Department of Education

Fall Semester 2000
 
 

Education 320: Middle School Principles, Practices, and Materials

Tuesday/Thursday 1:40-2:55
 
 

Instructor	Dr. Sandra Byrd
Telephone:	25l-6959,6420 Office 253-5728 Home
E-Mail:	sbyrd@bulldog.unca.edu
Office Hours:	11:00-12:00 Monday and Wednesday
Texts:	Handbook for Middle School Teaching, George , Lawrence, & Bushnell (2nd edition, 1998) Teachers' Problem Solving , Cooper,1995 Young Adolescent Development and School Practices: Promoting Harmony, Van Hoose, Strahan North Carolina Standard Courses of Study (On reserve in library and in Education Dept. Office) Middle School Standards(On reserve in library and in Education Dept. Office)
Prerequisites	Education 310

RATIONALE: This course is designed to study the foundations of Middle School Education, the nature of early adolescent learners and resulting curricular and instructional implications for teachers.

COURSE GOAL: To provide a broad background of knowledge and experience on the Middle School model for intermediate education.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
The learner will:

1. demonstrate knowledge of the historical basis for Middle School Education.
2. identify characteristics of the early adolescent, including cognitive and affective development, physical and sexual development, moral reasoning, and the contemporary social and cultural milieu of the adolescent.
3. determine curriculum implications based on the developmental needs of early adolescents.
4. determine curricular criteria to successfully meet the unique needs of the emerging adolescent, including models of teacher/student relationship, organizational designs for instruction, organization of time and space, and continuum for student grouping.
5. describe and analyze three field observations as they relate to course content.
6. plan and produce learning tools which meet unique needs of early adolescents and the cultural diversity within the American Middle School.
7. demonstrate knowledge of research sources which address issues associated with middle grade children, including advisor-advisee, interdisciplinary team organization, exploratories, block scheduling, student-centered instruction, etc.
8. identify effective methods of classroom discipline and management, evaluation of student progress, orientation, and articulation.
9. develop a comprehensive philosophy for educating early adolescents.
10. develop a technology portfolio that includes a list of web resources for curriculum materials, sample lesson plans or unit plans that incorporate the use of technology into delivery of the lesson and/or assessment in your discipline, a class presentation using technology, and examples of E-mail use and an ERIC search.

I. All students will be responsible for:

A. completing textbook reading, supplemental readings and activities, getting a bulldog account and utilizing e-mail, using a computer word processing program for all papers, developing a technology portfolio that includes a list of web resources for curriculum materials and sample lesson plans from the web that are appropriate for your curriculum area, developing an integrated unit plan that incorporates the use of technology into delivery of the unit/and or assessment of the unit, developing a multimedia class presentation for either your library search project or your selected case study presentation from the Cooper text, and reviewing the eighth grade computer competency test.

 B. preparing and presenting assignment on team planning, and either a unipac or learning center.

 C. taking all assigned exams when scheduled (see examination policy).

 D. completing a library search assignment:

• Students are to select a topic related to the instructional program appropriate for middle schools.
• You are to do a library search of materials on that topic, using ERIC as the basis for your research.
• From that list, you are to read 5 articles on that topic, three of them are to be research based.
• You will write a 4-5 page paper (typed and using APA style footnoting and referencing) synthesizing the information.
• The paper is to contain the complete bibliography of all available materials generated by the search, not just the five sources used for the paper.
• This topic will become your specialization for class discussions and the basis for an essay exam question.
• Topic selection will be due the second week of class.
• A 200-word abstract and bibliography of articles chosen is to be provided to each member of the class.
• Oral presentation of your topic (25 min.) will coincide with the date that topic is discussed in class (see class schedule).

G. Technology Portfolio

• a list of web resources and addresses for curriculum materials
• sample lesson plans or unit plans from the web that incorporate the use of technology into delivery of the lesson and/or assessment in your discipline and aligned with middle school competencies (minimum of 2)
• a class presentation using technology(disk or hard copy of presentation)
• examples of E-mail use
• an ERIC search
• review of eighth grade computer competency test

B = 500 - 549

C = 450 - 499

D = 400 - 449

F = 399 and below

 III. Examination Policy

1. l. No early or late quizzes or exams are given except for validated medical or University business reasons.
2.  2. Anyone missing an exam without notifying the instructor will receive a zero.
3.  3. Exams (except the final) include only that material covered since the previous exam.
4.  4. Arrangements for make-up exams must be made prior to the regularly scheduled exam.
5.  5. Final exam is comprehensive.
6.  6. Material included on exams

• a. lecture notes
• b. contents of class activities, presentations, outside readings, and any audio visuals used.

l. Each student is expected to attend class regularly, be prepared for the assignment for that day and participate by asking questions and contributing to class discussions when possible.

 2. The student's attendance and prompt completion of assignments will be important indicators of regular preparation and participation.

 3. Your final grade is affected by attendance and participation.

 Education 320 Class Schedule

August 17	Introduction, syllabus
August 22	Physical Development Chapters l & 2(George); Chapters l & 2 (Van Hoose)
August 24	Physical/Cognitive Development; Chapter 3
August 29	Cognitive Development - Video: Nancy Doda "Teaching the Transescent" (40 min.); Activity: Intellectual Dev. in Middle School Classrooms
August 31	Social and Emotional Development; Chapters 4 & 5 Learning Styles & Multicultural Considerations
September 5	Exam I
September 7	The Middle School Concept ; Chapter 7 Executive Summaries: Turning Points (Carnegie Report); Last Best Chance; 1993 Carnegie Report
September 12	Home, Community and Middle School Curriculum  Chapter 6 (George)
September 14	First Observation due; Curriculum Integration , Exploration, & Assessment; Reporting Student Progress; Chapter 11
September 19	Guest Speaker
September 21	Interdisciplinary Team Organization Chapters 8 & 9(George)
September 26	Case Studies: 1."Mary Antini:Teacher,Counselor,or Prosecutor?" (Cooper,p.83+) 2."I Don't Know. I Just Don't Think You Can Be A Teacher"(Cooper,p.53+) 3."The Tested Teacher" (Cooper,P.89+) 4.The Cheaters (on reserve)
September 28	Advisor Advisee Programs Chapter 10 (George); Cooper, p. 25 + Paedeia on "The Adviser/Advisee Problem"
October 3	Video: Common Miracles: The American Revolution in Learning. Middle School Leadership
October 5	Field Experience (School TBA)
October 10	Exam, Field Experience Critique Due
October 12	Fall Break
October 17	Discipline Models and Classroom Management Chapter 12; Two Different Worlds Case Study
October 19	Team Presentations
October 24	Guest Speaker (TBA)
October 26	Grouping Students and the Inclusive Classroom Case Study: Paideia on "Read My Lips:No Sign Language in Speech Class" (Cooper,p.71)and "New Teacher on the Block" (Cooper, p.95) Chapters 13 & 14 (George)
October 31	Case Study Conferences
November 2	Field Experience (School TBA)
November 7	Field Experience Critique Due; Learning Activity Packs: Unipac design and implementation
November 9	Designing Learning Centers  Case Study:"Brad Hill: The One and Only"(Cooper, p.39) Chapter 15 (George)
November 14	Differentiating Instruction Chapter 16 (George) Case Study: "The Rise and Fall of Bruno Reilly: The Superintendent from Hell" (Cooper,p.113)
November 16	Student Conferences
November 21	Case Study Due Case Law Overview:Teacher Rights& Responsibilities
November 28	Learning styles and the Multicultural Classroom  Case Study: White Teacher-Black School(Cooper, 11)
November 30 & December 5	Learning Center or Unipac Presentations
December 7	Final Exam

Questions to Guide Field Experiences

How are the teachers and students organized for learning? By subject? On teams? Elaborate.

How does the climate of the school feel to you? Is it pleasant, warm, and supportive or is it tense, cold, disorganized?

If you had to label this school, would you call it a traditional or an innovative school? Why?

Does the school more closely resemble an elementary school or a high school? What is there about the school that makes it seem the way it does?

Does the principal seem eager to talk about the middle school concept? What conclusions can you draw about his/her involvement in the process of educating emerging adolescents?

Is there an absence of the star system, where a few special students dominate everything, in favor of an attempt to provide success experiences for greater numbers of students?

Is there an attempt to use instructional methods and materials appropriate to age group: individualized instruction, variable group sizes, multi-media approaches, independent study programs, inquiry-oriented instruction.

Is there an advisor-advisee program or a similar program in place?

Is there flexibility in scheduling and student grouping?

Is there cooperative planning and team teaching? Are there interdisciplinary or multi disciplinary studies, in which opportunities are provided for students to see how different areas of knowledge fit together?

Are there exploratory opportunities, academic and otherwise?

Are there extensive opportunities for physical activity and movement, including more frequent physical education?

Is there an introduction to the areas of organized academic knowledge?

Is there an emphasis on continued learning, those skills which will permit students to learn more effectively on their own or at higher levels of learning?

Is there an emphasis on increasing the student's independence, responsibility, and self-disciplining?

How flexible are the physical facilities?

Is there attention to the personal development of the student: values clarification, group process, health and family life education, career education?

Have teachers been trained especially for the education of emerging adolescents? Is there continuing staff development? What kind of teacher is best for middle level education?

Which student characteristics can the school deal with most effectively? Which least? Why?

Is the middle school, in practice, really any different from older school organizational patterns?

What are the rules of discipline and class management in the observed schools?

FIELD EXPERIENCES

FIRST SCHOOL VISITATION AND OBSERVATION

This visitation of a school is to be arranged and completed by you in the first month of school at a middle school of your choice. You will need to contact the school office and get permission to informally observe transescents in the lunchroom, or school media center (library), or a classroom or informal groups gathered outside school building, or during an extracurricular event (practice for a sport, cheerleading, etc.).

You are to observe student behavior for 30 minutes and the object of the observation is to adopt the anthropologist's viewpoint, to watch and record the physical and social behavior. What did the bodies do? What are the patterns of hand, arm, trunk, and leg movement? How much of the time are they still and how long are the periods of stillness? Describe the bodies. What is the language pattern of the students? What do their words and actions reveal about their social behavior? What sorts of groups do they form? What dominates their interests and attention? If they interacted with adults, how would you describe this interaction? Based on your knowledge of transescent physical and social development, what did you observe in the school that you regard as suited to the needs of the 10 to 14 year old?

 Watch and record the behavior of two students in detail.

 Organize your notes and write a two-page paper on the conclusions and generalizations you can make about the physical and social traits of the set of students you observed. In your paper, make certain to address the questions in the above paragraph. This will be due September 14.
 

CHECKLIST OF INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES

Name of Observer

 Date and Time of Observation

 Person to be Interviewed

 Grade Level and/or Subject

Objective of Observation

Instructions to the Observer: Review this checklist prior to and after your interview. Check off items you have completed.

Prior to the Interview

• Establish a purpose of the interview.
• Request an appointment (time and place) giving sufficient lead time for you and the person to be interviewed.
• Plan objective, specific questions related to the purpose of the interview.
• Prioritize questions, asking the most important first.
• Remind the person to be interviewed of the time, place, and purpose of the interview.

• Arrive at preestablished place several minutes before the scheduled time for the interview.
• Start the interview by reminding the person to be interviewed of the purpose of the interview.
• Request permission to tape the interview (if appropriate).
• If unable to tape, take careful, objective notes trying to list direct quotes as often as possible.
• Avoid inserting impressions or judgments.
• Limit the interview to no more than 15-30 minutes.

• Review with the respondent what has been said or heard.
• Express your appreciation for the interview.
• Offer to share the interview report with the respondent.

Topics for Middle School Library Research Project

1.  1. The ABCS, Gateways, and Excellence in Schools Act (September 7)
2.  2. Assessment and Evaluation  (September 14)
3.  3.  Interdisciplinary Teaming (September 21)
4. 4. Advisor-Advisee Programs (September 28)
5. 5. Teaching Values: N.C. Character Education Curriculum (October 3)
6.  6. Discipline/Classroom Management Models (Canter,Glasser, etc.) (October 12)
7. 7.  Pros and Cons of Ability Grouping and the Inclusive Classroom (October 26)
8. 8. Reading and Writing Workshop  (November 14)
9.  9. The Multicultural Classroom (James Banks) (November 28)

Sign up for one case study to present in class.

You will be the resident expert on this case study from the Cooper text, however, all students are required to read each case study. In 10 minutes, present the major ideas, issues, and players in your case study. Then present the key questions raised by your case study and lead a class discussion on these queries (approximately 10 minutes). Be creative in your presentation. You may use a PAEDEIA approach, a readers theater, a dramatic presentation, an interactive multi-media methodology, or another strategy that you would like to experiment with for future use in the classroom. Please sign up for one case study on the first day of class.

1. September 26

• "Mary Antini: Teacher, Counselor or Prosecutor" (p. 83)
• "I Don't Know. I Just Don't Think You Can Be a Teacher (p.53)
• "The Tested Teacher" (p. 89)
• "The Cheaters" (on reserve in the library)

• "The Adviser/Advisee Problem" (p.25)

• "Read My Lips: No Sign Language in Speech Class" (p. 71)

• "Brad Hill: The One and Only" (p. 39)

• "New Teacher on the Block" (p. 95)

• "White Teacher-Black School" (p. 11)