Did I Choose the Right Grade Level?

Biggest Question to Discern

Being called to teach is a fabulous calling. When discerning this calling, the most important question I feel is “what grade level should I teach?” Observing the Middle School level, I have come to grabbing terms of the average Elementary, Middle, and High school level class attitude and maturity. Parents may love the cute and innocent little kid age and may dread a high school student’s drive for independence and sassiness; however, the Elementary teachers are chasing kids around to sit in their chair and the High School teachers are appreciating their concentration, intelligence, and presence in a classroom atmosphere.

The Forgotten Grade Level

As a society, we view kids from the age 11-15 as beginning teens—MIDDLE SCHOOLERS! When thinking of kids in middle school, I imagine half the kids looking like kids and the other half just transformed into adult bodies. I think of how their “social” life is everything, and the fine line between mature and immature are laid out. As humans, we miss the understanding or putting on the middle school students shoes. Society in middle school make out the social life and “popularity” to be everything; this then changes their focus to being liked by their peers then finding their potential. Today, I pretend to be in the middle school students shoes—and man do they have it rough! Not only are they being pressured by their own society, but also going through body change and challenged by curriculum in school. Even though the students may get off key or out of harmony they are full of intelligence, creativity, desire, and wholeness. All they want in life is to be valued and be someone—that is where WE as teachers come into play! Teaching is like riding a train that never stops; we get to see each generation with a new “style” be created, development, and defined!

Can We Reverse Roles for a Day?

In a parents mind, the imagination is telling them that the teacher has complete control of their classroom or that having your summers off is living in paradise. WELL, nobody can just give you a book on “controlling” kids; I mean some parents feel it is hard just to control the average number of kids in an American family—2.5 kids. Well, just imagine a classroom of 22 students with half girls and half boys?! Being a teacher you must have grace, love, passion, and PATIENCE!