Making the Connection: Young Adolescent Development and Achievement

An understanding of adolescent development is a key component to being an effective middle-grades teacher. Because middle-grades educators must facilitate learning while safely guiding students through these tumultuous years, it is important that they have an appreciation for the range of behavior for students of this age. The Middle Start Making the Connection workshop series can prepare your faculty in new and exciting ways.

What is Making the Connection?
Making the Connection is a series of young adolescent development workshops designed to deepen knowledge and understanding of young adolescence for the purpose of improving teaching and learning in the middle grades. Middle Start believes that by being in tune with the powerful transformation that adolescents undergo, schools are better equipped to create environments in which all students can thrive.

Making the Connection workshops are:

• Experiential, hands-on sessions that engage participants in developing a common language, a shared vision, and strategies and techniques that are developmentally appropriate for the middle-grades classroom.

• Structured to model the type of environment and the kinds of teaching activities and strategies that are successful with young adolescents.

Program Objectives

• Apply what we know about development to improve teaching and learning for young adolescents.

• Examine the physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and psychological characteristics and needs of the young adolescent learner.

• Explore how adolescent development affects learning.

• Learn about new discoveries in brain theory and see how they impact instructional planning.

How does Making the Connection Work?
The complete Making the Connection series provides a full week of hands-on professional development facilitated by a Middle Start professional. The workshop modules can be delivered in full-day, half-day, or after-school sessions to meet the particular needs of the participants. Making the Connection workshops can be customized to suit the needs of a school or network, or they can be tailored for a variety of audiences including classroom teachers, guidance counselors and other support staff, administrators, parents, students, and advocates.

Workshop sessions include:

• Understanding the Developmental Characteristics of Young Adolescents

• Capturing the Qualities of Effective Middle-Grades Schools

• Best Practice Strategies for Teaching Young Adolescents