New School, New term.

This term I am at Roosevelt Middle School which is one of the 'premier' middle schools in Eugene, it's long had a reputation for being innovative and highly rigorous academically. It's got a fairly high SES and is a feeder school to the high school with the same reputation, South Eugene High School.

The culture of the school is very, for lack of a better term, Eugenian. Equity and diversity are highly valued, though there is still a fairly traditional status quo. But students call their teachers by their first names, they get to pick their teachers and their classes with surprising freedom. It's also the only middle school that I know of that has a semi-open campus. Students are free (with parent permission) to go across the street to the local convenience store, organic grocery, or funky coffee shop.

As far as math, there seems to be a very strong program. For the at level students they rely on a curriculum called Connected Math. This is very application based, and the books don't actually ever tell students how to do anything. Instead they lead them through 'investigations' that cause students to apply the math. The downside of this highly constructivist approach is that the students often lack the concrete rules, algorithms or equations that they would gain from a more direct instruction oriented curriculum.

For those students who are below level, either because of learning disabilities, other IEP issues, or simply because math is particularly difficult for them, they take, instead of one of their electives, a class called Math 360. This class is taken on the opposite day of their regular math class and pairs pre-teaching and over-teaching with structured and guided homework help, and time using the 'Bridges to Algebra' computer math practice program .

For students who are above level, there are several class opportunities, as high as Algebra II offered, as well as math club(s) and quiz teams for those who truly enjoy math. RMS is moving towards an 'Algebra for All' approach which would place all (or nearly all) 8th graders in an algebra class, verses Algebra being an at level class for Freshman. This is likely in response at least partially to the new state requirements of three years of math Algebra or above in high school .

My situation, being paired with four total teachers, may seem chaotic or busy, but compared with my physical classroom situation last term, I don't mind a bit. My 'home location' is with Marna, and two of my other classrooms are just down the hall. My other Math 7 class is on the opposite side of the school. Despite moving around, I feel like I have had ample time to get to know and get a feel for each of my math teachers. My Social Studies teacher has been absent, so I have had a limited opportunity to talk with her. The math teachers work together very well, and have a fairly effective communication mechanism.

Right now it seems that my challenges for this term will be juggling more then one class preparation, shifting to fit in with several different teacher's house rules and styles, and integrating skill practice and drill into a highly application centered curriculum.