Secondary School Teaching A Guide To Methods and Resources

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Secondary School TeachingA Guide To Methods and
Resources

• Chapter One
• Secondary School
• Teaching Today
• Recognizing and Understanding the Challenge

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9 Key Points- of chapter 1

1. Define differentiation between a middle
   school, junior high school and a high school
2. Key characteristics of a exemplary school
3. Small learning community concept
4. Key developmental characteristics of 10-18 year
   olds
5. Quality education for each student
6. Teacher as a reflective decision maker
7. Trends, problems, issues
8. N.C.L.B
9. Parents, guardians and the community

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• Secondary School combination of grades 7-12
• Middle School usually grades 6-8
• High School combination of grades 9-12

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Multi Cultural Education

• As a teacher today you must be knowledgeable and
  skilled in using teaching strategies that
  recognize, celebrate, and build upon the cultural
  diversity in your classroom
• One out of every six students age 5-7 speaks a
  language other than English at home
• English language learners-
• 5.5 ELLs in the U.S. public schools
• 80 speak Spanish
• 400 different languages

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How Effective Teachers Accommodate Differences

• Establish a classroom climate in which all
  students feel welcome, can learn, and are
  supported in doing so
• Use techniques that emphasize cooperative
  social-interactive learning
• Building upon students learning styles,
  capacities and modalities
• Used strategies and techniques that have proven
  successful for students of specific special
  characteristics and differences

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To Become and Remain an Exemplary School/Teacher

• The school/teacher must be in a continual mode of
  inquiry, reflection, and change the advantage of
  utilizing a combination of practices concurrently
  is usually greater in helping all students
  succeed in school.
• Schools and the teacher must constantly change
  there is no single shoe that fits all children in
  all neighborhoods. America is too large and too
  diverse fro that to ever be the case.

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Teaching Teams

• Collaborative Teaching Teams several teachers
  work together to reflect, plan and implement a
  curriculum for a common cohort of students.
• Team Teaching two or more teachers
  simultaneously providing instruction to students
  in the same classroom
• Teaching Teams can be all teachers from one
  grade level, subject, or interdisciplinary

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Community of Learners

• An interdisciplinary teaching team and its common
  cohort of students can be referred to as a
  community of learners, where each team of
  teachers is assigned each day to the same cohort
  of students for a common block of time. Within
  this block of time.
• Teachers on the team are responsible for
  building the curriculum and instruction around
  their students interests, perspectives, and
  perceptions.

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Advantages of a Community of Learners

• Within a community of learners students are able
  to make important and meaningful connections
  among disciplines
• It also provides both peer and adult group
  identification, which provides a very important
  sense of identity and belonging.

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Block Scheduling

• Block scheduling for at least a portion of the
  school day or week , blocks of time ranging from
  70-140 minutes or more replace the traditional 50
  minute period. Alternate day block planning is
  also know as A-B planning
• Advantages greater satisfaction among teachers
  and admin.
• Improvement in behavior and learning of all
  students
• Students do more writing , peruse issues in
  greater depth, enjoy school more
• Teachers get to know their students better and
  are able to respond to the students needs better

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• Disadvantages of block scheduling
• Possible mismatch between content actually
  covered and that expected by state mandate
  testing
• Content in course may be less than traditionally
  covered
• If teachers do not use a variety of teaching
  techniques students tend to get bored and become
  unengaged
• Alternatives
• Modified block or Split block
• Flexible block

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Responsive Practices for Helping Each Student
Succeed

• Perception that all students can learn when given
  adequate support, although not all students need
  the same amount of time to learn the same thing
• Attention to coping skills and the emotional
  development of each child
• Engagement of parents/guardians as partners in
  their child's education
• High, although not necessarily identical,
  expectations for all students
• Highly qualified teachers, specialist teachers,
  and smaller schools with smaller classes

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Responsive Practices for- cont

• Peer tutoring and cross-age coaching
• Personal attention, adult advocacy, scheduling,
  and learning plans to help students learn in a
  manner by which they best learn
• Time and guided attention to basic
  skills-especially those of literacy, thinking,
  and social-rather than solely on rote memory

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Junior High School Middle School
Most common grade span organization Traditional 50 min. periods 6 per day Flexible usually block
Subject organization Departmentalized Integrated Interdisciplinary
Guidance / Counseling Separate session w/ counselor as needed Full time counselor Advisor/Advisee relationship between student Teacher in homeroom
Exploratory curriculum Electives by choice Common wheel of experiences for all
Teachers Subject centered Grades 7-12 Interdisciplinary teams- student centered k-8 or 6-8
Instruction Traditional lecture Skills and repetition Thematic units Discovery techniques and study skills
Athletics Interscholastic- Competition focused Intramural- Participation focused
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Middle-Level Education

• Are school based on a philosophy that
  incorporates curricula and instructional
  practices specifically designed to developmental
  needs of young adolescent students (students
  between the age of 10-15).

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Common Traits of Committed Teachers

• Knowledgeable about the developmental
  characteristics of the age of students the teach
• Understand and committed to the schools
  philosophy or mission statement
• Know the curriculum and how best to teach it
• Are enthusiastic, motivated, and well organized
• Demonstrate effective communication and
  interpersonal skills
• Are willing to listen to the students and risk
  trying their ideas (French fry story)
• Acknowledge students strengths, not their
  limitations
• Are reflective and responsible decision makers

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N.C.L.B. Act of 2001

• No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)Executive
  Summary
• http//www.asha.org/about/legislation-advocacy/fed
  eral/nclb/exec-summary.htm

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Home and School Connections

• Although not all schools have a parent/guardian
  organization, many have adopted formal policies
  about home and community connections.
• Enrollment of entire families as members of a
  learning team
• Home visitation programs
• Homework hotlines
• Involvement of students in community service
  learning
• Parents/guardians volunteer to co-teach in the
  classroom

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Community Service Learning

• Through community service learning students learn
  and develop during active participation in
  thoughtfully organized and curriculum-connected
  experiences that meet community needs.

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Current Actions

• Changes in standards for teacher certification
• Emphasis on education for cultural diversity and
  ways of teaching and working with E.L.L
• Helping students make connections between what is
  being learned and the real world
• Connections between subjects in the curriculum
  and between academics and vocations
• Emphasis on standards based education
• Improving test scores
• Improving home, school and community connections

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Key Trends and Practices

• Continuing influx of immigrant and language
  minority students throughout the U.S
• Smaller cohorts of students
• Reflective thinking and self discipline
• Holding high but not always identical
  expectations for all students
• Movement to grades K-8 9-12
• Personalized instruction
• Providing students with time and opportunity
  think and be creative, rather than simply
  memorizing and repeating information

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Major Problems and Issues

• Controversy over the value of N.C.L.B
• Funding gaps- state budgets
• Deteriorating schools
• Recruiting and retaining the best teachers and
  administrators
• Scarcity of the male/ 2 out of 10
• Scarcity of minority role models
• Increasing youth at risk dropping out
• Using standardized test scores to judge and
  reward the performance of schools and teachers
• Resegregatiom that is occurring in schools

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Meeting the Challenge Recognizing and Providing
for Student Differences

• Communicate with students in a clear, direct,
  respectful, and consistent manner
• Maintain high expectations, although not
  necessarily identical, for every student
  establish high standards and teach toward them
  without wavering
• Provide tiered assignment, with optional due
  dates that are based on individual student
  abilities and interests
• Use interdisciplinary thematic instruction
• Use multilevel instruction
• Use reciprocal peer coaching cross age tutoring

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Developmental Characteristics of Young
Adolescents 9-14

• Physical Development-young adolescents tend to
• Be self conscious and concerned about their
  physical appearance, especially increases in
  acne, height, and weight
• Be physically at risk homicide, suicide,
  accidents and leukemia
• Experience fluctuations in basal metabolism that
  can result in a lack of energy or spurts of
  activity
• Face responsibility of sexual behavior before
  full emotional and social maturity has occurred
• Have ravenous appetites and particular tastes
• Mature at varying rates

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Developmental Characteristics of Young
Adolescents 9-14

• Social Development-young adolescents tend to
• Be vain and want to show off
• Be self-conscious about social behaviors
• Want social acceptance. They can be fiercely
  loyal to peer group values and sometimes cruel or
  insensitive to those outside the peer group
• Strive to define sex role characteristics and
  search to set up positive social relationships
  with members of the same and opposite sex
• Challenge authority figures and test the limits
  of acceptable behaviors
• Be rebellious towards parents but will be
  strongly dependant on parental values

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Developmental Characteristics of Young
Adolescents 9-14

• Cognitive Development-young adolescents tend to
• Be egocentric, display and increased ability to
  convince others, and exhibit independent critical
  thought
• Display increased imaginative powers
• Be interested in primarily in activities outside
  of school
• Be able to reason, judge, and apply experiences
• Exhibit strong willingness to learn what they
  consider to be useful and to enjoy using skill to
  solve real life problems
• Prefer active to passive learning experiences and
  favor interaction with peers during learning
  activities

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Developmental Characteristics of Young
Adolescents 9-14

• Cognitive Development-young adolescents tend to
• Sulk and show anger
• Fall in and out of love frequently
• Be psychologically at risk. At no other point in
  human development is an individual likely to meet
  so much diversity in relation to one's self and
  others.
• Want to be popular and have friends
• Want interdependence from adult control but
  return to caring adults for help and reassurance
• Be optimistic, hopeful, and sensitive to what
  others think

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Developmental Characteristics of Older
Adolescents 15-19

• Physical Development-older adolescents tend to
• Be concerned about their physical appearance but
  with increasing self-confidence
• Need extended periods of rest, perhaps more than
  at any time since infancy
• Sometimes display annoying physical habits, which
  are age-normal displays of their attempt to
  become independent

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Developmental Characteristics of Older
Adolescents 15-19

• Social Development-older adolescents tend to
• Be socially at risk, tend to have a naïve but it
  wont happen to me attitude. Adult values are
  largely shaped conceptually during adolescence,
  and their negative interactions with peers,
  parents and teachers may compromise their ideals
  and commitments.
• Refer to peers as sources for standards and
  models of behavior. Media heroes are singularly
  important in shaping both behavior and fashion.
• Search to set up positive social relationships
  with members of the same and opposite sex

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Developmental Characteristics of Older
Adolescents 15-19

• Emotional Development-older adolescents tend to
• Have few close friendships
• Have a sense of humor based on increased
  intellectual ability to see abstract
  relationships
• Want greater independence from adult control
• Want to be seen as an original or unique person
• Work well with teachers they admire and respect
  and who treat them with respect
• Have a sense of humor based on increased
  intellectual ability to see abstract
  relationships

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Developmental Characteristics of Older
Adolescents 15-19

• Cognitive Development-older adolescents tend to
• Be able to reason, judge, and apply experiences
  with a greater degree of maturity
• Give increased thought to their lives after high
  school
• Be interested in activities outside of school
• Display increased imaginative powers
• Exhibit a strong willingness to learn what they
  consider to be useful and enjoy using those
  skills in their lives
• Have a greater degree of responsibilities outside
  of school

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Conclusion

• Regardless of all the legislation and other
  responsive school practices, in the end it is the
  dedication, commitment , and understanding of the
  involved adults- the teacher, administrator, bus
  driver etc. that remain the incisive in
  childrens learning.
• Marzano Marzano, 2003 have concluded that it
  has been made clear that teachers actions in
  their classrooms can have a far greater impact on
  student achievement than school matters of
  curriculum, assessment, staff collegiality, and
  community involvement.