Intern Year: Spring 2014: Week 5

This semester is flying by!  The middle school placement has given me great experiences and has really demonstrated as to what I do and do not want to do.  I really am struggling with the co-teaching setting.  I feel as if I am just a glorified aide in the classroom.  There are no shared planning periods, and the teachers do not really collaborate to create lessons.  My mentor teacher just fills in her lessons after the class is completed.  I think co-teaching could be a great strategy used to meet the needs of all students, but if it is not implemented correctly and given the needed parts, then it is very in effective.  However, I have gotten to take over a sixth grade reading inclusion class and teach that independently.  I honestly  truly enjoy the middle school students and teaching them.  They have really great ideas and are ready to apply their knowledge.  I feel that I can be very honest with them, and I share what I expect from them daily.  I never dreamed that I would ever enjoy teaching middle school, but now I am thinking it might be my first choice.  I would want to co-teach in a middle school, but I would like to co-teach the right way.  If it was not implemented correctly, I feel that I would try to create an environment and teach my colleagues how it could be implemented effectively.
I am wondering how you can have a happy medium with classroom management in the middle school classes.  In some cases, they take you too much as a friend, and in others, you feel as if you are being a dictator.  I am struggling with how to be a little of both.  I want the students to feel comfortable with me and that they enjoy and are engaged in what I am teaching, but I also want them to respect me enough that they are completing their work and meeting the expectations that I set.
A problem that I have noticed is how some teachers are focused so much on the social life and community in schools.  I feel that instead of focusing on teaching and meeting the student's needs, they are focused on the gossip and social life in the school.  To me, it seems as if it is a social event instead of school, and that some teachers are always involved in drama.  It consumes their day, and it takes away from their teaching.  I am wondering why some teachers get involved in it and why others do not stand up to it?