The Many Images of Middle Schoolers

In Fires in the Middle School Bathroom, Kaleen Cushman and Laura Rogers explain that middle school is a critical time in which students are trying different "images" on. One day, a student might have the ambition to become a rock star,the next day, that student might want to become a scientist. The toughest thing about my middle school years was that I couldn't figure out "my place." I would hop from clique to clique, putting on different images, hoping to fit in. I never have liked cliques... and I plan to attempt to mingle students together in group work and literature circles. Students need to become global citizens... I know that sounds like a huge goal (because it is), but I think the first step is to de-clique the middle school.