5th grade in middle school

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5th grade in middle school
By Carolyn

I did my student teaching in fifth grade in a middle school. I had forgotten just how young looking and small fifth grade aged kids were, and when I went to the middle school to begin my assignment, I was amazed. No big
middle school kids here--just little ones. And these poor little ones, mixed in with the eighth graders, looked so lost.
One thing I found out about those kids that year was how their grades dropped from fourth grade to fifth. It seems that all of a sudden a lot of responsibility was heaped upon the kids. I guess they have to start somewhere, but I agree that fifth grade is too young

for kids to be expected to function in a middle school environment.

I teach fifth grade this year, and also taught it last year. I can't imagine that these kids would be able to handle the changing classes. When they were in fourth grade, the teachers had experimented with switching classes, but at the end of the year, both had agreed that switching classes in elementary school was probably too much for such young kids.

I agree with the above post. You will need to discuss the problems being faced by the kids you teach with your principal. Maybe he'll make some concessions/changes for you, maybe even this year. (It's never too late!)

I also taught in a school with grades 4-8 in it. Basically, the fourth and fifth graders stayed on one side of the building, and the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders were on the other. They never crossed paths very often. In this school, the fourth and fifth grade teachers only switched for a couple of subjects, which made it less chaotic for everybody. Grades six through eighth switched for everything.