Kevin

**Article 1 -** The Curriculum in Action: Benchmarks of Student-Friendly Middle Schools //1. What are the seven characteristics that differentiate student-friendly environments? Are these characteristics realistic for most schools to accomplish? What conditions would make it more difficult for some schools to meet these benchmarks?// In his article “The Curriculum in Action: Benchmarks of Student-Friendly Middle Schools,” M. Lee Manning details seven characteristics he believes are present in middle schools which have student-friendly environments. These characteristics are the following: -Recognition of learner diversity -Educators trained in middle school education -Exploratory programs that capture learner interest -Developmentally responsive guidance and counseling programs -Equal access to educational experiences -A positive school environment -Involvement of parents and families in the education of young adolescents

For a school to possess all of these characteristics would be nearly impossible. Some of these elements are fulfilled in varying ways in many schools, but I find it improbable that any teacher would argue their school’s environment contained all of these characteristics on a consistent basis. That being said, Manning’s list could be used as a guide for improving the overall climate of a school.

Even if these seven characteristics were just being used as general guidelines, there would still be many environments that would be unable to fully incorporate each element. For example, the goal of a school with “equal access to educational experiences” would be difficult to achieve in a district of a low socioeconomic population. The same reasoning applies with “a positive school environment” and “involvement of parents and families in the education of young adolescents.” The latter is especially noticeable in my school district where the parents of many students are almost completely absent from the educational process. Also, school safety is another factor worth mentioning. A school is meant to be a safe haven for children to focus on learning, but unfortunately this is not always the norm. It is very difficult to maintain a positive school environment when the safety of many of my students is threatened both inside and outside of school. //2. What is the effect of a student-friendly middle school for student learning? What is the connection between the environment students occupy and their capacity for learning?//

The connection between a school’s environment and how well students can learn is very substantial. The more comfortable and safe students feel, the better they are likely to perform. The notion of the least restrictive environment is hard to create for my students because of all the outside influences that are impeding their capacity for education. To combat these forces, I must create an environment inside my classroom, a community if you will, where my students feel comfortable and ready to learn. In my school, creating meaningful relationships with my students is absolutely essential to my success as a teacher. The climate within an inner-city school district requires teachers to build relationships with their students before they can be effective teachers. In my student’s culture, respect is not something freely given; instead respect is something that is earned. This presents an obvious challenge to all adults in my building. How can we earn the respect of every student both inside and outside of the classroom? The solution to this issue is not an easy one, especially considering the roots of many of our students’ problems lie in areas we cannot significantly change. Forming effective relationships with my students is a concept that works on more than one level. Not only does it create the respect that is a necessity in my school, it helps me view my students as individuals. Essentially I have to be a detective; I must discover their likes, their dislikes, their strengths, their weakness, and anything I can use to learn how they learn. Then and only then am I able to connect the curriculum to their lives and make it as relevant as possible for them.

**Article 2 -** Middle School Students and Service Learning: Developing Empowered Informed Citizens //1. To what extent could service learning activities be incorporated into the curriculum across all levels of education (i.e., K-12 schools and higher education)?// //What “adjustments” would have to be made at the various levels?//

In her article “Middle School Students and Service Learning: Developing Empowered Informed Citizens,” Peggy A. Grant explores the benefits of service learning activities which are implemented with middle school students. Service learning is an instructional strategy that connects young people with their communities while meeting academic standards. She argues that these students are “at a crucial point in their personal, moral, social, and cognitive development. Exposure to diverse work environments, numerous adult role models, and real-life problem solving can provide students in the middle-school years with more options for their future.”

Service learning creates educational experiences that are episodic in nature and yield more meaningful learning. The principles of service learning conform to what I believe is one of fundamental tenants of education: making students into productive citizens. This ideal and the idea of serving others can be stressed at any grade level and for any subject area. The depth and breadth of adjustments made to projects would depend on a number of factors including the maturity of the students, the resources available, and the learning objectives. It would seem that students with more experience and knowledge would yield greater results, but students of all ages could benefit from service-based learning. Students in lower grades will require more adult/expert involvement to achieve a successful project and this guidance could even be provided by older students through a separate service-learning project.

//2. How might you incorporate service learning into the curriculum with which you are most familiar?//

Service learning would accompany my curriculum (social studies) very well because the subject of service to one’s community/country is a Big Idea of the course I teach. I believe that it is our job to teach our students how to become effective members of society and this is how I approach developing my curriculum for U.S. Government/Economics. I plan to incorporate a service-learning project in the future in which my students go into the community and help local citizens register to vote. This is a very simple idea that would reinforce lessons on the importance of voting, voter qualifications, and voting districts. My students would surely build upon this idea if we worked on how we could best prepare our community for elections.

Fortunately, I have experience with service learning firsthand and have learned a lot regarding its implementation this past year. In addition to teaching high school social studies, I also tutor junior high students who struggle with math through a project called S.H.I.N.E. (which is an acronym for Students Hooking Into Neighborhood Education). We participate in a service learning project called Empty Bowls in which the students learn how to make pottery and then their products are used at a dinner for the area’s homeless. During the bowl making process, the students are asked to practice their math skills by measuring ingredients and counting supplies. The elements of planning, preparation, and student motivation that I have learned with S.H.I.N.E. will definitely influence how I utilize service learning in the future.