Mr. Miller is kind, funny, friendly, and is usually in a good mood. His room is located in the lower east wing, across from the art room. Like all teachers, though, there are some things that you must know about him before entering his classroom. His room is never the right temperature; always too hot or too cold. Mr. Miller likes to start by having everyone write down the day's activities in their Daily Planners. After that, he uses a daily opener or DCS as a remedy for writer’s block. Throughout the school year, he likes to read and answer questions about books that are read in and out of class, just like with Mrs. Shoenecker and the other language arts teachers. Also, every week Mr. Miller has ‘independent reading journals’ that are due; to do these, you have to read another book besides the in-class novel and make two entries on it. All of this information is talked about by him during the school year, but if you are just starting the eighth grade, it is good to know about it ahead of time. Still, there is a few more things that only Mr. Miller could answer, and so following is a list of questions that I asked him along with his answers.
Below is a summary of the answers Mr. Miller gave to some questions I asked him.
Summary
Mr. Miller is a very unique person. He has had lots of experience in the teaching field; one year teaching third grade, and eight years teaching seventh grade writing. Because of this, he knows pretty much every trick in the book. He is not usually mean though- on the contrary! Mr. Miller remembers well the immense burden of being a middle schooler buried in homework, and so gives homework only if you have not been productive in-class. When he is angry or annoyed, though, he does not get red in the face or yell. Mr. Miller is the cold fury type; the cold shoulder and the like. He teaches 8th grade LA, but he tries to also teach his students to be “caring, responsible, contributing members to society.” He also wants for his students to develop “their own unique perspectives on things.” Middle school, eighth grade in particular, can be (and usually is) very chaotic. Why would anyone want to teach it? Mr. Miller said that he enjoys teaching in ‘the middle’ because the students are no longer little children, but also not yet adults. Because of this, they are “very moldable and act like sponges when it comes to absorbing knowledge...both in the classroom, and out.” Along with all of the aforementioned qualities, Mr. Miller has had some very unique experiences. For example, when he first started teaching, he had no idea that the career would stick with him for thirty years! And if he did, he would have guessed science- know why? Because that is what he originally signed up for! On his first day of teaching, he was signed up as a substitute science teacher, but at the last minute he found out that he was going to have to be a LA teacher. Imagine that happening to you in school: “Oh, and by the way, we had to transfer you to a different school district.” Not a good day for him, that’s for sure! No one is at all like Mr. Miller, and most people are not even close.