middle school or high school students harder to teach?

I have taught both middle school and high school students. Each age group has its own unique challenges and benefits.

Middle school students are at an awkward age; they are very hormonal. They are at the point where they begin to think of themselves as “too old” for a lot of things but young enough to act goofy. They can have terrible attitudes and be very disrespectful. But middle school students are also very sweet and funny. They are very goofy and you will never have a day of boredom. They also have a greater need for teachers who can support them and guide them through a very troubling time. They have massive self-esteem issues and need someone with a calm head and patience to be there for them. This is an age where teachers are the most needed and yet most teachers don’t want to teach this age group.

High school students are very interesting to teach. If you are lucky enough to have a group of kids who participate in class, they are at an age where they can have really interesting discussions and can have a lot of curiousity. It is a mistake to believe that there are more drugs, sex and violence in high school. Trust me, there are plenty of those things in middle school as well. But you will not get the same sense of satisfaction and joy out of teaching high school that you will from teaching middle school.

You will ultimately have to decide what is best for you, but take the opportunity to student teach in both grade levels or substitute in both grade levels. I never wanted to teach in middle school until I started subbing. Then the little buggers won me over. You need to have some classroom experience under your belt to decide which is right for you.

From my experiences as a student I would assume teaching middle school is harder. It might have just been my schools, but middle school was the worst for me. We had a K-8 school, so if people didn’t get along in 3rd grade they would be fighting until 8th. When we got into high school everything was different. Almost all grudges were dropped. Freshman still acted immature, but nothing compared to middle school. I think it’s because the seniors are there looking down on the freshmen acting that way. It’s like the older kids keep the younger ones from acting up.

And as for the middle schoolers not being exposed to the things high school kids are, it isn’t always true. My elementary/middle school had pregnant girls, drug busts, fights here and there, and occasionally a teacher was physically hurt by a student. My high school had around 10x the amount of students and roughly the equal number or fights, or maybe even less.

I plan on teaching high school from my bad middle school experience. I think my school was just a bad school though. It was the worst in our district. The high school was one of the best in the district. I thought I should add that, I know all schools aren’t like the ones I went to and sometimes the difference isn’t as dramatic.

Too bad that you didn’t get a chance to substitute before graduating college because then you could have subbed in both types of schools to get a better idea. I have subbed in both and I would never want to teach in middle school due to the behavior. But I think that it is a preference thing. I teach in high school and almost all of the teachers there would never want to teach middle school level or if they have they never would want to go back. When I subbed it seemed middle school teachers were more stressed out and had more behavior problems. However, if you are in your early 20s I would suggest starting at middle school because if you are too close to high school age, unless you are really really tough, you may have trouble disciplining since they will look at you more like a peer. Good luck!

I am not a teacher but from what I see of my daughters school, I would think it would be Junior High. Because right now the kids are so impressionable and looking for social answers. That makes things harder on kids and the teachers that I have been dealing with don’t seem to understand any of that.

I think once they reach the high school age they are set in there personalities a little more to not let what other people think of them bother them so much. Therefore they can concentrate more on their studies. I hope this isn’t wishful thinking anyway.

Having taught both I can honestly say that they are both hard. I enjoyed my time teaching high school but I would not go back willingly. The real difference is not the kids its the team work within the schools. I taught math in HS for 4 years and I never had the support and camaraderie that I have with my middle school co-workers. In high school you are teaching a subject with different grade levels and different schedules in middle school you are one grade level and can go to another teacher and ask questions. As far as the kids go…yes MS kids are a bit more hyper and they are adjusting to hormones and they do have their own drama; but it is nothing like the drama of the high school! Regardless of what you choose if you go in confident and with a heavy fist you will not have any problems. Best of Luck!

I agree with Jon that both are equally difficult in their own respects.

Middle School challenges:

Middle schoolers need a lot of hand-holding. Instructions need to be very clear and materials prepped beforehand. They also require more colorful and interactive instruction such as learning games and group activities. Students are emotionally fragile because of their stage in development, so you have to be ready to console and control unreasonable breakdowns and often ridiculous melodramas. The benefit to teaching middle is that many kids in middle school have yet to develop that “too cool for school” attitude you find so prevalent in high school. Kids get enthusiastic about a math problem or any little success. Plus they’re more willing to open up to you and share if they are struggling with a problem.

High School

Like I mentioned before, high school kids start having a different attitude towards school. They think that enthusiasm about the content is embarrassing, so it’s more difficult to draw them out into class discussions. As a teacher, your work lies in creating a safe, fun environment that encourages discussion and dialogue. Otherwise, you end up with that scene from Ferris Bueler’s Day Off when the history teacher is dully asking questions and no one answers. High school students are also easily offended if they think that the material or project is too childish. One has to find that very delicate balance between allowing students the responsibility and independence they crave within reasonable boundaries. I’ve found that most first year teachers start off giving high school kids too much freedom on assignments and projects because they’re used to college instruction. Even though they need less hand-holding than middle schoolers, high school kids still need a lot of support.

I spend most of my planning time trying to avoid boring lectures, worksheets, freetime, and irrevelant movies. Rather, I foster class discussion and interaction with content through group work, student film projects, learning games, artistic/creative projects, and field trips.

Middle School. Reason being is that the hormones kick in right about that time and so they don’t know quite how to handle them at that point.

Some High School kids settle down a little bit, so they are only slightly more tolerable.

Not easier nor harder- merely different issues to overcome. Middle schoolers tend generally to follow adult lead and despite being full of energy “do the righty”. High schoolers tend to have a little more personality peeking through but once the connection is forged the both groups churn out the work.

High school requires more subtle use of social cuing. Middle school needs more kinesthetic input. Equally “hard” just different

It depends on where the school is. If you are in a place where there is a lot of poverty (stupid parents = stupid kids 90% of the time), it will be tougher than a middle class suburban neighborhood where the parents are smarter and care about their kids … unless they are the half-wits who let the Internet raise the child (you know, the ones who give iPhones to 8-year-olds).
In an wealthy area, you may have to deal with a few spoiled brats, and a lot of inattentive, self-absorbed parents, but it’s usually better than the worthless thug culture of the inner city where they may not know both of their parents.

Getting out of the city is the best thing to do. Only idiots raise kids in the city …

It’s sad how bad parents are these days. They shouldn’t breed. Most need to turn off the TV, .put down the fast food, and raise their kids.

I think middle school is harder because of all the hormones and attitude. At least by the time you get to high school it seems to level out a bit.