I. Course Title: Young Adolescents and the Middle School
II. Course Number: EDME 409
III. Credit Hours: 3 credits
IV. Prerequisites: Admission to Teacher Education Program and a minimum 2.5 GPA.
V. Course Description:
The purpose of this course is to help prospective middle level teacher candidates develop in-depth knowledge and understanding of young adolescents’ characteristics and needs at this particular time of development. An important component of the course is learning how schools can be organized and classroom environments created to best serve all young adolescents in their diverse abilities and cultural backgrounds. The course will also address working with the families of young adolescents.
VI. Detailed Description of Content of the Course:
1. Development of the early adolescent
(a) Physical
(b) Emotional
(c) Social
(d) Cognitive
2. Exceptional students
(a) Recognizing their needs
(b) Examining differentiated instruction
3. Factors placing young adolescents at-risk- trauma, bullying
(a) Individual factors
(b) Familial factors
(c) Societal factors
5. Impact of grouping practices on students
(a) Teachers’ grouping practices
6. Ethical responsibilities of teachers to students
(a) Knowledge development
(b) Moral development
7. Supporting adolescent learning
(a) Providing all students with equity in the classroom
(b) Providing all students with service learning opportunities in the classroom
(c) Developing appropriate instructional strategies
(d) Examining Social Constructivism as a theoretical framework for learning
8. Practice skills that positively support
(a) Community Building
(b) Positive behavior supports
(c) Behavior management techniques
(d) Individual interventions
VI. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course:
This course will be conducted in lecture, activity, and discussion formats and will include opportunities for experiential projects.
This course examines the intersection of young adolescence development with middle school curricula and explores the instructional methods for designing and teaching developmentally appropriate programs in middle school. Teacher candidates will understand the different aspects of adolescent development and how that impacts middle school student’s learning, motivation, and behaviors in the classroom. Pre-service teachers will also understand the various risk-factors associated with this age group and how those risk factors adversely impact adolescents and their success in school. Pre-service teachers will examine how understanding this period of adolescent development impacts differentiation and flexible grouping. Finally, throughout this course, teacher candidates will develop the necessary reflective and critical thinking skills necessary to become researchers and reflective practitioners.
VII. Goals and Objectives of the Course:
Goals, objectives, and assignments address the Virginia Department of Education regulations as well as the Association for Middle Level Education recommendations for preparing middle level educators with concentrations in Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, and Science. Candidates successfully completing this course will be able to demonstrate developing knowledge, skills, and dispositions of the following:
Goal 1: Identify the different aspects of adolescent development and their impact on middle school students.
Goal 2: Identify the factors that put adolescents at-risk for negative behaviors.
Goal 3: Develop skills in promoting the development of all students' abilities for academic achievement and continued learning
Goal 4: Identify how to use differentiated instruction and flexible groupings to meet the needs of pre-adolescents at different stages of development, abilities, and achievement
Goal 5: Develop skills as researchers and reflective practitioners
Having successfully completed this course, the teacher candidate will be able to:
VIII. Assessment Measures:
The assessments may include but are not limited to:
Other Course Information: None
Review and Approval
April 2020 Reviewed Dr. Ann Mary Roberts
2013
January 30, 2013 Reviewed Dr. Elizabeth D. Dore, Coordinator
November 10, 2008 Reviewed Dr. Elizabeth D. Dore, Coordinator
August 14, 2006 Reviewed Dr. Elizabeth D. Dore, Coordinator