Now that you have read about middle schools and probably reflected on your own experiences in school at that age, here is a chance for you to focus on development and curriculum of middle schools. Even though you may think your own experiences or those of middle schoolers you know make you an expert, take the next few hours to explore others’ experiences and thoughts on these years.

Note on pedagogical model:

This webquest models "the pedagogy of the question" (Freire). It is obviously quite different from direct instruction as it shares more responsibility for learning with students. One caution: to really be effective, this webquest should be part of an ongoing approach to learning. At least it will give us a taste of this approach and allow us to discuss its effectiveness in relation to what you learn about middle schools.

Task

By the end of this morning, your group is to have found a middle school program that relates to your question & supports middle schoolers' intellectual, social, personal development. Be ready to describe this program to the class.

Process and Resources

1. Begin by writing down questions that your group would like to answer about development and curriculum for middle schoolers. Refer to the questions you brought to class today to guide you in choosing questions you really want answered.
2. Decide on one question you can focus on in the next 2 hours.
3. Using the web, find one middle school program that relates to your question that your group would like to share with the class this afternoon. Look for programs that are developmentally appropriate. If a program supports only one: intellectual, or social, or personal – how would you envision expanding it to support the other facets? Alternatively, if you cannot find a program, find curricula ideas that your group would combine into a program.
4. Decide how your group will present this program to the class this afternoon. We will have 90 minutes for all groups to present and the class to critique and discuss how developmentally appropriate each program is for middle schoolers.

Project Guidelines

Use the following guidelines for completing your project:

• Your group is free to use this room, the computer labs, and the library.
• You may take your lunch break when you wish.
• Just be sure to complete the work by 1pm when we will reconvene.

Conclusion

At 1pm, we will meet as a class for groups to share each group's program and how it supports middle schoolers' intellectual, social, and personal development . We will discuss all of this in light of readings & current research on middle schoolers.

 Useful Websites for Information on Middle Schools

http://www.schoolstowatch.org/ Schools to Watch (links to exemplary middle schools)

http://www.ocss-va.org/discovery experiential education in a middle school

http://glef.org/FMPro?-DB=articles1.fp5&-format=article.html&-lay=layout%20%231&learnlivekeywords::jargonfree=Emotional%20Intelligence&-max=200&-token.1=Art_666&-token.2=Emotional%20Intelligence&-token.3=Innovative%20Classrooms&-find a middle school that focuses on social/emotional with academic learning

http://www.glef.org Click on "The Power of Partnerships" for article & video on a full service urban community middle school

http://www.seattleschools.org/area/main/index.dxml links to middle schools in Seattle

http://www.middleweb.com/ a rich site. Read "Reinventing the Middle School" chat. See archived listserv discussions (under chat). Lots of good articles too.

http://edweek.org/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=10middle.h20&keywords=team%20teaching Middle Schools & Academic Rigor (Ed Week article by a former student of mine!)

http://www.nelms.org/ New England League of Middle Schools, see the Technology Toolkit in Resource Room for articles on curriculum

http://www.middleschool.com/ Middle School Partnership

http://www.nmsa.org/ National Middle School Association (see Resources/Services, Research & Curriculum links for articles on development and curriculum)

http://www.caughtinthemiddle.org/ Caught in the Middle — a web resource for parents

http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kmidad.htm articles on middle school from Phi Delta Kappan

http://education.indiana.edu/cas/adol/adol.html Adolescent Directory Online

http://education.indiana.edu/cas/ Center for Adolescent Studies

http://www.middleschool.net/less_tut/webquests/webqmain.htm Middle School Webquests

http://el.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/Papers/mres/Comp_club/Clubhouse.html The Computer Clubhouse

http://www2.edc.org/thtm/ Teenage Health Teaching Modules

http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/digests/dig166.html Equitable Discipline of African American Students

A contrast of magazines for girls:

http://www.newmoon.org/ New Moon Magazine for Girls 8-14 (see http://www.newmoon.org/network/archives/index.htm for articles on girls)

http://seventeen.com/ Seventeen Magazine

Developed by Jacque Ensign, ensign@seattleu.edu, 9/02.