Meet Me in the Middle: Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen was largely about the negative media representation that middle school students get now- the author included the rampant outbreak of sexually transmitted disease as the glaringly cranky example. He also discussed several incredible feats that his middle school students have achieved that certainly outshine the negative; raising substantial sums of money for good causes, managing websites, performing at events that have thousands of people in attendance, coordinating construction projects, and an avid reader of 2,000 books in the time of 4 months. The entire chapter suggested taking any previously held notion about middle school students and re-evaluating that notion, because the results may surprise and delight.

One of the things that the author shared in the chapter is the installation of the graffiti wall in his classroom. Not only is this something I could see myself as a middle schooler enjoying writing on, but I could see myself as a teacher waiting excitedly to see what people wrote on the paper. I think the whole point of this chapter is to trust the middle school students in your class enough to be savvy, smart, and intelligent. Because the media tears them down, many teachers' minds are poisoned with the media representation, and that trust is lost.