I just got back from Princess' middle school open house. Wow. This is not what I remembered about middle school, 30 some-odd years ago:
- Instead of "periods," classes are in "blocks." Blocks A through G, and then there's X block. Why it's not called H, I have no idea.
- Class schedules rotate on a 6-day schedule, not 5 days. So what you did on Monday this week is not the same as Monday next week. Considering these kids have to get up at the crack of dawn to catch buses before 7 am and then pay attention to what they have to do and where they need to be, that's just mean.
- What happened to blackboards? Everyone has a whiteboard. And something new called a "smartboard." The teacher taps the board, and poof! A new screen appears. I guess the saying "fingernails on a chalkboard" has officially gone the way of "repeating yourself like a broken record."
- Science is no longer text books and experiments, but has moved to "inquiry learning." Um, what?
But as much as things have changed, some things still stay the same:
- I could not get from one end of the building to another without getting lost. It didn't help when they handed me a map and said, "By the way, the map's not really drawn to scale, and there's stairs on the map that you can't use." Great. Not good news for the directionally challenged.
- I kept waving to my friends as we passed in the hallway: "Where are you headed?" "Art." "Math." "Ok, catch you in science!"
- Each class I entered, I looked for a friend or at least a vaguely familiar face. The same parents I knew from elementary school were either friendly, stand-offish, or hanging around in cliques like we were 11 and starting seventh grade for the first time.
- Just as the teacher would start getting interesting, the bell would ring.
- I talked way too much to my neighbor, who finally told me, "Shhh! Turn around before we get into trouble!"
I enjoyed getting a glimpse into my daughter's day. I felt the anxiety, the newness, the pressure. All of her teachers were friendly and welcoming (although I didn't exactly get the warm fuzzies from her math teacher). Princess is entering a wonderful and exciting time in her life, and I know she will thrive in this educational environment.
Want to know how I'm doing? I'll pass you a note in study hall.
7 comments:
Too funny! How nice that you see what your daughter's day is like!
LOVED this post!
I had a similar experience when my oldest started high school. My "baby" just started middle school, and has the same teachers as my daughter did last year, so it should be a bit easier to get a handle on things. Here's to another year of backpacks, homework, and of course, all the whining that goes with it! :)
The chalk boards in my kids' schools are normally all covered with posters, charts, etc. They need to convert to cork.
The school district that my DD is in is very techniologicaly advanced. Every single classroom in the distric has smart boards. They are the a really good learning tool, but if the power goes out, they're useless. LOL Some of the young teachers are so dependant that they don't have paper copies of stuff.
I went to an old style catholic school, so we definitely had chalk boards, and they were real slate. I personally can't stand white boards. Haven't yet seen a smart board.
My senior year of high school (2003) we converted to Blocks not Periods for the first time. I hated it, but it was nice to "skip" a class once a week.
I wonder if you ask your parents what it was like when they were in middle school/junior high how different it would be from your experience, and even further from your daughter's.
We don't get a parent's night at our middle school, but we went through with our son on 'back to school' night when we found all his classrooms and got his locker loaded. I went to the same building when I was in high school, but it's been vastly remodeled and NOTHING is the same. Well, the gym is, but I've blocked out those bad memories! Needless to say, I'm lost as soon as I walk in the front door.
Wow I definitely didn't remember some stuff from middle school (jr. high, whatever you call it).
I'm glad I have a few years left before my oldest gets there...although I know it will go quickly.
I would have totally chatted with you while the teacher was talking though. Or more likely passed notes.
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