Changes

To be successful at various levels, the parents and students need to first understand what will be different at school.  When a student moves into either middle school or high school, the following changes will happen:

• At the middle school level students will have anywhere between 3 and 7 teachers depending on the classes the student is taking and how the school is structured.

• At the high school level, the demands are even greater with anywhere between 6 and 8 teachers, depending if the school is traditional or blocked (periods are longer and meet every other day with as many as 4 different classes a day and 8 different classes over two days).

• The expectation and the depth of understanding will intensify.  Students will no longer be successful if all the student does is their homework and chooses to memorize vocabulary, major concepts or themes before a test.  This is known as “cramming” and may get the student to a passing grade for this one test, but will not seed success over time in the class.  

• Students will be expected to develop higher level thinking skills.  The skills include:

           Analyzing

           Researching

           Drawing thoughtful conclusions after viewing several opinions or concepts

           Trouble shooting

     The above skills, if not developed, often turn a solid B student into a D student if the student lacks techniques to develop these skills.  These skills are expected in all the core classes – Math, Science, English (Language Arts), and History along with some electives.  Without the above skills for success, students are not prepared for the higher levels of education, and do not succeed in a truly academic program.

   Be sure and check out my next blog post.  In this post, I will discuss the role of the parent as a partner in their child’s success.  The goal of this post will be to advise parents on how to be a part of their child’s education.  This includes the ability to know what the student’s grades are on a regular basis and how to help the student take charge of their grade and their future.  Very important information for all parents.