I’m not much of a veteran, but I started my teaching career in high school before navigating my way to the middle school waters. Both have their perks and quirks, but when it came down to it, I chose middle school. Or perhaps, middle school chose me.

High school was a place where my sarcasm seemed to be appreciated. Of course, I also taught high school in a poverty stricken area where the focus was mainly on writing and not on great novels. When I introduced my students to the idea of allegory, I thought that they would lose their minds. How could Bradbury be making a statement about the Cold War when he was clearly writing about Asians flying kites? Or Poe writing about a party, but sending a message about walling one’s self off from the world?

High school students have different issues. Some are raising themselves. Some are raising themselves along with little ones. Some are trying to make it to the age where they can drop out. When I was teaching high school, I felt like I was fighting a fire that was out of control. I couldn’t save everyone. Drugs were rampant. Gangs were even more rampant, and they used the classroom as their own personal battlefield at times. Even if I tried to create a safe place for learning, the outside frequently broke into my classroom on a daily basis.

Some people were built for this. Some are not. When I sat down and reflected on why I wanted it to teach high school, I realized I wanted to do so more for the great literature than for the students. I couldn’t save the students even through the literature, and I felt like a failure more than I felt successful as a teacher.

Middle school is not without its problems, but the problems are manageable. You meet these students where they are, much like high school, but its easier to open the door. Sixth grade still has its sweet innocence of elementary school. Seventh grade is starting to wall itself off, and you get hit by those age 13 hormones where they go a little berserk. The constant mood swings will drive you insane as they navigate through this new serge of hormones. Eighth grade the hormone swing is still working, and they think that they are fully grown. They are more private at this age and not willing to share what’s going on in their world.

I have taught all 3 grade levels in middle school. I’ve managed to overcome my need to teach great literature by teaching good literature and many reading skills. I’ve been questioned at times by my students about why I was teaching history when it was an ELA class, but once I explain the need to understand the background, they begin to understand.

In middle school, you can act silly and be silly. You know when to take a silly break and when students just need to talk something out. They love to share and can over-share at times. You hear strange conversations that make you laugh. You hear stories that make you cry. And if I’m to be honest, it is only in middle school where you can lose the pink pen you have had for more than five years and have all of the students suddenly go on a hunt around the classroom to find it.

With high school, I felt like I needed to constantly be tough.

With middle school, I could freely show my vulnerability and be accepted.

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