MsKBrown 10/03/2011 at 10:38am
I taught Middle School for 7 years. Very important work. Most middle schools in NYC are 6-8. How about your area?

jmhurt 10/04/2011 at 12:50am
We're 6-8 as well. Wow, is it a whole new ballgame! The middle school philosophy is so much different than jr. high.

artwithmsb 10/05/2011 at 01:28pm
I'm a middle school teacher at a private school in NY. I have 6-8th grade. I teach 2 sections of each grade with a maximum of 13 students in each class. So 12 total middle school classes per cycle.

actwithART 10/05/2011 at 11:38pm
Having only 13 students must be WONDERFUL for classroom management. I just had an extremely rough day with middle schoolers. I try very hard to make projects meaningful and relevant...and sometimes they are just on another planet and don't care. It is very frustrating...and hard not to take personally. Any advice?!

jmhurt 10/06/2011 at 11:40pm
Oh, I wish I had only 13 students in an art class this year! My smallest class is 20, largest is 30. My classroom really only accommodates 24. Including my yearbook class, I'm teaching 5 different preps every day. Feel like I'm just barely keeping my head above water!

jmhurt 10/07/2011 at 12:03am
...which leads me to the question, what kind of schedules do you all have? My school is on a modified block schedule, with an 8 period day/43 minute classes three days a week, and block classes the other two days a week. On Wednesdays/Thursdays, we have even or odd classes. Wednesday classes meet for 70 minutes, and Thursday classes meet for 90. Anyone else have a crazy schedule like this?

urbanart 03/19/2012 at 07:03am
Our school schedule has nine periods. Out of those nine, I teach seven 45-minute classes. The smallest class size is 28 and largest is 32. I teach grades 5 through 8.

ArtfulArtsyAmy 03/19/2012 at 07:04pm
I teach MS grades in a Title I school. My school has 6 periods a day, and I teach all 6 periods (2 of each grade). I teach periods 1 & 2 and then have about a 40 minute planning. I then teach 3 & 4 period and then have a 15 minute planning. Last, I teach 5 & 6 period. My class sizes range between 28 and 32 students. I also heavily petitioned for honors Art and am now teaching three periods of honors Art every day. Previously, I was teaching 3 different sets of lesson plans a day, but now with the inclusion of honors, I'm teaching 6 different lesson plans a day. It makes for a long day, but the opportunity to teach honors Art is totally worth it.

sistadawn 08/06/2012 at 09:27pm
I teach in one of the largest MS in San Francisco.We also have 6 periods. I have one advanced class, a combination 7-8 grade. These are students I hand pick that show an interest in art and perhaps will be applying to the Art HS.I have 2 rotations (9 week) 6 grade classes, usually 30-34 students, one 7 and 1 8 grade classes av.25-30 students all year. am the only visual arts teacher in our school of 1500 students.

AmyHall 09/28/2012 at 04:19pm
I teach K-8 at an independent school, but our Middle Years program is 5th - 8th and they honestly are my favorite... I feel that I can do so much deeper conceptually with them. last year I had four MYP classes, all were multiage classes of 5th-8th - that was a struggle to find concepts that were understood by 5th and didn't bore 8th. This year, I see each grade level individually, phew.

My classes range from 6 (yes 6!!!) to 18. We use a lot of technology (last year we made an art history music video) I think I'm a middle schooler at heart so connect well with them.

artclasswithlmj 02/07/2013 at 07:14pm
I teach 5-8 in Iowa - about 450 kids total, class sizes about about 25-30, 5th & 6th are on 6 day cycles and I have my 7th and 8th graders every day for an entire trimester.