Abstract
This chapter describes how The Modern Classroom Project model, a blended, self-paced classroom format with mastery-based grading practices, is ideal for young middle school students. The chapter narratively outlines a case study of four middle school teachers implementing and validating The Modern Classrooms model at DC International School. The chapter will provide recommendations for blended learning, self-paced classroom, and mastery-based grading practices. The following section argues how this model is ideal in the middle school classroom because it allows teachers better to serve students with a broad range of maturity levels; rather than focusing only on instructional delivery, middle school educators can focus on developing students' self-management skills. The authors also discuss how the model benefited their teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the authors' experience implementing The Modern Classrooms Project model, they conclude that it is an effective structure for teaching and learning in middle school.
TopIntroduction
The middle school years are among the most tumultuous and formative in the educational trajectory of our students. In three short years, middle schoolers grow from (understandably) dependent young children, barely out of elementary school, to fiercely independent young adults preparing for the rigor of high school and beyond. Along the way, they develop socially, emotionally, and academically, and they begin to form a sense of who they are as students and as people (Lager & Culp, 2020). As middle school teachers, we know that even while a developmentally appropriate curriculum is critical for middle schoolers to succeed in class, an environment of academic rigor and high expectations for student self-management are equally, if not more, critical for leveraging this tumultuous period of change and growth to help students develop positive attitudes toward school and see themselves as successful scholars. Further, many know that even the youngest middle schoolers, when presented with the proper structures and a kind and patient (yet firm) teacher, can succeed in an academically rigorous environment.
Nonetheless, as middle school educators at DC International School (DCI) in Washington, DC, we struggled to enact classroom practices that gave our students these opportunities to succeed. DCI is a public charter school that serves grades 6–12 with over 1,000 students. DCI is a one-to-one Chromebook environment where each child takes a personal laptop device to and from school daily. DCI’s academics are built on three principles: International Baccalaureate, Student Agency, and Language Immersion. Our students were completely dependent on the teacher to complete—and even find—their work on Google Classroom. They lacked intrinsic motivation and independent work skills and gave rote, disengaged responses to what we considered authentic tasks and opportunities for reflection and growth. In addition, our student population had widely varying readiness levels. Students with very limited skills tended to demand most of the teacher’s attention, while average and advanced students were often neglected.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Metacognition: The ability to reflect on one’s own learning processes.
Growth Mindset: The belief that you are capable of becoming mentally stronger through effort (a term made famous in Carol Dweck’s research).
Mastery-Based Grading: An instructional practice in which a teacher assesses (grades) students based only on their ability to demonstrate learning goals rather than effort, completion, participation, or behavior.
Blended Learning: An instructional practice in which teachers use a combination of digital and in-person strategies to instruct; in this chapter, blended learning largely refers to using teacher-created instructional videos in place of a live in-class lecture.
Pacing Tracker: A classroom tool used to track each student’s progress and mastery.
Self-Pacing: An instructional practice characterized by students being able to work at their own speed rather than a predetermined speed set by the teacher.
Modern Classrooms: An instructional model centered around three pillars: blended learning, self-paced instruction, and mastery-based grading.
Collaboration: The ability to work with others to accomplish a goal.