The Importance Of Middle School Literacy

The middle childhood is to leave the play years to start maturing years to start adolescence (Berk, 2010). During the middle childhood, children began to have a lot physical changes. As well as, they begin to discover there identify that they are. For example, secondary sexual organs begin to develop in the boys and girls, they will confuse about identify. The puberty is the cycle when children are out of control because they will transition to leave the children to enter adolescence. For instance, physical and behavioral changes will have some consequences if pre-adolescences do not deal well with them. Middle childhood is divided into two categories 6 to 8 and 9 to 12 years that reflects on children’s behavior (Nuru-Jeter et al., 2010). For instance, children learn to interact with other children, and how they will manage emotions and behaviors. Also, how they have to act with adults and children that totally different it. Also, the girl and boy have different physical and behavior changes for the gender difference. Middle childhood development makes for some factors that influence on physical changes, brain and nervous system, and social and emotional changes.

“…apart from the prime and given responsibility of teaching selected content and skills, middle school teachers must be about the business of helping students believe in themselves, form their character, discover their interests, nurture their potential, gain a sound perspective on their physical development and related health issues, and develop those universally and critically important humanitarian and social skills—all while daring them to be their best selves, to breath deeply, and to live well at the moment.”

They form relationships with their peers, develop spoken vocabulary, and began to decipher between genders and their roles. Middle childhood is the development of personality, motivation, and inter-personal relationships. Growth at this stage is usually slowed until puberty is reached. Children at this age tend to learn by hands-on learning activities.

Many students worry about how their middle school years will go. Middle school is a very important part of a student’s education. Middle school is their initiation into high school and could really impact their future. Many elementary school students think that they are prepared and can do well in middle school, but many are not ready. Also, students who do not do well in middle school tend to not do well in high school. One lesson I would like to teach elementary school students is how to survive middle school, which is important because it will lead them to a better future by being prepared, managing time, and knowing how to problem solve.

At the age of 6 years old, a child would most likely experienced the school system which would include pre-school and kindergarten. There are many physical, cognitive and social changes that are happening in middle childhood development. This paper will examine what these changes affect the child’s ability to function in society. This analysis will focus on the normal course of development in middle childhood as it applies to the theorist Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages and then give examples of what may happen if the developments are not carried out.

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.

This critique is based on the research study, Middle School Literacy Coaching from the Coach’s perspectives. In this study, Smith (2012) designed a study to investigate middle school literacy coaches’ perspectives. He was looking at the coaches’ efforts to promote teacher change and how it impacted classroom practice. The topic was stated in the first paragraph of the article making it clearly stated for the reader to find.

Ever since kindergarten, I've been a really great student. I went to Glider Elementary for kindergarten to sixth grade. At Glider I always achieved principal's list or Academic Excellence, which was an award for achieving a 3.8 Gpa or higher. As a student, I was never a big talker in class and always got my work done quick. For middle school, I wanted to transfer to Herman, but I ended up at Davis instead. In the beginning of the year I was really bitter about being enrolled at Davis, but by the second day of school I made a lot of new friends. Throughout seventh grade, the classes were very easy, and I achieved a 3.8 Gpa! Once eight grade year began, I had a bunch of friends already, and got enrolled in classes with really awesome teachers.

In the article for “Why do some schools do better” the publisher talks about how in middle school students begin to lose interest in their classes. Middle school grades are important because, they can tell a student’s success or failure and how they will do in high school. Many reports over the years have stressed the importance of grades during the middle school years. Many of the student’s outcomes have

Literacy pedagogies have a developing and complex history in education, intertwined with social and cultural change and evolution. Each change has paved a new path for more significant approaches and strategies, which cater to diverse learners allowing them to create meaning and communicate more effectively. These literacy pedagogies brought out by the changes in education have both strengths and weaknesses. As such, educators need to explore and understand the four knowledge processes portrayed by Kalantzis, Cope, Chan and Dalley-Trim; didactic, authentic, functional, and critical literacy approach (2016), to be able to consider how they can influence teaching and learning so they are able to make informed decisions with regards to their students’ literacy learning. Teaching is becoming increasingly complex; this is particularly evident in the area of literacy. This paper will explore the four literacy pedagogies, their limitations and their strengths, and how they have impacted literacy learning within the Australian educational context.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” (Mahatma Gandhi). Learning is essential to grow as an individual and expand your knowledge. Literacy is key for broadening our mentality and a person will only benefit from it. For me, especially, literacy has been essential for my growth and the challenges I have taken on. Everything in my life has depended on my knowledge and skills that I have acquired, and I am continuously developing new techniques.

Literacy has changed the way that people live since the beginning of time. From cavemen communicating with drawings and hand signals to the earliest form of Latin. At that time reading was a skill that very few had. It was believed to be that only the wealthy and the noble class were taught this skill. Peasants did not need it in their everyday life. Reading was considered a privilege and was also used to suppress the lower class. Knowledge is power. For me, this knowledge has molded the way that I live and communicate.

Children become rule based and listen when spoken to. School plays a large part in this since teacher educate kids to listen, sit down quietly and work in small , in the future will be vital for real life work in adulthood.("Stages of Growth Development," 1898-1987). In this stage of life Piaget’s cognitive theory comes into play. Children in this stage in life are more concrete operational, meaning that they deal with visible, tangible things. They become more systematic. Peer relationships and best friend are crucial at this stage, this helps children have deeper relationships while heading into adolescence and can help determine if they will be able to hold a relationship as adults (Stassen Berger, 2009). Social trend, such as violence, eating disorders and even drug use are seen more readily in ages seven to twelve years old. This increasing pressure in schools to recognize the problem and develop more activities such as sports, music, and social events to help children stay active and away from drug use, this eventually helps in adolescence and young adulthood years.

In this essay, I will discuss my experience during middle and late childhood. I will address three stages which are the physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development. The physical development consists of body and brain growth, health issues, and motor skills. The cognitive development consists of language, memory, and attention. Socioemotional development is based on relationship, employment, and personality.

Yet, the education does not stop at middle school, for high school really puts all the basic skills from elementary and middle school to work as the assignments and the exams become more challenging. We do not only learn about reading, writing, history, and math, we learn about the people around us as we associate with different personalities, and as we see what we have grown up to be and what we want to be later in life. Accordingly, the high school years are a time when teachers emphasize the importance of graduating and attending college in order to have a “succesful future.”