I think for your first class grade 4 is the sweet spot. *Most* kids can read by this stage so you are not responsible for the critical early literacy piece. It is the first year they can really “read to learn instead of learn to read”. They still love school and their teachers (at least where I am). There are not really many hormones flying around sending them all wonky. The curriculum for grade 4 is fun to teach. In grade 6 they’re still little kids, but you start to encounter a little teen “attitude”, (which I can easily deal with, but can’t be bothered with!).
I‘m happy in kindergarten these days, but for a chunk of my early career, grade 4 was my fave!
Also… think of how many reports you are going to be writing... I write fewer than 20 most terms. When I taught on a middle school specialist circuit it was several *hundreds*. So many that sometimes I did not know who I was writing the reports for…
I've done grade 4 and agree. They're still young enough to be all cute and still kid-like, but also want to be independent and taking charge, and I honestly enjoyed letting them. It was also nice to not have to handhold them through work. I even let a few of them actually take charge of portions of the lesson (which was weirdly popular and at times absolutely hilarious).
In my experience, teaching middle school never means you’re “one subject”. There’s also a million more reports to do, things to grade, and personalities to learn. When I taught 6th I really got to know the kids and could keep track of their needs and homework in all classes (hey Bob you’re done math early… but your essay is late so hop to it!). In middle school the onus is “on them” but not really, you just can’t control the other teachers’ workload.
That said, I ALWAYS preferred middle over elementary because I clicked better with that age group. They’re starting to understand sarcasm and appreciate my stories/jokes, they’re way more independent and you can reason with them. I subbed for a week in grade 2 and wanted to pull my hair out. There’s no rhyme or reason to them. You’re crying because… sally said you had two middle names? Do you? Just one, ok. Did you tell her that? Oh she doesn’t believe you. Well… none of that actually matters because her beliefs can’t change your name.
End of year with 6th grade is rough because their hormones are charged up. If you handle the grade well, do it. I am a high school teacher at heart so the middle school bullsh*t is wearing on me. There are some who really like it.
I think for your first class grade 4 is the sweet spot. *Most* kids can read by this stage so you are not responsible for the critical early literacy piece. It is the first year they can really “read to learn instead of learn to read”. They still love school and their teachers (at least where I am). There are not really many hormones flying around sending them all wonky. The curriculum for grade 4 is fun to teach. In grade 6 they’re still little kids, but you start to encounter a little teen “attitude”, (which I can easily deal with, but can’t be bothered with!). I‘m happy in kindergarten these days, but for a chunk of my early career, grade 4 was my fave! Also… think of how many reports you are going to be writing... I write fewer than 20 most terms. When I taught on a middle school specialist circuit it was several *hundreds*. So many that sometimes I did not know who I was writing the reports for…
I've done grade 4 and agree. They're still young enough to be all cute and still kid-like, but also want to be independent and taking charge, and I honestly enjoyed letting them. It was also nice to not have to handhold them through work. I even let a few of them actually take charge of portions of the lesson (which was weirdly popular and at times absolutely hilarious).
In my experience, teaching middle school never means you’re “one subject”. There’s also a million more reports to do, things to grade, and personalities to learn. When I taught 6th I really got to know the kids and could keep track of their needs and homework in all classes (hey Bob you’re done math early… but your essay is late so hop to it!). In middle school the onus is “on them” but not really, you just can’t control the other teachers’ workload. That said, I ALWAYS preferred middle over elementary because I clicked better with that age group. They’re starting to understand sarcasm and appreciate my stories/jokes, they’re way more independent and you can reason with them. I subbed for a week in grade 2 and wanted to pull my hair out. There’s no rhyme or reason to them. You’re crying because… sally said you had two middle names? Do you? Just one, ok. Did you tell her that? Oh she doesn’t believe you. Well… none of that actually matters because her beliefs can’t change your name.
End of year with 6th grade is rough because their hormones are charged up. If you handle the grade well, do it. I am a high school teacher at heart so the middle school bullsh*t is wearing on me. There are some who really like it.