The Young Adolescent Times

Website: CAMLE.com

By: Paige Jennings, CAMLE Publications Director

As the year comes to a close, we're thrilled to bring you fresh insights, resources, and events to inspire your work with middle-level learners. Mark your calendars—Jack Berckemeyer returns on March 1! Don’t miss his energizing and humorous approach to middle-level education. Also, join us for our upcoming webinar on January 14th, The Voice of Small: Working with Negative Self-Talk to Create Resilience. It’s a must-attend for fostering confidence and resilience in your students.

This issue features thought-provoking articles, including Developmental Characteristics of Young Adolescents: Research Summary, Beyond the Phone Ban: What Do We Do About Teens and Social Media?, and How to Build a Literacy-Focused Community. Also don’t miss A Thing and a Buddy: The Power of Identity as a Path to Joy.

Here’s to a joyful and impactful end to 2024!

By: Lex Moschakis

Live Big Co-Founder and CEO

Everywhere you turn you’ll find a heart wrenching, gobsmacking statistic on the impact of social media on the mental health of our youth. I won’t repeat them here - you know it’s bad. If we lived in an ideal world, the obvious solution would be that youth stay away from their phones and get back outside to ride bikes in the streets, peruse the malls, and go to the local diner for a milkshake.

But there are three things wrong with this solution. Read more...

Understanding and responding to the unique developmental characteristics of young adolescents, 10- to 15-year-olds, in culturally responsive and sustaining ways is central among the tenets of middle level education (Bishop & Harrison, 2021). During early adolescence, a distinct period of human growth and development between childhood and adolescence, young adolescents experience rapid development, shape beliefs and attitudes, and adopt health habits and social behaviors that lay the foundation for adulthood (McCarthy et al., 2016). Though young adolescents may share common developmental characteristics, each has distinctive experiences, unique perspectives, and individual traits (Mertens & Caskey, in press). Read more...

By: Jen Schwanke

ASCD

Five strategies to help students embrace their identities, build meaningful connections, and find joy at school.

To me, thing and buddy both point to the value of identity. To be uncertain of who you are is a terrible feeling, making it impossible to care about anyone or anything. Identity gives us the answers to simple questions. What are my strengths? Where do I fit in this world? What excites me? What saddens and worries me? What makes me optimistic? How do I like to spend my time? Where do I find peace? The answers aren’t permanent, of course—especially for young people, who are poised to change and grow as they find their path to adulthood—but they provide substantial footing for the journey, and they give the child a foundation of self. It’s not that confident students have everything figured out— it’s more that they trust themselves. They can work through executive functioning tasks, are willing to try new things, and can use mistakes as learning experiences.

Let’s look at what school leaders might do to help a child build identity. Read more...

By: Jason DeHart

Edutopia

Schools can support relationships among students, staff, and the wider community through engaging opportunities that promote literacy.

Teaching can be lonely work, but it never has to be—a sense of community in education is vibrantly real for me when thinking about the power of literacy instruction in particular. I’d like to emphasize the community-focused and cultural nature of literacy in practical ways for teachers and school leaders to consider, especially when working with adolescent readers. Read more...

Cult of Pedagogy - When Your Classroom Management Goes Off the Rails and Avoiding the Pitfalls of Multitasking in School

Easy EdTech Podcast - Tech-Savvy Approaches for a Differentiated Classroom

WorkLife with Adam Grant - How Mark Rober hides "science vegetables" in viral videos

AMLE's Walk and Talk Podcast - You Can Only Go Halfway: The Role of Trusted Adults in Middle School with guest Brooklyn Raney

Meaningful Family Participation and Collaboration in the Special Education Evaluation Process

Date: December 17, 2024

Costs: There is no cost associated with CDE trainings.

Webinar Information

• All sessions will be held via Zoom.
• Length of Time 1 ½ hours
• Time of Day: 8 - 9:30 am
• These sessions will not be recorded

Certificate: Attendees will receive an evaluation that must be complete to obtain 1 ½ hours of CEUs for each session

Registration: Registration will close two weeks prior to each date.

Session 3 Objectives:

• Effectively involve families in the evaluation process.
• Build strong collaborative relationships with families.
• Incorporate family perspectives into decision-making.
• Share practical resources for family engagement and collaboration.

Middle grades educators have the exciting opportunity to interact with students at a pivotal time in their development. The middle grades are “the finding place” that invites young adolescents to be adventurous explorers. Career exploration is a cornerstone of this process and is associated with both positive educational and employment outcomes, keeps students engaged in school, and helps them develop a better sense of self.

That’s why ASA and AMLE have teamed up to create two playbooks that equip educators and young adolescents with roadmaps for effective career exploration. In the educator guide, you will find helpful resources like implementation guides, case studies, and program sustainability resource to help you map your journey from beginning initiatives to school-wide practice. In the student playbook, you’ll find a variety of activities and materials for use directly with kids to help them learn about themselves and think about their futures.

CDE Colorado Commissioner of Education Susana Córdova announced the Colorado Department of Education will receive a $1.6 million yearly grant from the U.S. Department of Education to enhance mental health services for students across the state.

This five-year award, running from 2025 - 2029, aims to address Colorado’s critical shortage of school-based mental health professionals and strengthen support for youth experiencing mental health challenges. Read more...

The Colorado Department of Education has opened the application process for the new Purple Star Schools Program, which recognizes Colorado schools that serve and support military-connected students and families.

"Colorado is home to many military families, and it’s our responsibility to ensure that their children feel welcomed, supported, and prepared for success in our schools," said Susana Córdova, Colorado's education commissioner. "The Purple Star Schools Program is a vital way for us to recognize schools that go above and beyond to address the challenges these students face.” Read more...

Website: CAMLE.com