Statesman V. 29, n. 01.pdf

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by Elisa Hendrey
For a long time people have suspected
that junior high school teachers are
masochists. Why else would anyone spend
180 days a year with an age group that is
infamous for its ability to drive known
stoics to acts of violence and madness?
But our local junior high staff members
don't go along with the masochist theory.
In fact, they say the kids they work with
are wonderful - a challenge, but wonderful
nonetheless. Rewarding, even. But
teaching junior high school students is not
for everyone.
Just what is it then that makes a successful
teacher or administrator for this
group of boys and girls?
Dr. Seymour Bixhorn, Murphy Junior
High School's principal, playfully notes
1:
that maybe his positon calls for "a little
bit of insanity." Seriously, though, he
believes that anyone who works with the
junior high age group must have "a
special gift of being able to extend oneself
to understand the early adolescent. They
are always testing the limits, questioning
and challenging. Their behavior may
vary from one minute to the next, and
they try both people and ideas."
Compassion and understanding are
high on Bixhorn's list of prerequisites for
successful teaching in the junior high, and
he knows that it is not easy to exhibit
these qualities every time they are
needed. He says that the superintendent
of schools in Mineola recently published a
book whose title sums up what the early
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Mart ot tne unaerstanaing that is
essential to success in the junior high,
Bixhom feels, involves the recognition of
"the wide range of variations in kids -
physically, emotionally, socially and
intellectually.
Much more so than at the senior high
school level, when you look around a
junior high you see some students that
still look like children and others that
already have taken on the characteristics
of young adults. These enormous
variations can cause pressures for the
students that teachers must be aware of
and _ deal with.
Lest one come away with the idea that
compassion and understanding go hand in
hand with an "anything goes" attitude,
Bixhorn is adamant that junior high
school students need clear structure.
"Our reaching out to youngsters is done in
the formal school program," he says. "I
believe in a rather traditional school."
Some of Murphy's most successful
teachers seem to agree. Matt Bernstein,
chairman of the mathematics department,
has been at Murphy for seven years
and taught at Gelinas Junior High for four
years. He believes that adults working
with this age group must be firm and
consistent.
Patience is another quality Bernstein
singles out as important. "There are
times when you count to 15 instead of
ten," he says. And you have to get used to
"the squinty-eyed reaction to criticism
. '
continued on next page
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