What Does A Middle School Teacher Do?
Middle school teachers handle students from the sixth to eighth grades. Their main task is to strengthen what the students’ learned in elementary and make them ready for the more rigorous high school curriculum. They typically teach in a subject area that they specialize in so if they are trained in biology, math, history or English then they will be meeting students of different levels to deliver their lessons. In some middle schools, the teacher handles all the subjects for a particular class for the entire day. No matter what the arrangement is, middle school teachers have to prepare their lessons or confer with other teachers after their class hours.
The job of middle school teachers can be challenging, especially when some students don’t seem to understand a lesson no matter how hard the teacher tries to explain it. This is why patience and creativity are the hallmarks of a teacher. Knowing that different students respond to different teaching styles will make the job of the teacher less stressful because they will then endeavor to present lessons in other ways that will make students understand.
In a typical day, middle school teachers see themselves doing the tasks that teachers do. These include preparing lesson plans, presenting lessons, asking questions, answering questions, administering tests, checking papers and computing students’ grades. They may also find themselves imposing disciplinary sanctions on students or acting as a listener and counselor to those who have problems that interfere with their academics and other school activities. Before classes start, teachers see to it that the room is prepared and that the materials needed for the presentation of the lesson are ready.
Middle school teachers may also be asked to act as the adviser of student clubs and school sports teams. These clubs usually meet after school hours and may have activities on weekends, which add to the work that teachers do. They may also organize field trips or be asked to chaperone a particular group of students.
As part of their work, middle school teachers also confer with other members of the faculty to talk about student performance, the curriculum or other activities. They also talk with parents or guardians of the students and update them about their progress or talk with them about behavioral problems that their children may have at school. Together with the school administrator and the school counselor, middle school teachers also confer with the parents and recommend strategies to help out the students concerned.
Middle school teachers also use technology to facilitate learning and promote better communication between them, their students and their students’ parents. Thus, some teachers create websites to provide resources that would help students with their assignments and school work. They may also use social media to keep students updated about the school’s upcoming events, co-curricular activities or test schedules. Middle school teachers must constantly stay updated with the changes in technology, especially those that will help students learn. If there are new learning apps developed for middle school students then they will try to evaluate if this is going to be beneficial for their students, get the approval of the school administrator and promote its use to students.
Career Spotlight: Middle School Teacher
A middle school teacher teaches and guides students who are transitioning into adolescence from elementary school. Middle school prepares young minds for the more challenging tasks that they are bound[...]
