TCM Article Summary

The article titled Transitions from Elementary to Middle School Math posted in the TCM journal expressed the need that teachers need to recognize and help students as they make the transition into the middle school/junior high. Students come across changes made with regards to how the aid materials are presented to them and the difficulty level of the material. It would be best for teachers at this level be aware of all of the challenges and difficulties that a student may run into as they make the transition. By doing this the teachers will be better at preparing the students to leap frog the challenges. The authors also talked about the involvement that the teaching community must have with one another. Having middle school teachers make visits to the elementary schools and having direct communication with the staff could help them understand better ways to help students who are making the grade level transition. Elementary school teachers must also be familiar with what the students will encounter at the junior high level. It would be best for the students to have the opportunity to practice learning at a more advanced level prior to making the transition. Connections will be vital for the students to make and act upon when they are preparing for junior high instruction. If they are familiar with the methods then they will be able to learn to their full potential without having declines in academic achievement. More importantly, the students will be ready to learn and build upon the concepts and knowledge they already have pertaining to mathematics.

This would be very helpful as the students would be very familiar with what will be expected of them in at the junior high level. By having teachers that are prepared to help guide students through their transitions into the upper grade levels then they will have a greater possibility of success. The article stated many good points that I can see myself implementing in my classroom, but the main concept of preparing students for their transition really hit me at home. As a teacher I will want to see my students go on to do great things so it is important to myself that I do all I can to help the students grow.