Middle School Curriculum Essay

As students move from an elementary school setting to a middle school setting, ensuring a smooth transition is a collaborative effort involving teachers, parents, students and school administration. Often parents and students are nervous about the magnitude of this transition and easing those concerns can be handled by hosting a curriculum night. The purpose of Curriculum Night is to acquaint all students and parents with their teachers and administration as well as provide useful information concerning what the student will learn and the environment in which he/she will learn. The Curriculum Night addressed in this paper is specific Exceptional Education students in the 6th grade English Language Arts co-teaching

The National Middle School Association (NMSA) is now known as the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE). It has been a “voice for those committed to the educational and developmental needs of young adolescents” since 1973. This organization is the only national education association specifically committed to those in the middle level grades. There are over 30,000 members including principals, teachers, central office personnel, professors, college students, parents, community leaders, and educational consultants. The AMLE is recognized across the United States, Canada, and 46 other countries. In addition, AMLE has a network of “58 affiliate organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia that strengthen outreach to the regional, state, provincial, and local levels.” The Association for Middle Level Education’s mission is dedicated to improving the educational experiences of all students ages 10 to 15 by providing vision, knowledge, and resources to educators and leaders. (National Association of State Boards of Education, n.d., paragraph 1).

Many people endure three years of middle school and four years of high school. It is an eventful time for children between 11 to 18 years old. During the adolescent years there are hormonal changes, environmental changes and emotional developmental gains. Middle school is the beginning of transitioning towards independence under the constant eye of adults. During high school they are challenged with real-world challenges that help them transition into adulthood. The behaviors of these individuals change as the factors change around them. For every person, the experience of high school or middle school may be different. Either way, both have the same goal of wanting the student to succeed and evolve. Even so, the similarities and differences vary. Middle school and high school are alike in the areas of receiving an education, socializing with others, and having teachers while different in areas of maturity, difficulty in work, and independence.

What is the purpose of a college education? What is the purpose of the curriculum designed by academic affairs specialists? Do the two directly relate to one another or do they serve contradicting purposes? These are the questions that every institution of higher education must answer when reviewing the requirements they will place on a student in order to complete a degree from that institution. Many would say that a college education is one that expands the minds of students and prepares them for living life in the real world. The skills that a student learns in their college classes can prepare them for a career through content preparation, and it can help a student think differently about the world around them. The classes offered

As the readings so often portrayed, the transition into middle schooling can be quite the rough event for students. Despite this, I was quite surprised to find that in a study conducted by Waxman and Huang (1998) of the three education groups—elementary, middle and high school—middle schoolers were actually identified as harbouring the most negative classroom perception. This semester’s Education readings have repeatedly shown that the more independent structure of middle schooling can overwhelm students who are transitioning from their tight-knit elementary classes. Compound these school structure changes with the onset of puberty and it quickly becomes clear that there are challenges to be had in educating the middle school student. (Tilleczek, 2010 p. 5) After participating in this semester’s Education topic, however, I have to come to the conclusion that an effective educator can thoroughly minimise the risks associated with middle school students through the development of holistic teacher—student relationships.

When entering the middle school profession, it is important to remember who we are there to serve, the students who are there to learn. When looking at this I cannot help but think of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and more importantly how as an educator, I can serve those needs more effectively. With students growing up more rapidly than ever before, teachers must strive to understand their swinging emotions, test their moral boundaries, and challenge them in their learning. It is safe to say that these needs will take time and effort to meet. I believe that as an educator, I am responsible for meeting these needs through challenging coursework, making time to allow my students to socialize, and allowing my students to trust that I can help them emotionally if they require it. These are just a few steps that I can take to advance my philosophy.

Middle School Experiences – This is the stage where a child is developing mentally and physically, so it is important to maintain a good working relationship with the student that promotes learning new ideas and improving those skills that are not quite where they need to be. At this age, reading and learning is a thought

How many students wonder about the challenges in middle school? Students pondering the change discover it's not really that bad. In middle school, I learned to make new friends, kept up with my new phone, and learned to be punctual.

Think there should be restrictions on grade level and sensory the content to students’ age. I consider this to be a very difficult topic in terms of public school education. There are so many different aspects of educating adolescent about sex and sexuality, and so many different beliefs and opinions in terms of how parents feel about the subject. I think before teaching a sexuality educational class to middle school and high school students it is important for the teacher to realize that his/her own cultural values may differ from those of the students and to make sure that cultural values are not infringed on the students. I work in a Title I school and cultures are indeed, especially when the school has a large Hispanic population. So,

Curriculum is a term often highlighted during discourse about education and most commonly understood as a policy with overt leaning outcomes for teachers to apply and achieve. Ornstein and Hunkins (1998), as cited by Selvaraj (2010), defined curriculum based on two lenses; micro and macro, which identify the term as both policy towards certain goals and what students experience with consideration for relevant theories and principles central to its development and implementation. However, Wilson (n.d.) argued that curriculum is not restricted to certain individuals, subjects and environments, since teaching and learning can also occur beyond the scope of official curriculum (Ebert & Culyer, as cited in Marsh, Clarke & Pittaway, 2014). I believe this interpretation is the closest to the true nature of curriculum, or education, as there are more complex layers to curriculum than just a written guideline. For example, not one curriculum is similar to another because it is subjected to influences from continuum number of factors, such as politics and economy. Hence, it is wise to conclude that curriculum could not be defined based on a singular perspective due to its dependability on context.

Geographic neighbors, the United States and Canada have education systems with many similarities in structure and policy, yet there are significant differences in student performance and achievement. Canadian education is the responsibility of the provinces and territories, just as US education is intended to be overseen by each state. Another similarity shared by the US and Canada is a diverse student population, especially in large cities. The differences between the two countries are evident when measuring student achievement (Levin, 2011). Results from the 2003 PISA indicate that US performance in mathematics literacy and problem solving is significantly lower than that of other countries, including Canada. PISA scale scores for the US and Canada were 483 and 532, respectively, for a difference of 49 scale points (Lemke, 2004).

Curriculum is a soul of education. It uses as the motor of education system; from it our generations are held to be better. It is like a bridge to reach our nation goals.

Students who come from the United States tend to have a better education than those who come from an industrialized nation. The program for International Student Assessment (PISA), coordinated by Organized for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), measured the performances of students at the age of 15 in mathematics, science,

middle school programs, it can actually destroy any progress that has been made to make a school truly responsive to the needs of young adolescents” (Hackman & Valentine, 1998, p.4).

In the last decade, the United States has seen declining scores in reading, math and science compared to other countries as cited by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2015). The OECD publishes the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) every three years. This report compares the student scores from all over the world. In the PISA report, when looking at a comparable sample of countries that participated in the PISA exam in both 2012 and 2015, the US ranking fell from 28th to 35th in math. While the ranking for reading and science stayed the same, it remained below the OECD average. (PISA,2015)