My Reaction to This Vision
This We Believe is made up of only a short sixty six pages, but in this brief text the Association for Middle Level Education calls educators to a mountain sized challenge. One of the most important aspects of this book that I really admire is that its assumptions and conclusions are supported by extensive amounts of research, and the views they take in their vision are supported by evidence from numerous studies conducted by different groups. I was also impressed with how thorough the vision presented in this book truly is.
This book of course insists schools teach traditional academic knowledge and intelligence, but it also stresses how schools must help and support the physical, psychological, …show more content…
These students require educators who are great role models of how to live life in a healthy, positive way at this age more than ever. Also in this key developmental period we need teachers who build meaningful relationships with their students, and create positive, inviting classroom atmospheres that make all students feel safe and supported. Adolescent students’ cognitive abilities are also developing rapidly at this period in their lives, and it is crucial that they are challenged and supported in order to develop the high level thinking skills and abilities needed to be successful after they have finished school. Only in such an environment will educators be able to maximize each individual student’s learning abilities to their full …show more content…
It gives teachers guidelines on how to prepare their instruction and assessments to be engaging, challenging, and purposeful for all students. Likewise it exhibits the momentous importance of creating a school environment with a positive, encouraging, and accepting atmosphere where all students can learn to their highest capabilities. Even more so the text stresses that teachers need to know individual students personally, and to plan their lessons in a way where each student is supported and guided so they can achieve academic and personal successes. The book can also serve as a set of the highest standards to which educators can compare their personal schools to. This selection of standards can also help educators measure where they are succeeding and where area they need to improve on. Most valuable in my mind it serves as a concrete set of goals that all stake holders in education can rally behind ,and set out to work together collaboratively on conquering the challenge that this book sets out in its vision of a perfect middle grades level