Jack Berckemeyer
My Experience at the Association for Middle Level Education Conference

When at the Association for Middle Level Education conference I went to see many people talk about different things, but the keynote speaker, Jack Berckemeyer, was definitely the funniest. I, along with Carter VanVleet, introduced him and also stayed to watch him speak which was awesome. I learned from the interview I had with him that his favorite color is blue, and that if he wasn't teaching teachers, like he is now, that he would be selling shoes at Nordstrom's because he likes the store and wants the discount. I also learned the fact that he had always wanted to be a teacher since 8th grade, when his teacher inspired him by being fun and funny.

Jack talked about teachers and classrooms, and how it's crucial to interact with kids. He mentioned that most teachers only talk to 5% of students because they are either really badly behaved or excellent students. The 95% that is ignored are usually the average or Special Ed kids. He has tons of ideas about teachers improving the way they teach and how to deal with tough situations. One example was if students aren't paying attention and are super loud and noisy, "talk to inanimate objects, kids will listen!" something I wish my teachers tried.

Jack Berckemeyer has so many great ideas about education, and he presents it in a very humorous way. I think if you're a teacher, you should definitely see him speak if you can, or buy his bestselling book Managing the Madness: A Practical Guide to Middle Grades Classrooms, which I think could help a lot of my teachers, that's for sure! Watching him speak was very exciting, and I had fun at this conference.