How to become a Teacher
and make a difference
in Middle School

You want to know how to become a teacher that makes a difference in a middle school setting? It’s not an easy task. Almost every time I’ve been asked what I teach and answered middle school language arts, I’ve been met with a variation of this response - “oh, wow, that’s tough” usually accompanied by a grimace or a sympathetic head shake.

Good middle school teachers are hard to find

Why is this? It’s not for lack of good teachers, there are plenty of those floating around. It’s because middle school stress management for teachers is very hard.

A day in the life of your average 11-14 year old is packed full of emotions and not well-thought-out responses to unpleasant situations. There are days when you “reach” a student and you leave feeling like a million bucks. There are days when the lesson you spent two weeks planning and plotting and excitedly setting up falls totally flat and they all hate it. There are days when you feel like if you hear your name, see another tear, or listen to one more complaint about how much work you’re requiring, you might actually go insane.

If you can withstand all this stress and still feel fulfilled every day - please stay in middle school! A very smart teacher, and my mentor, once told me “if you’ve got it for middle school, you shouldn’t go anywhere else.”

The secret for how to become a teacher in middle school that’s successful
I’ve taken classes with high school English teachers and listened as they endlessly discussed and stressed about curriculum and lesson plans. While I too place my emphasis on the content, I also know from experience that our first job as middle school teachers is to teach these young people how to become adults. On any given day I’ll have taught a student how to organize a notebook, break up a fight between boys and try to explain to them the proper way to handle their anger, or diffuse the ever worsening backstabbing and petty hurting of feelings that goes on between girls. And this is just in the morning! I haven’t even gotten to open a novel or read a poem yet!

So HOW to become a teacher in Middle School?
If you want to teach this age group, enjoy your job, and have a life these qualities are a must:

The key to for how to become a teacher in middle school that is successful is to know that you are doing WAY more than just teaching your subject. Things like classroom management skills, classroom seating charts, and classroom routines have to come first. Once these things are in place you can start focusing on your subject.

Middle school stress management is hard to figure out, especially with NCLB and teacher accountability these days. Just know what you’re getting into. Go in armed with your classroom management plan, posters of classroom rules and routines, and an idea for how to handle behavior problems in the classroom.

Why then, would you choose to figure out how to become a teacher in middle school? That answer is simple -

It’s the most unique age group because they are little people scrambling to become adults while still hanging on by a thread to that innocence from childhood. And what you say really matters to them!

How awesome is it that you get to play a part in shaping the future of our world every day? There is no better job and no better feeling than watching a student’s face light up with excitement over something you’ve taught them!

Learn Everything you need to know to get the teaching job you've
dreamed of!  Tim Wei's Guide includes information about applying for teaching jobs, cover letters and resumes, building a teaching portfolio, and interview tips.  Also, learn the 50 most commonly asked interview questions for teachers and how to answer them. Simply go to, I want a teaching job.  

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