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TO MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENTS ANDGUARDIANS.

FROM THEIR TEACHER.

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Your Middle

School Student

By: Melissa Larew

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Think about your child… 

Who are they?

What do they like?What are their interests?

Who are their friends?

Do they enjoy school?

How much communication is there?

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What I know about your child… 

Strengths

Areas to improveHumor

Interests

Friend group Learning strategies that suit them

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What we can do together, along with

your student… 

But first… 

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WHO IS A MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT?

This age is a lot different than Elementary schoolyears and High school years.

 Students’ brains are still developing but canbegin to understand abstract ideas.

- Concrete examples are still beneficial

This is a time when emotions and feelings come

into play regarding your student.

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DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOUR CHILD?

Constantly hungry?

Spend hours on the computer?

Plagued with acne?

Outgrow their clothes in a few months?

Want to be independent?

Care about friends and socializing?

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PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE GROWTH

Growth spurts- muscular and skeletal systems are

growing, sometimes rapidly

Hormones- causing them to feel tired and

experience emotions and feelings they cannot

explain

Males and females grow differently

Need nutritious food

Need sleep **

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**Sleep deprivation can lead to… 

Poor reasoning

Difficulty focusing Affects alertness

And can cause weight gain

Middle school students need nine hours of sleep everynight.

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WHAT THEY NEED FROM YOU

Middle school students can feel split between friendsand family due to peer influence

Allow them to make own choices, but be there toguide them to make good ones

Support them Stability and security

“ When asked who the most important person was in their life, young adolescents almost universally picked one or both of their 

 parents .” (Brown, Knowles pg 45) 

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WHAT THEY NEED FROM ME

1. Sense of humor

2. Flexibility in school with assignments and curriculum

3. A good listener

4. Place them at the center of the learning

5. Wealth of knowledge about adolescent

development

6. Skills to help them succeed

7. Kind, caring, trustworthy role model who values them

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MYTHS ABOUT TEACHING MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

- All students have similar learning characteristics

- Teaching simply fits all student’s needs 

- Learning has a limit

- Learning means memorizing facts

- Creativity and thinking critically are not valued

- The different subjects do not relate to each other

- Teachers are only decision makers

- All students must fit the ‘norm’ classroom 

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MY PLAN TO TEACH YOUR CHILD; MY STUDENT

Include parents, administration, staff, and thecommunity to provide meaningful opportunities forstudents to experience new things

Learn about your student; what he/she likes anddoes not like

Practice skills with your student to further them inschool as well as what they will take with theminto the real world

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Challenge them to go beyond the textbook andworksheet

Use different levels of thinking making themcritical thinkers

Show them ways to gain information meaningful totheir questions and inquiry

- Never just tell them the answer, but prompt them

Bridge all subjects together, giving your studentmultiple exposures to new and relevantinformation

- Example: Bring art into Science, or math into S.S.

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Include students in planning curriculum

Include students in decision making that affects

them

Celebrate and bridge all

cultures valuing each and every student

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WHO WE WANT MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS TO BE

An intellectually reflecting person

A good citizen

Caring and ethical individual

A healthy person

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We live a Democratic way,

shouldn’t our students have a

curriculum that promotes

Democracy???

ELEMENTS YOUR STUDENTS WILL ENCOUNTER IN

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ELEMENTS YOUR STUDENTS WILL ENCOUNTER IN

MY DEMOCRATIC CLASSROOM ARE:

Shared decision making from students

Students’ needs, interests, and social skills are

central to creating a curriculum that suits them

Students will inquire and investigate

All voices are heard and respected

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  First day/week of school… Rest of school year

• Students will create class rules

and procedures to be followedby all and hung up in class.

• Students will design seating

arrangement.

• Students will brainstorm and

implement techniques for theclassroom. Example: How to

line up.

• Students will decide how to

turn in homework and when.• We all will create class goals

and how to reach them.

•Student will create class jobs.

• Students will freely and openly

share their thoughts and

opinions about their learning.

• They will be apart of decision

making that affects them.

• We will continuously look for

ways to improve classroomenvironment.

• Students will create more goals

(individual and as a whole).

• Students will ask questions to

further their interest andlearning on a topic.

• Students will work

collaboratively with other

peers, staff, teachers and

administration.

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AS THEIR TEACHER I WILL… 

Allow for alternative and multiple forms of

assessment

Connect assessment to curriculum and instruction

Provide meaningful feedback at appropriate times

Communicate with

parents/caregivers and

students in order to ensure

students are receiving best education

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(CONT…) 

Provide them with a schedule that fits theirneeds

Provide them with help and advisory time

Create a positive and safe environment

Help them create their identity

Create a ‘team’ atmosphere Continuously reflect and improve my skills.

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MY GOALS

Every student has the right to learn and

can learn!

- All students, no matter background, can

be successful

- I will place respect of all cultures as my

top priority to ensure your student feels

safe and valued.

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MY GOALS

All students are well prepared with 21st

Centuryskills.

- I will provide opportunities for students to

work on 21st Century skills.

- Students will use these skills in all areas of

their learning; bridging all subjects together.

- Students will feel confident and informed

allowing them to take their knowledge with

them once they leave my classroom.

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MY GOALS

I will further myself to ensure you studentreceives research-based and beneficial methods

to help them learn.

- I will attend professional developmentmeetings and conferences.

- I will read up on what is new in Education.

- I will reflect on my own teaching everyday to make sure the activities, concepts,

units, and learning your child receives is

appropriate and meaningful to them.

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QUESTIONS I WILL ASK MYSELF

1. What kind of teacher do I want to be?

2. What quality of experience do I want my

students to encounter today?

3. How will what I do today, impact my students

learning and attitude in the future?

4. How will today’s learning changes my students’

ways of acting, thinking, and being?

5. How will I engage students in learning?

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“ A true Middle School reflects much morethan program or structural reforms, however. It is more than just a place of learning.

 It is a place where students experience the support of caring adults who provide liberal  amounts of prodding, encouragement,

understanding, and celebration to theexperiences that young adolescents encounter.”(Brown, Knowles pg 261)

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REFERENCES

Brown, Dave. E, Knowles, Trudy. (2007). What Every

Middle Teacher Should Know. 2nd Edition. New

Hampshire: Heinemann.

All images taken from Word Clip Art.