Middle Schools Should . . .

What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know by Trudy Knowles and Dave F. Brown

This book advocates for a change in the structure of learning in our schools. It's time for us to have a serious discussion about this. The current way of learning in schools isn't conductive to the modern world. It's old-and-outdated and in need of change.

I like the idea of a student designed curriculum. There are some great ideas on how to make this a reality in the classroom. I'm not sure how practical these tips are though. We have ministry expectations we need to be covering in our lessons and we have a limited amount of time to do so.

The authors suggest that we change the structure of the school day to help facilitate this. Artificial timetables with 40 minute subject blocks probably aren't the best way to reach every student. It would be really nice to have some fluidity there.

This book really does have some great ideas but the implication of them would be difficult for any individual teacher. These changes need to come in to place for an entire school or district to be effective.

I would love to see some of these changes come into effect. I think the students would respond well to the ideas presented in this book.

Unfortunately, after reading this book, I have no idea how to follow up on the authors' suggestions. It's a pie in the sky kind of ideal that more than likely won't come to fruition. There are a few things we can take from this book to our classrooms as they are now. There are a few good ideas in it that will actually work without major restructuring. But overall, change needs to come from someone other than the regular classroom teacher.

My 2013 Reading List

Teaching Tip Tuesday List