Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Foreword: A Better Map for Teaching Young Adolescents Nancy Doda Mark Springer xvi
Foreword (2nd ed): We Really Should Know This James A. Beane xix
Preface xxi
Part 1 Who are Middle Level Teachers?
Chapter 1 You Want to Be a What? 2
Who Are Young Adolescents? 3
Becoming a Middle Level Teacher 5
Part 2 Who are your Students?
Chapter 2 Understanding Young Adolescents' Physical Development 14
The Growth Spurt 16
Skeletal and Muscular Changes 17
Hormones 18
Female Physical Changes 19
Male Physical Changes 20
The Appetite: Insatiable and Peculiar 21
Adolescents' Sleep Needs 23
Concluding Reflections 24
Chapter 3 Understanding Young Adolescents' Unique Brain Growth and Cognitive Development 25
The Effects of Blossoming, Pruning and Myelination 26
The Effects on the Brain of Multitasking with Technology 27
The Prefrontal Cortex: Its Effects on Behavior 27
Piaget's Findings 28
Adolescent Risk-Taking 31
Concluding Reflections 32
Chapter 4 Understanding Young Adolescents' Social Development 33
Developing Interpersonal Relationships 34
The Role of Peers 36
The Role of the Family 38
The Role of the Community 39
The Role of Technology 39
Moral Development 41
Concluding Reflections 42
Chapter 5 Understanding Young Adolescents' Emotional Development and Search for Identity 43
Emotional Unrest 43
The Search for Identity 45
Identity Search Begins 46
Experimenting with Identity 47
Ethnic Identity 47
Identify Challenges for Diverse Language Learners 50
Developing Sexual and Gender Identities 53
Self-Esteem 57
Concluding Reflections 58
Part 3 What Research Tells Us about Effective Middle Level Schools
Chapter 6 The True Middle School: More Than a Sign on a Building 62
A Typical Day 63
Emulating the Factory 64
The First Junior High Schools 68
The Promise, of a New Design 70
Support for Genuine Middle Schools 72
Support for Genuine Middle Level Schools Today 74
Content Standards Influence Middle Level Schools 75
Concluding Reflections 81
Chapter 7 School Structures That Support Young Adolescents 83
Misunderstanding the Middle School Concept 83
The Core Elements of Effective Middle Level Schools 85
Teaming. The Heart and Soul of the Middle School Concept 85
Advisory Programs 90
Flexible Scheduling 94
Exploratory Curriculum 95
Looping and Multi-age Teams 96
Concluding Reflections 99
Part 4 How Your Classroom Can Best Meet the Needs of Students
Chapter 8 Creating a Safe Haven for Learning 102
Middle Level Schools and Student Stress 103
Establishing a Caring Environment 105
The Dangers of Bullying 113
Encouraging Risk-Taking 117
Responding to Crises 119
Eliminating Competitive Learning Environments 123
Concluding Reflections 124
Chapter 9 The Power of Student-Designed Curriculum: Exceeding Standards 126
What Is Curriculum? 127
Beliefs About Middle Level Curriculum 128
Basic Approaches to Curriculum Organization 134
What Students Want 140
Curriculum Integration Model: A Different Way of Thinking About the Curriculum 142
Curriculum Integration in the Middle Level Classroom 144
Concluding Reflections 161
Chapter 10 Curriculum Integration: What It Looks Like in Real Life 162
What Teachers Say About Using integrated Curriculum 163
A Middle Level Curriculum Integration Experience: 'The Alpha Team 163
An Eighth-Grade Curriculum Integration Experience: Soundings 171
A. Small-Scale Curriculum Integration Experience: Gert Nesin's Class 176
Concluding Reflections 180
Chapter 11 This Is Learning: Making Instruction Meaningful 181
How Learning Occurs 182
Collaborative Learning 188
The Teacher's Role 190
Culturally Responsive Teaching 200
Concluding Reflections 206
Chapter 12 Assessment That Promotes Active Learning 208
What Is Assessment? 208
Students' Roles in Assessment 213
Connecting Assessment to Curriculum and Instruction 222
Authentic Assessment Leads to Meaningful Learning 223
Student-Led Conferences 226
Concluding Reflections 228
Epilogue: What This Means for You 229
References 235
Index 255
