Currently working at a sixth grade placement, I could not agree more with Brown and Knowles’s metaphor comparing teaching middle school to skiing; yes, it is incredibly exhausting, draining, and you leave thinking “I can’t believe I am going to exert myself again in such a energy-sapping way in less than 24 hours,” but it really is one of the most exciting, rewarding, and entertaining experiences I’ve ever experienced (and I never expected myself to enjoy working with middle schoolers). As I was reading “You Want to be a What?” I was nodding my head and wagging my hand back and forth in a surfer motion because apparently that is how sixth graders signify that they firmly agree with what somebody is saying…I am becoming one of them from exposure.

Everything that Brown and Knowles said possessed validity; the reason I never saw myself as a middle school teacher was because I really valued teaching English literature, and as I’ve learned from being in the classroom (and as they emphasize in their piece), content comes second to actually reaching the students; in sixth grade and middle school as a whole, you are laying down a foundation for higher education, so delving into the literature is not as critical as building up an actual literacy and teaching mechanics such as a writing process, literary concepts, how to effectively read independently, revision, peer editing, etc. These things may sound like matters of common sense to us, but to sixth graders they are foreign, and that is why it is of the utmost importance to teach them; if we, as middle school teachers, don’t introduce them at this age, then who will? After seeing how fun it can actually be to teach the foundations to students (and essentially create their knowledge of literacy), I realized that middle school is where it’s at. These young adolescents are way different than their stereotypes portray them, though, so be wary of that; especially with their access to technology (all they talk about is their iPhones and instagram), they know everything, from what’s going on with the Syrian refugee crisis (impressive) to Kylie Jenner and Tyga’s breakup (horrendous). Because of this constant immersion with technology, they are hip to the trends, thus demanding that we, as teachers, stay updated with them as well. In order to effectively engage our students, we should pay attention to the Scholastic book circulars that keep up with the best-selling books for tweens and order them for our classroom libraries. We should hold weekly book clubs either after school or during lunch featuring the hottest books (shout out to John Green…cringe) so that the kids can engage themselves with popular texts and see that we value what they value. Being a middle school teacher can be wearing, smelly, and awkward, but it is also incredibly nostalgic, enlightening, rewarding, and reviving. Brown and Knowles provide some incredible advice on how to approach such teaching, and I think one should seriously (re)consider a future in teaching middle schoolers…they are some of the sagest folks I’ve met yet.