Abstract:
Adolescents at the middle school undergo more personal changes than they do at any other point in their lives. Physical and emotional changes are occurring and their starting to form attitudes, values and habits that will largely impact their behaviors as adults.
The first eight facets are formed around the culture of the school. They focus on a learning community that puts top priority on the education and healthy development of every student, teacher, and staff member. Family involvement is promoted, and schools supply each student with at least one mentor/role-model who helps them through the ups and downs of school life. In the classroom, middle level educators understand the developmental uniqueness of adolescents, and work along the students to design effective learning techniques and assessment strategies to fit their development. Middle schools focus on building a foundation of learning in which every student can succeed by working in a challenging academic program that practice appropriate strategies to improve learning. Adolescents are capable of far more than adults often assume, and it is important that high expectations are placed on them to behave as responsible citizens and to become intellectually engaged.
The remaining six focus on designing an appropriate curriculum and environment that supports the development of the adolescents. The curriculum should emphasize the importance of accommodating the diverse skills and abilities in the classroom as well as providing multiple viewpoints that encourage adolescents to explore new ideas. Assessment and evaluation is a crucial part of a curriculum. Educators should not evaluate students by comparing them to each other, but rather by how well they assess themselves and prove they understand the material. Along with the curriculum, organizational structures have proven to be a vital part of educational success for the students and educators. Research shows that smaller schools, classes, or teams improve all dimensions of student development in the classroom. Another important component is that of the policies that foster health, wellness, and safety. These are typically covered under a coordinated school health program (CHSP). One aspect of a CSHP is guidance and support services that are supplied to students. Specialized professionals are available to help students be emotionally and mentally prepared to learn. All fourteen of these characteristics help students to achieve attitudes and behaviors needed for a full, productive, and satisfying life.
The National Middle School Association has written a document that describes the middle school concepts that have been outlined in This we Believe. Much of the public and many educators have limited understanding of the nature and needs of middle school adolescents and the types of educational programs that are best suited for them. This document helps individuals understand these issues and what can be done to create a successful middle school environment. One thing to help develop this environment is to understand the students’ characteristics. Researchers have identified five characteristics that are represented by young adolescents, they include: physical, cognitive, moral, psychological, and social-emotional dimensions of development. All adolescents possess these characteristics, but each one varies in strength and weakness depending on the individual.
Reflection
Like the book states, I believe that this is the most influential time for middle school students. They are now starting to form their own opinions and those opinions can be very easily influenced. Educators at the middle school should understand how important a stage this is for the students, and the impact that their work could have on the rest of the students’ life. I agreed with all fourteen characteristics and believe that they are all needed to design the ultimate school climate that benefits all that are within it.
I found two major themes that stood out through the first eight facets, leadership and having a passion for the profession and students. To be a successful educator you must be willing to take the time to develop a classroom that reflects the interests and strengths of the students. These educators must also be willing to push and challenge other staff members to design a school that encourages ultimate learning for the students. This is such a crucial time for adolescents, and it is important that their needs are met, and that they have a role-model that cares and helps prepare them for the next step in their lives. Becoming an educator is not about going through the motions, but rather challenging yourself to find ways that help the students become the best learners they possibly can.
In the last six facets I found three main concepts that I like and agreed with more then any of the others. The first one was the exploratory concept that was stressed within the curriculum. So many adolescents, especially in
I like the characteristics of young adolescents that were discussed at the end of the book. I do believe that each adolescent possesses all of them but is stronger in some of them then they are others. They are similar to the multiple intelligences, which are good to know as a teacher. It helps them understand what the students’ strengths are, and how you apply them into a lesson and the environment that is created. These characteristics have a lot to do with the culture that students grow up in, and it is important to create a school that accepts and reflect the diverse cultures. Students will be more comfortable, and willing to learn when they are in an environment that reflects their strengths and interests.
9 comments:
I thought the links were very informative and complimentary to the text. They seemed to have a a lot of good information, and I especially enjoyed the link about characteristics and generalizations of young adolescents. I strongly believe that educators who work in this age group, as with any age group, must be adament about working with students between the ages of 10-15. They must also be intimately engaged in the latest research and patterns about adolescent's social, emotional, psychological, and behavorial development, as well as the capabilities and limitations that these present. In order to truly understand the why, how, or what about certain reactions, test scores, or learning amongst middle level students, educators must be aware of the general characteristics that such students exhibit.
My favorite link was the very first one, about the climate of a school either being positive or negative. A lot of beginning teachers are willing to take a job just about anywhere so that they can get a foot in the door and start paying back student loans. This all sounds well and good except that it can really hinder the teachers performance and the students performance if the school and staff are not a good mathc for the incoming teacher. This needs to be something we think about when we go out into the job world, that we need to find a school placement that values what we value and a place that supports us teachers.
The culture article is a nice one. It reinforces the idea that learning begins with the atmosphere and culture of the school. It discusses how to address negative aspects of the culture as well as how to reinforce the aspects that are going well. I love how it provides two case studies, one which is predominately a Native American school. That is amazing. I think the Daniel Rose article is also important. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we, as teachers, are role models to students. They see us for a good portion of the day and watch our every move. If we can't model the behaviors and attitudes we expect from them, why should they they turn around and value and embody them? The final link is also a good reinforcer of everything we have been reading thus far about young adolescents.
The first link led me to this sentence (When teachers are unable to describe what they have learned and how they will use it, parents rightly become very skeptical about the value of professional development.) which I feel is highly important as few teachers remember to share what they are learning and how it applies to my child’s education I wonder why we endorse such developments. Great link.
The second link leads to a description of role-models and how we as teachers are role-models for our students. It is important for us to remember to support our students and set good examples for them as well. Great quote by Rudyard Kipling as well.
I really enjoyed your link about role-model education. "No printed word, nor spoken plea can teach young minds what they should be. Not all the books on all the shelves – but what the teachers are themselves," this is a very powerful statement. It is equally if not more important for us a teacher to be a positive roll model for students, as it is for us to teach them the content their supposed to learn. It is our responsibility to be role-models for these young adolescents at a time when they are forming values and morals that will be carried on with them through adulthood.
I also liked your link about culture. It makes you really think about what is the culture of a school. I think they really hit the nail on the head when the author said that culture is "A widely shared sense of purpose and values." Simply put, that's what the culture of a school is. It's the set of norms, values and beliefs, as well as rituals/ceremonies, symbols and stories that make up the culture of a school.
Your role model link is extremely motivational; it reminds us as teachers that we influence our students, not only with the content that we teach, but with the way we teach and the way we act as individuals. It serves as a good reminder that I'm sure we'll all need at one point or another.
Your culture link is also useful in that it outlines specifics for school culture, and goes in depth with how to improve upon that culture.
I agree with the other posts and also think that the role-model link is a great find. I think role-model education is important for classrooms and it is not talked about enough. This link is a great resource for learning more about it.
I think we often times find that school culture can be very toxic, with students focusing on all of the negatives and it brings down the learning in the school. As teachers we really need to set the example and focus on the positive accomplishments of students. This goes right along with being a role model for students. As developing adolescents they need role models to look up to, and as teachers we need to be them.
I liked the website on role models, like Sarah said our students see us practically everyday and they notice things that we do even if we don't know we do them.
I also liked the website on the culture of the school either being positive or negative, it showed a lot of examples of different schools around the US and some of the information was pretty shocking. Good job!
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