MOLDING THE MIDDLE SCHOOL MIND

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MOLDING THE MIDDLE SCHOOL MIND

• Presented by Teri Cox
• Educational Consultant
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• NMSA Conference
• Denver, CO 2008

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Middle Schools Students Need

• Relationships -They do not care how much you know
  until they know how much you care
• Respect - Many will learn of this from you
• Rigor - Engaged and learning by strengths
• Chunks -Time to digest new learning
• Movement-If you dont build it in they will do it
  any way
• Significance - Connect it to their lives outside
  your walls
• High Expectations - When little is expected
  little is achieved. Expect much and strive for
  more.

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Multiple Intelligences

• Howard Gardner
• All kids are 100 smart, we have to figure out
  how.
• (9) Naturalistic, musical, bodily-kinesthetic,
  logical-mathematical, linguistic, spatial,
  interpersonal, and intrapersonal (spiritual,
  moral, existential?)
• In Multiple Intelligences The Theory in
  Practice he states It is paradoxical that most
  students take hundreds of tests within school but
  that, once they have left school, they are almost
  never tested again. Conversely, most of
  productive life consists of projects- (Gardner
  1993, p. 224).

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What Do You Hear?

• FIND YOUR COPY-What Do You Hear?
• Are you middle, polished, or special?
• Be who you are-no cheating!
• Write as many nouns as you can

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What Do You Hear?

• Implications for Teaching
• What are some?

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What Do You Hear?

• Implications for Teaching
• Processing Issues
• Written Expression Problems
• Prior Knowledge/Attachment
• What did they bring with them

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What Do You Hear Now?
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What Do You Hear Now?

• Implications for Teaching
• What are they?

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What Do You Hear Now?

• Implications for Teaching
• 10
• Revisit-Spiral
• Previous Experience
• DVD or other sensory input
• 1 Minute Reflection-Take time to write one or two
  things down.60 seconds

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How do we deal with Speedy Sue and Slow Sam in
the same class?

• Questioning
• Wait time
• Fist of 5
• Differentiation

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Differentiate Via

• Content What do students need to know?
• Is it problem centered and connected
• Process How do students learn best?
• Is it exploratory and student centered
• Product How do students demonstrate what they
  have learned?
• Does it allow students to be engaged and make
  deeper connections
• Affect Do students feel safe?
• Is there an emotional kinship (do they fit-in)
• Learning Environment What do students need in
  their space?
• Are the space, materials, and time student
  centered?
• Tomlinson Eidson 2003

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Categorize these men

• Mozart Loggins Walsh Schubert
• Cash Lennon Charles McCartney
• Gershwin Bach Tubbs Fleetwood
• Joplin Brooks Schumann Cooke
• Pendergrass Strauss Gaye Adkins

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Categorize these animals with a partner who is
seated next to you.

• Dog goldfish monkey bee
• Lion butterfly frog goat
• Shark bear pig dolphin
• Squid ant cat mouse
• Horse cow bird dinosaur
• Alligator tiger chicken whale
• Jellyfish spider sheep bass

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What did we learn?

• Let the students do the work it is more powerful
  for them
• Marzano-students make a 45 (percentile gain) if
  they are asked to identify similarities and
  differences. Consider reading this work,
  Classroom Instruction That Works

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What can I do this year?

• Pre-assess so I dont Waste time
• Inventory my students learning styles
• Be accessible
• Give students time to digest
• Teach in a more concrete way
• Give experiences and prior knowledge
• Document with portfolios
• 1 Minute Reflection-Take time to write one or two
  things down.60 seconds
• PICK ONE OR TWO AND WORK THEM THROUGH

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What If I WANT An Awakening???

• Ask a peer to come in and observe how much time
  you spend talking
• Buy a timer and chunk lessons
• NEVER SAY WHAT A KID CAN SAY!

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Practical Classroom Ideas

• Group Gossip
• Parent Letter
• Table/Supply Boxes
• Clothes Pins
• Extensions/Learning Cubes/Menus
• File Folder Portfolios
• Positive Posts
• 1 Minute Reflection-Take time to write one or two
  things down instead of 10 minute journals

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Molding the Middle School Mind

• THANKS TO YOU FROM
• Teri Cox
• Educational Consultant
• Instructional Coach
• teri_at_cei.net
• teri_at_tericox.biz
• www.tericox.biz
• CEU Code YE4