Voices From the Middle

For my second teacher journal I read "Voices From the Middle" coedited by Sara Kajder, University of Georgia and Shelbie Witte, Oklahoma State University. This journal contains texts not only from educators but also students, teacher educators, and researchers. I think that having all of these perspectives readily available in one single composition of writing is really great. This forces the reader to take on many different perspectives at once and really analyze everything that is being said to its fullest extent by comparing and contrasting different viewpoints, understanding why they exist, why they are relevant or not, and why you may or may not agree with them or incorporate them into your own practice. The article focuses mainly on teaching English and how to teach English in different middle school settings. I think the fact that this journal focuses on teaching English was extremely relevant for me personally since I'm in the GECP at MSU and teaching English to those who don't speak it as a first language is one of our main topics. I thought being able to have a number of different perspectives on the issues also helped me to better understand what I, as a teacher, need to do in order to be effective in teaching English to my students. I found that all of the research done in this journal seemed very reasonable, moderate, and well thought out and looked into. I felt that everything in this writing was also very sincere and positive. I think that after reading this journal I really gained a lot of very useful insight and knowledge into something that I care about very much and strive to achieve in my future. I think having the knowledge that I gained from this journal can be nothing but beneficial in my future journey and that's why I felt that this text was so relatable and easy to understand and get into.