1. & 7. Going back: One Teacher's Journey

1. & 7. Going Back

This we believe (NMSA, 2010).

* Educators value young adolescents and are prepared to teach them. Value Young Adolescents
* Leaders are committed to and knowledgeable about this age group, educational research, and best practices. Committed Leaders

It is a new year. All across the country middle school students, guardians of middle school children, and teachers are preparing. Some children are like horses in the gate; others are oblivious; still others are anxious, nervous, and afraid. Children are preparing to step further into the world of young adolescence and that world is sometimes filled with uncertainty and opportunity, disappointment, and new challenges. Parents are possibly capturing, reigning in, the last-minute memories of their children growing up right before their eyes. They too may be anxious, nervous, and hopeful. In some cases they may be preparing to sail into uncharted waters. But teachers are preparing to change the world. Some are in workshops; some are packing or unpacking books, artifacts, resources; some are spending the last days of summer finishing a novel, walking along the beach with friends and/or family, imagining the freshness, the newness, capturing the spirit of 'the new year.' Some are organizing their educational world and some are collaborating with colleagues around the globe.

I have always wished to be able to bottle the spirit of 'the new year.' It is hope. It is a blank canvas as big as the sky. It is uncharted waters that will see sunny days as well as storms, glorious starry nights, spectacular sunrises, dangers, and amazing possibilities. It is the belief that through it all, together, we can make a difference in the lives of young people. When children, their parents, and teachers build a commitment to making a difference it can happen. Let's prepare to change the world together. It is a new year, let's make it our year! I am in. Are you?

Advice

1) Think about how to get to know 'your team.' (If you are an elective teacher, and are not part of a team, find a team to join.) Team is the most important organizational structure In a middle school.

2) Who are the teachers with whom you work; who are the guardians of the children; who are the children?

3) What are their strengths, their interests? What makes them laugh? What do they love? What do they hope for? What are they good at? Relationships matter; build them.