Monday, 1 August 2016
MTM ~ Module 1 ~ Middle Years Students
Module 1
Turning Points: Transforming Middle Schools
In a tweet length
response (140 characters), describe a middle years learner.
Middle years learners are diverse, evolving along individual
timelines physically, cognitively and emotionally. They are socially motivated
yet emotionally vulnerable, taking careful steps in building self-confidence
and self-efficacy.
The Young Adolescent Learner
Fran Salyers
and Carol McKee
“Key
Generalizations About Young Adolescents
This list of
generalizations appears in John H. Lounsbury’s “Understanding and Appreciating
the Wonder Years” (National Middle School Association, 2000).
Early
adolescence is a distinctive developmental stage of life.
The general
public has limited understanding of these 10- to 15-year olds.
The
accelerated physical and personal development that occurs during this period is
the greatest in the human life cycle and is marked by great variance in both
the timing and rate of growth.
These are
the years during which each individual forms his/her adult personality, basic
values, and attitudes.
Adolescents
reach physical maturity at an earlier age than their grandparents and they
acquire apparent sophistication earlier than in previous generations.
They seek
autonomy and independence.
They are by
nature explorers, curious and adventuresome.
They have
intellectual capacities seldom tapped by traditional schooling.
They learn
best through interaction and activity rather than by listening.
They seek
interaction with adults and opportunities to engage in activities that have
inherent value.
Their
physical and social development become priorities.
They are
sensitive, vulnerable, and emotional.
They are
open to influence by the significant others in their lives.
A significant portion of today’s teenage population is
alienated from society.”
Identify and describe
three ways you will use this information in your teaching of adolescent
students (1 sentence for each description).
1.
Planning for diverse learning needs, which in the arts requires planning activities with enough scope to allow students to engage at and extend from their own level with any tasks set, whatever their current level of artistic ability.
2.
Planning to include student-led, experiential and
social modes of learning, which may include planning for paired and group activities, and in the arts will require projects to include a certain amount of freedom for students to direct the course fo their own artistic expression through lesson and task frameworks provided.
3.
Providing opportunities to engage in low-risk,
high reward risk taking. (eg/Space Jump!)
Note any observations
you have made about middle years students and their learning development from
the two tables and the video clip.
Middle years leraners seem primarily engaged in building their sense of self (identity, self efficacy, self confidence) and their social capacities, while their physical development and cognitive capacities are also progressing in leaps and bounds (though at different rates for different individuals). We need to ensure that we are addressing the learning needs of the individual students within our classes, engaging with them via various 'intelligences', and not asking more of them than they are developmentally ready for.
The four strategies discussed in this blog are: embrace their social nature; develop growth mindsets; provide structure; take time to breathe. Do these strategies cater adequately for the learning needs of adolescents? Compile your thoughts in a PMI chart.
Read the chapter The Adolescent Learner Key Questions About Adolescents and Win-Win Teacher Responses from this book. List your top 10 strategies from this chapter that you can use when teaching middle years students.
- Make meaningful connections to students' lives within learning material.
- Use movement and social inclinations to your advantage in planning classroom activities: brainstorming, incorporating different learning styles, more sensory systems, student-led investigations.
- Take time to identify the value of essential concepts and learning outcomes, the WHYs - connection to bigger picture and students lives.
- Model high level literacy and analytical reading techniques/skills, break down texts into components.
- Use graphic organisers and predictive activities.
- Model respectful behaviour and attitudes at all times.
- Give formative/corrective feedback as soon as possible.
- Invest in getting to know your students, their strengths, pitfalls and growth opportunities.
- Focus on building a positive, supportive community of learners.
- Provide scaffolding to build time management skills.
- Use warm-ups to help students make connections between their pre-existing knowedge and new learning material.
- Once students are set up with good background knowledge and are interested/engaged in the topic area, short and targeted project-based learning can be highly effective.
- Active learning and student choice will assist in raising levels of engagement and interest.
- Be accessible - make clear the value of making mistakes, share some of your own journey and mistakes.
Read Chapter 2 Five General Categories of Noncognitive Factors Related to Academic Performance (page 8 - 15). Summarise (using dot points) your learning about how academic behaviours, academic perseverance, academic mindsets, learning strategies and social skills can impact the learning of adolescents.
- Academic behaviours:
- Includes such things as:
- going to class;
- doing homework;
- organising materials;
- participating, studying.
- "are the visible, outward signs that a student is engaged and putting forth effort to learn".
- Of extremely high importance in academic achievement.
- Academic Perserverance:
- Includes such things as:
- Grit, tenacity;
- Delayed gratification;
- Self-discipline;
- Self-Control.
- Informs Academic behaviours which then inform academic achievement.
- "To persevere academically requires that students stay focused on a goal despite obstacles (grit or persistence) and forego distractions or temptations to prioritize higher pursuits over lower pleasures (delayed gratification, self-discipline, self-control). Academic perseverance is the difference between doing the minimal amount of work to pass a class and putting in long hours to truly master course material and excel in one’s studies."
- Academic Mindsets:
- Includes a set of beliefs such as:
- I belong in this academic community;
- My ability and competence will grow with my effort;
- I can succeed at this;
- This work is of value to me.
- Motivates academic perserverance, which informs academic behaviours and achievement (which reinforces the cycle).
- "stereotype threat and learned helplessness rest upon the same theoretical underpinnings and illustrate ways that positive academic mindsets can be undermined by negative contextual conditions or experiences"
- Learning Strategies:
- Processes and tactics used to support cognitive processes of thinking and learning.
- "These include strategies to help one recall facts (e.g., mnemonic devices); strategies for monitoring one’s own comprehension (such as while reading or doing math problems); and strategies to self-correct when one detects confusion or errors in one’s thinking... may also include goal-setting and time management..."
- Social Skills:
- Includes interpersonal qualities such as:
- cooperation;
- assertion;
- responsibility;
- empathy.
- Informs academic behaviours which inform academic outcomes.
- "...cooperating in groups or participating appropriately in class discussions would lead to better academic performance. ... In contexts where individuals must work collaboratively in problem-solving teams, social skills are likely to be more directly related to performance..."
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