Being a parent or teacher of pre-teens and young adolescents is an amazing experience. There is no question that “tweeners” between the ages of 11 and 14 need extra-strong support, nurturing, and guidance during a time they are demanding increased independence, exhibiting mercurial emotions, and sending mixed messages about how they feel about thenselves and the most important adults in their lives.Yet these kids reveal boundless positive energy, creative ideas, and a strong sense of idealism and desire to learn when in the company of adults who understand how to provide safe, challenging, and relevant learning experiences for them.

If you’re looking for ways to further improve your middle school and to sustain a positive and productive culture of real respect, productivity, and achievement, I suggest you check out an approach to integrated social and academic learning for adolescents called Developmental Designs®. Founded by educator and author Linda Crawford, this program provides transformational professional development for teachers, principals, and entire school communities. From this collaborative learning emerge middle school classrooms that are deeply meaningful to students and that engage them in rigorous and significant learning. Just imagine joining a middle school homeroom with students gathered each morning in a “Circle of Power and Respect,” engaged in rich dialogue, listening to each other’s ideas, homework struggles, and writings, occupied in meaningful activities right at the beginning of the school day.

Classroom Discipline: Guiding Adolescents to Responsible Independence is Crawford’s latest text supporting this approach. Written with co-author and middle school educator Christopher Hagedorn, Classroom Discipline is destined to become a constant companion for middle school educators looking for real and practical strategies for everyday life in the classroom. Written boldly, with no quick fixes, Classroom Discipline provides over 250 packed pages of straightforward lessons and strategies. The real voices of teachers and students punctuate every chapter and let you know you are not on your journey with adolescents alone.

The Advisory Book, Linda Crawford’s 2008 guide to establishing and sustaining successful middle school advisory programs, is also an exceptional resource and fully explains the “Circle of Power and Respect” approach. For further information about these books and Developmental Designs®, visit the Origins website or call 800-543-8715.

—If you’re reading this entry from your email,
click “Yardsticks” to go to the blog site.
Then click “Post a Comment” or the word “Comments”
below the entry.