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InspirEd Setting a Vision for Middle School

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Fiona Reynolds

on 9 December 2012

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Transcript of InspirEd Setting a Vision for Middle School

Thank you for your attention! Appreciative
Inquiry Neuroplasticity: the human brain continually reorganizes itself on the basis of input. This continues throughout our life.

Long-Term Memory = Declarative + Procedural Knowledge (Willingham, 16)

Working Memory = the place in the brain where information from the environment is combined with long-term memory in order to understand the current situation/problem, etc.

Thinking = knowing how to combine and rearrange ideas in working memory (Willingham, 15)

Connections to previous experiences (written, visual, kinesthetic, etc)

Chunking information

Practice (repeat to remember, remember to repeat) The Limbic system - emotion center
Amygdala - grows during adolescent years

Prefrontal cortex - controls executive function - relatively underdeveloped in adolescent. (Sousa, 17) Some Words to Know How People Learn Brains in the Middle Goals for Today
1. Discover what we know about early adolescence
2. Think about the challenges and opportunities of early adolescent education
3. Discuss and plan for how to set up a developmentally appropriate "middle school." Gender Differences show the idea of chunking with thenumbers in an empty room are a candle, some matches, and a box of tacks. The goal is to have the lit candle about five feet off the ground. You've tried melting some of the wax on the bottom of the candle and sticking it to the wall, but that wasn't effective. How can you get the lit candle five feet off the ground without having to hold it there? Myelin sheath: a protective coating over an axon. The thicker the myelin sheath, the faster teh speec of transmission.

Synapse: gap between a dendrite and axon where electrical impulses are received and released.

Axon: fibre linking a neuron to a synapse.

Dendrites: branches at the edges of neurons that receive and transmit electrical impulses from other neurons.

Neurons: the recivers of information - send signals through axons and dendrites to other neurons. The more connections a neuron has, the better able your brain is to make sense of information.

picture pg 21 - Sousa - How the Brain Works

(Sousa - How the Brain Learns pgs. 21-22) how did you try to solve the problem? Formal
10- 12) Logic Problem Solving abstract thought Different
perspectives To put it another way...
"your teens' brains have their accelerators pressed all the way to the floor, while their brakes have yet to be installed." (Armstrong, 116) 1. Think about the problem
2. Share your answer with a partner - come up
with a combined answer
3. Share with table group 1. Think about the problem
2. Share your answer with a partner - come up
with a combined answer
3. Share with table group 5. What does this mean for what is taught in your school? XCN
X 1. In which subject areas is abstract thinking developed? 2. In which subject areas is problem solving developed? 3. In which subject areas is logic developed? 4. Where or how else can these skills be developed? I walked on the moon. This is my journey. But it didn't begin when I stepped on board Apollo 11 on July 1st, 1969. It began the day I was born.

Becoming an astronaut took more than education, discipline, and physical strength. It took years of determination and believing that any goal is possible - from riding a bike alone across the George Washington Bridge at age ten to making a footprint on the Moon.

I always knew the Moon was within my reach - and that I was ready to be on the team that would achieve the first landing. But is was still hard to believe when I took my first step onto the Moon's surface. Buzz Aldrin Reaching for the Moon How do we get to the moon? Appreciation means to recognize and value the contributions or attributes of things and people around us. 
Inquiry means to explore and discover, in the spirit of seeking to better understand, and being open to new possibilities.   Discovery Phase 1. What word or phrase described you best in middle school?
2. What do you value most in schools?
3. Why did you want to come to (your school)? or Why have you stayed at (your school)?
4. Describe your most successful lesson in the past five years.
5. What do you know your students take out of your classes?
6. What do you hope your students take our of your classes?
7. If you were independently wealthy, what would you be doing right now?
8. Why did you become a teacher?
9. What are some of your interests?
10. What are some of your talents? The Questions Understand where we have come from as a school and as teachers/learners   Dream Phase  
What does the moon look like? Keeping in mind yourself as a middle school student and your students today, if you could design a middle school what would it look like? (classes offered, physical space, schedule, role of teacher,  responsibilities of students, grading and reporting, ?)

Two minutes to dream and draw

Five minutes to share with a partner

Five minutes to record    Components of our dream middle school Eagle Rock - Estes Park, CO Envision what we want the Middle School to look like in five years Strategic Plan: the ladder to get us to the moon. Data Informed Decisions

Curriculum and Instruction

Emerging Technologies

Professional Working Environment   What were the biggest and most innovative ideas the End-Results could create for the Middle School? Plan what we can/want to accomplish this year in                     priority areas of the Strategic Plan.   Design Phase   Deliver Phase Characteristics of Middle School educators committed to young adolescents
a shared vision
high expectations for all
an adult advocate for every student
family and community partnerships
 a positive school climate
a curriculum that is challenging, integrative, and exploratory
varied teaching and learning approaches
assessment and evaluation that promote learning
programs and policies that foster health, wellness, and safety
comprehensive guidance and support services

Key Characteristics of Middle Level Schools, John H. Lounsbury Fiona Reynolds
Middle School Principal
American School of Bombay Which characteristics does your school already have?

Which would you like to put in place?

Share your answers with a partner at your table. Brain Break
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