Creating a Climate that Supports Young Adolescent Learners Adapted from Becoming a Middle Level Teacher by Cathy Vatterott

Alfie Kohn once said “ If you want academic excellence, you have to attend to how children feel about school and about each other.”

In the MMSA, we believe that for middle school students… a nurturing and supportive classroom environment is essential for their emotional and social development as well as their academic success.

Needs Based Environment All People have certain needs SurvivalLoveBelonging

In groups of three In groups of three Chat about how each of these needs (survival, love, and belonging) can either be supported or challenged in a middle school setting.

In the same groups of three Chat about the students who most benefit and the ones who are most at- risk.

Survival Needs: Building a Safe Environment Schools need to be a place where students feel secure and protected from physical danger. Non-violent school environments require the commitment of all: administrators, teachers, office staff, custodial staff, students and parents.

A safe school environment is more the result of shared community values and expectations than it is the result of metal detectors or security guards. Discuss with your group the validity of the statement above. To what extent do you agree with it and why? Survival Needs

Survival Needs: Communicating Concerns Students need to have a way of anonymously communicating safety concerns to their teacher and/or school administrators. Bug Boxes (where students can drop leave notes about what is bugging them.)

Survival Needs Bullying, threatening, teasing and ridiculing of others is not just a part of middle school.

Survuival Needs: What about the tragic? Columbine Virginia Tech Portland In your groups discuss: How do these incidents impact the young adolescents’ beliefs about his/her well-being?

Emotional Safety Emotional Safety Often, when physical safety is pretty well established, issues of emotional safety can still be a big concern. Students who feel safe and supported are more willing to take a risk. Why is this true? (Think about what we know about Young Adolescents’ emotions.)

Emotional Safety What about safety from teachers? Mr. Lapointe throwing erasers Mr. Able giving points to girls who wore skirts Improper relationships Why do these things happen? In your groups reflect on your college years, did you ever have a professor who made you feel uncomfortable? How did this impact what you felt about the class?

What does emotional safety mean? I won’t threaten you, but I’ll expect much from you.

Physical Needs Allow for food and /or drink Would you be happy being in a place where you could not use the restroom when you needed to? Water, the brain is made of water (over 70 %) Sitting for long periods pulls blood (and oxygen away from the brain.)

The Need for Power and Competence Young adolescent students need to begin to develop a sense of control over their environment. This comes because they are transitioning from being children into becoming adults. They want to viewed as grown up even when they don’t act like they are. In your groups describe incidents when young adolescents think they are being grown up but are not.

The Need for Power and Competence This need to be seen as grown up when they don’t know that they are not can be exasperating for their teachers. But this is why young adolescents need to begin to gain control. They need to practice being grown up and responsible. ( in safe situations) Bad things can happen when this need is acted out in unsafe situations.

The Need for Power and Competence In order for students to achieve competence, they must be given opportunities to make decisions. Teachers should shift from “doing to” power to “working with” power. Give young adolescents some power over heir daily school environments. Allow them to help make rules and develop classroom procedures.

The Need for Love and Belonging Young adolescents need unconditional love and will often go to great lengths to get it. They also seek a sense of belonging, connectedness and membership in a group.

Teacher –Student Relationships Seen as the most important relationships for influencing a students academic success. Teachers tend to have the best relationships with the students that have the least needs. When students perceive that the adults around them don’t really care about them, motivation drops. At- risk kids need strong relationships with their teachers

Teacher –Student Relationships Some kids suffer when they don’t have a relationship with their teachers. Others suffer even more because they have an adversarial relationship. Discuss in your group a time when you have seen this between a teacher and a student,

Needs Based Relationships Traditional classroom is somewhat autocratic Needs based relationship is more democratic, Needs based relationship begins with high regard for all students, even those who fall out of the norm.

Traditional Vs. Needs Based Traditional 1Teacher relates to class as a group 2Individual personal relationships unnecessary 3Teacher to student primary communication 4Student input or opinions unimportant 5Teacher priority to control students Needs Based 1Teacher relates to students individually 2Individual personal relationships a priority 3True dialogue between teacher and student 4Student input or opinions used for decision making 5Teacher priority to help students

When students think that the adults in their life don’t care about them, they often decide not to care about those adults or anything the represent. This can lead to all sorts of acting out and self destructive behavior.

Here is the difficult part Even as teachers try to learn as much about their students as they can, they can’t just be their friends. There has to be balance. The students must trust the teacher to guide them without embarrassing them. Students beliefs about themselves have a profound influence on their ability to learn

Student-Student Relationships Even the best teacher -student relationships can’t and shouldn’t meet young adolescents needs. Being accepted by your peers is validation. It brings personal identity and security. Unfortunately many young adolescents lack the skills necessary to form satisfying relationships.

Popular children know how to work a room Laugh and smile a lot Greet others openly Other children are not able to do this and need to be in safe situations to learn how to form relationships.

Bringing Diverse Groups Together There are a variety of ways that groups for in schools. Socio-economic Cultural and ethnic LanguageReligious