The Adolescent and Their Environment

The Adolescent and Their Environment : Top 5 Tips for Teaching Middle Level Students

As a Middle Level teacher, it is my responsibility to take into account the needs of my students and apply them in the methods I use in instruction. It is important to take into consideration the developmental level and needs of the students in the classroom. The following is a list encompassing the top 5 teaching tips for middle level teachers that I will incorporate in my middle level teaching strategies. (The following is an assignment I completed during my undergrad work at CWU for a class called "The Adolescent and Their Environment". The assignment was to create a "Top 5" tips list for a beginning middle level teacher.)

5. Get Families (parents) Involved in Student’s Education:             For students to succeed in school, they need a variety of support, and great support system for middle level students comes from their homes. Parents are a great resource for teachers to use to reach their students. When a parent expresses interest in their child’s education, a line of communication is opened and students and parents then begin to discuss various aspects of the child’s life through school.             Teaching parents how to communicate effectively with their children is important because it is at home where the majority of student values and views toward education are formed. The family should support the child in his or her educational goals and plans.             Having parents participate in classrooms in a variety of ways will also help bridge the communication gap between school and home, and between the students and their parents. As a teacher, some effective communication strategies may be to send home newsletters to parents about what is happening in the classroom, post announcements on a class website and include a forum for parents to communicate with one another, or have a take home journal writing assignment for students and parents to write back and forth to one another. (familyeducation.com)

4. Support Students in Finding their “Identity”             As middle level students and early adolescents, this age group of kids is as a whole confused about themselves. Their brain is still developing which means they are experiencing a wide variety of emotions and developmental changes. As a teacher it is important to be supportive while their frontal lobes continually develop and their amygdala steers their every move.             By adapting your teaching to accommodate these diverse changes students experience and let them know that it is okay to be confused, students will become more confident and will be able to associate with themselves and their peers more positively. Learning what makes students “tick” is an important way to become familiar with students needs and experiences. These “tickers” include competence, awareness, affiliation, ethical sense of self and responsibility (Backlund, Class notes). By helping the students to learn what they are good at, what is going on in the big picture, getting to know who they relate to best, why they are important and good people, and what their responsibilities are as citizens, these students will develop a broader sense of self more quickly. As their teacher it is important to be patient and to encourage them to take the time and space they need to develop and get to know themselves.

3. Prepare Effective Lessons that are Challenging, Relevant, Integrative, and Explorative             Having an engaging lesson plan that students can relate to, and be challenged by is one of the most effective ways to reach middle level students with curriculum. Making sure the material is something students “get,” is important because it adds a new element to what the students have invested in their education. If school is fun, and explorative, why not participate? Dr. Debbie Haskell discussed in her presentation various students’ responses to the question “I do my best in science when…” The students responded with answers that emphasize fun, hands-on, relational, group related, and interesting materials, activities and plans.             Active learning is stressed by many various researchers and educational theorists. The National Middle School Association emphasizes the importance of including academic involvement and participation in their “This I Believe” document. As a Middle Level Teacher, becoming familiar with this philosophy would be of value. Keeping students involved in active learning is also important because when students are engaged in their learning, less behavioral issues arise, and they are taking part in higher level thinking skills (Backlund, Class notes).

2. Emphasize Planning and Goal Setting             Planning and goal setting among early adolescents is vital because this is where they are developing true practical life skills and habits that will carry them throughout their education and beyond into the real world. As discussed in the Navigation 101 program outlined by the OSPI, getting and keeping teens actively involved in their education is important.             Holding students accountable for their educational goals and plans is a great way for students to become invested in their own education. Having a “team” or “block” set up for students to come back to once or twice a month to discuss various applicable real life tools is an effective and time efficient way to incorporate these practices.             Giving students planning devices such as calendars, checklists and graphic organizers is a great way to teach them how to organize and manage their priorities. Not only is this a higher level thinking skill, but it is also an important skill to practice for general life skills outside of a K-12 education.

1. Meet Students Needs             Middle level kids have a gigantic list of characteristics and needs ranging from the emotional and physical to the social and ethical. Being aware of the needs this age group of kids has and knowing how to effectively capitalize on the strengths and weaknesses is an asset as a middle level teacher. As a whole, middle level students are generally categorized as behaviorally inconsistent or moody, rebellious, social, confrontational, critical and curious. Knowing how to properly address each of these needs is a skill that all middle level teachers should possess and practice (Class notes).             Students do not need another authoritarian figure, nor do they need another social mate.  Students need someone to hold them accountable for quality work and the responsibility of being a cooperative and successful human being. Teachers are required to be committed to the student’s diverse needs, and must be willing to use creative and positive methods in the classroom to reach the students in a variety of ways. Above all, teachers must encourage students that they all have the “capacity to learn, grow, and develop into knowledgeable, reflective, caring, ethical and contributing citizen[s]” (NMSA).

Resources: Backlund, J. (2008). Class notes. Haskell, D. (2008). Effective instructional strategies and classroom behavior. National Middle School Association. (2003). This we believe: Successful schools for young adolescents. Westerville, OH: NMSA.