My name is Nicole
Miller. I would like to welcome you all to EDE 8113. I am excited about getting
to know each of you and look forward to guiding you through the process of
preparing to become a middle school teacher.
Prior to coming to
Mississippi State, I was a middle school teacher for seven years in the Los
Angeles Unified School District. I worked at a middle school serving
~1,500 students, with approximately 60% second language learners (various
stages), and about 60% of the students qualifying for free or reduced lunch via
the Title 1 program. Despite these statistics, we became one of the
highest performing middle schools in state, including earning California
Distinguished School and Schools-to-Watch status. I taught both seventh and
eighth grade students. I taught social studies (world history), introduction to
computers, tech team (students provided technical support to the teachers),
technology education, yearbook, and served in various leadership capacities at
the school, including technology coordinator.
I love teaching and
working with young adolescents, though I did not go into teaching thinking that
this was the age I wanted teach. I initially intended on teaching high school,
but was hired at a middle school while I earned my teaching license and fell in
love with working with this special age group. I know you will love working
with young adolescents too!
While this summer term,
and the next year, will be challenging, with hard work and dedication you will
be successful. My overall goals for this summer are for you to:
1.
Gain an understanding of
young adolescents, their developmental characteristics, and the diversity among
them.
2.
Understand what it means
to be developmentally responsive and know how to implement developmentally
responsive practices.
3.
Understand effective
classroom management for young adolescents.
4.
Understand that
effective classroom management is more than just rules, procedures, and discipline.
Again, I am excited
about this course and working with each of you over the course of the semester.
I have recently started
a personal blog if you are interested, though I am not sure how often I will
update that one: http://www.learnbydesign.net.
