell at them, some of them will yell back in their squeaky, wannabe tough guy voice. On the other hand, there will be kids that are ridiculously needy. You'd think the cord still needed to be cut to hear them speak. There will be some who let fly with tears at the slightest perceived slight. It's a tough thing to get used to. One thing I will say for the middle school is to not judge it based on your subbing experience. I hated the middle school in my first 2 weeks there. Now I know the kids. I know who to treat with kid gloves and who to use the "mean Mr. Teacher" act on. I have gotten better at designing lessons that keep their attention. The content in the curriculum still bores the hell out of me, so I'm VERY unlikely to interview for a paid middle school position, but I'm definitely a better teacher from the experience. To boil it all down: At the high school, you need to help the kids understand the curriculum. At the middle school, you use the curriculum to help figure out the kids.
I brought up your question to my wife at dinner this evening. She has taught at the HS level in the past but for the past 12 years, been in middle school, primarily 8th grade Language Arts, but also several years of US History for 7th & 8th graders. She has chaired the Curriculum Committee for our district for both HS and primary levels. Has a Masters in Child Development with a couple of specialties, blah, blah, blah. So she thinks she knows what is going on, and I am forced to agree with her. Her first comment was to check into what subjects you may be teaching. In California HS you teach only a single subject but in middle school you may teach several. If you teach several, you need a different credential than HS. So check that out. The biggest difference to her between HS and middle school is the behavior and classroom management issues, much of which Jacen mentioned. In one of her Masters program classes they reviewed a study that showed that in this pre-pubescent stage their brain is functioning at one level but their hormonal levels are flying all over the place. The result is that the brain just cannot keep up with it all and demands that things slow down. Hence the recommendation is to focus on broadening the horizons of a subject instead on introducing entirely new concepts. For example, the suggestion was that for many at this age level, they just cannot handle Algebra and will waste 2 years trying to learn. But once they get to HS, they will master the idea in 4 months. I think this again confirms Jacen's "content" message. Once the kids get through this level, the hormones settle down, the brain catches up and things get back to normal. This phenomena is something I have observed on the soccer field with 2 different groups of kids who were great at U12 but were uncontrollable maniacs at U13. And...by the time they were U14, things were back to normal. In fact, with the second group of boys, we won state at U16 but I wouldn't have given a nickel that we would have ever had a .500 season again after the U13 year. Summarily, my wife enjoys 8th grade much more than 7th. The reason is that for many 7th graders, they have just come from a "home room" situation where they are in one room most of the day to single teacher/subject format and so their neat little world is turned completely upside down and they really show it. By 8th grade, things have settled down quite a bit as they have gotten used to the multi-classroom deal though the hormones are still going crazy for some. Maintaining focus through having very tight lesson plans is the key to success in the content. My wife still spends a great deal of time fine-tuning lessons even after 26 years, but that is part of the key to her success, not that I am the least bit prejudiced. I hope this ramble helps. Though I have never gone farther than coaching soccer and mentoring, I love the age and enjoy the kids. I worked my way up to a National B license and spent a great deal of time studying child development and behavior on my own. My wife and I seem to wind up comparing notes daily in the fall when I am on the field everyday and she is in the classroom. We have had some great discussions that have gone on for hours. If I had my life to live all over again I would be a full-time HS teacher and coach. Throw in some counseling time and it would be complete. Fortunately, I am self-employed and my business allows me time for my passion for kids so I don't feel completely shut out. Next life will be different.
I've only taught those respective age groups in "academic" summer camp settings, so I have nothing to add other than saying good luck to pething.
Upon arousing this morning with my favorite cup of coffee and re-reading my post of last night, I think I should revisit this briefly as it appears you have been left with an overly negative view of this option. The key to success of the middle school level, in the eyes of my wife, is all about a tight lesson plan and maintaining it. Don't try to create an entire new world for this age which has so many other new things dropped into it by the changes going on in their bodies. So it all comes down to maintaining focus for a critical time in a child's life. While this is always a good lesson for all of us no matter the age, THIS is the age when that "focus" needs to be introduced for the critical component that it is. As such, school begins to serve that greater purpose of preparing a young person to be a responsible adult as opposed to just getting a passing grade so they can move on to the next level. Therefore, it is worth pointing out that the good students you enjoyed as a HS teacher, were the product of not only a solid home environment, but also a quality middle school teacher who helped guide these young melon-heads through a crucial and challenging time in their lives with success...a challenge worthy of acceptance, IMO.
With all due respect to dj's and jacen's astute analyses, I say DO NOT teach middle school. It's hell.
I showed your response to my wife just now. She smiled and only said, "Yes, there are days that look like that."