Middle School & Middle Schoolers
Quick Review
Middle School Concept
Improve academic achievement for all students.
- Understand young adolescence.
- Provide a challenging and integrative curriculum.
- Create supportive and safe environments through such structures as small teaching teams.
- Ensure better teacher preparation for the middle grades.
- Improve relationships with families and communities.
April 2006 | Volume 63 | Number 7 Teaching the Tweens Pages 26-30 Guess Again: Will Changing the Grades Save MiddleLevel Education? James Beane and Richard Lipka
The Differences Between Miidle School and Junior High
Middle School
- Student-oriented
- Emphasis is on both cognitive and affective development
- Organizes teachers and students in interdisciplinary teams
- Experiential approaches to instruction
- Allows for block and flexible scheduling
- Provides exploratory, academic, and nonacademic classes
- Offers advisor/advisee, teacher/student opportunities
- Team classrooms in close proximity
Junior High
- Subject-centered
- Emphasis is on cognitive development
- Organizes teachers in subject-based departments
- Traditional instruction dominates
- Six to eight class periods per day
- Provides academic classes
- Offers study hall and/or homeroom
- Classrooms arranged randomly or by subject or grade level
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND THE MIDDLE SCHOOL CONCEPT
Middle Schoolers
The Top 5 Things Kids 9-13 Worry About
- Grades.
- Looks or appearance.
- Problems at home.
- Being liked and fitting in at school.
- Being out of shape or overweight.
Time for Kids and KidsHealth.org survey of 1,004 U.S. tweens
Middle Schoolers At a Glance
- Middle-schoolers are often more physically mature than emotionally mature.
- During this time, kids usually begin to be more aware of what’s happening in the world and how that affects them.
- In middle school, many kids start communicating with more nonverbal language, like posture and tone of voice.
- At this age, it’s not unusual for kids to begin to question everything, including their parents’/teachers' authority and opinions.
- Peer pressure can be an issue for middle-schoolers, especially those who have issues with social skills.
- Kids develop at different rates.
Physical Milestones
- Start showing uneven development in skills like agility, balance, strength and flexibility; may be able to run fast, but not gracefully
- Need more rest since much energy is being used for growing
- Have a difference between body and brain growth; may be more mature physically than cognitively or emotionally
Cognitive Milestones
Problem-solving and thinking skills develop a lot at this age. You may see children start to use old skills in new situations to solve problems. Children may also begin to pay more attention to decision-making and to organizing ideas, time and things. In middle school, children often:
- Start to understand concepts like power and influence
- Question things; don’t take everything at face value
- Think about how current actions affect the future; may worry about things like climate change and war
- Memorize information more easily; check work and change approach as needed
- Begin developing a worldview, including a basic set of values
- Want to contribute and make money
Language Milestones
In middle school, language skills typically develop a great deal. You might notice that children are better able to understand what people communicate—with or without words. In middle school, children often:
- Use metaphors, slang and different ways of speaking
- Are interested in having discussions, debates and arguments (sometimes just for the sake of it)
- Start to “get” and pay more attention to body language, tone of voice and other nonverbal language cues
- Go through “what-if” scenarios and talk through other ways of problem solving
Social and Emotional Milestones
Middle school is a time of major social and emotional growth. Child may struggle to fit in and look for ways to be an individual. Don’t be surprised if your opinions seem to matter less or children doesn’t for ask advice as often as before—that’s pretty common. It’s not uncommon for middle-schoolers to do these things:
- Bow to peer pressure to be like others; have experiences with bullying
- Be sensitive to other people’s opinions and reactions; think the whole world is watching
- Develop a sense of pride in accomplishments and an awareness of weaknesses
- Keep secrets (often being able to have secrets is more important than the secret they’re keeping)
- Have a better awareness of what’s appropriate to say in different situations
Resources
Jaye Parks-Blended Learning Instructional Facilitator
Iredell-Statesville Schools
Email: parksj@iss.k12.nc.us
Twitter: @JayeParks1