Premium Essay

Intellectual Growth In Middle School

Submitted By
Words 824
Pages 4
As Albert Einstein once said, “Intellectual growth should start at birth and commence only at death.” While everybody may not have the same aptitudes and abilities in every area, a growth mindset and persistence allows competence in all areas. And it is this, I believe, is a more accurate description of the mission statement of any school: Material can always be learned, but the discipline and the methods of doing so involved is often even more important. Looking back to my middle school, I can really see the difference a few months of high school has made on my habits as a student and a person. In middle school, most of my assignments were often completed five minutes before the period started, somehow earning me an ‘A’ in every class and …show more content…
One very useful tool for this is a Learning Log. It allows you to gauge your learning and identify your mistakes clearly and concisely, effectively helping a student. And thus, my test and checkup scores have been steadily climbing, due to my actually studying. In my first learning log, I had written that my scores were 2 and 3. Now, I look back to a few weeks and I see mostly 4s and a 3 here and there. This is not a result of a sudden IQ boost, but that of persistance and studying. Over the semester, I feel that I have gotten better at identifying weaknesses and targeting them when I study. In my first few learning logs, my entries were little more than “study more” and “learn the concepts better”, but as of lately I am getting better at writing more thorough and concise explanations about how I should improve, such as “Remember to connect the relationships between stomata and photosynthesis”, “Draw pictures of organelles to remind you the pictural representation of the processes going on”, and so on. These more detailed, better written entries help me make a better study guide for the next study guide/checkup and do …show more content…
The future is where you apply it. Don’t give up in between.”For second semester, I hope to make a continued and focused effort at improving myself both academically and organizationally. For this semester, my goal is to get above a 92% on every exam/quiz, and nine out of ten checkup scores should be 4s. I will be able to measure my success with the scores I receive; an added bonus is the feedback I receive from these. The main obstacle that might get in my way is my lack of motivation for studying. Part of this mentality comes from a fixed mindset belief that “If you are really smart then you should not need to study for anything”. By convincing myself that this isn’t true, which I have already done, I hope to alleviate at least some of the damage done by this mindset. Also, I need to motivate myself to actually study, rather than procrastinating. This can be done with previous poor test/quiz grades that can knock some sense into me, which it mostly has. Another obstacle for me is definitely organization. At the beginning of the year and even now to some degree, I shove and remove papers into my backpack just because of the convenience. This, unfortunately, has led to many completed assignments forgotten at home. The worst feeling is when you do the homework but don’t get credit for it; and this has made me change for the better over the last few months. However, old habits never fully die, and I still do

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Physical Development In The Middle Years

...Development in the Middle Years Name Institution Development in the Middle Years Middle years’ students are young students towards the end of their primary school. These students range from ten to fifteen years old. These kids are just about to enter puberty and some have however begun to approach adolescence. They have different needs from those who have already hit adolescence. Puberty is a very peculiar age because a lot happens to the students and they become more aware of who they are and many changes affect them. At this age, students have already formed groups and they identify with their friends (Collins, 1984). Their personalities develop and they begin to discover things about themselves. During this stage of development,...

Words: 1820 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Using Material from Item a and Elsewhere, Assess the View That Working Class Children Underachieve Because They Are Culturally Deprived.

...underachievement of working class children in exams is a result of their home background and parent’s failure to socialize them into the skills and values required for educational success. The three aspects of cultural deprivation are: Intellectual development, Language and Attitudes and Values. One of the aspects of cultural deprivation is Intellectual Development, which is the development of thinking and reasoning. Working class children may be less intellectually developed as their homes may lack books, educational toys and activities that stimulate their intellectual development. Douglas’ study found that working class pupils scored lower on tests of ability that middle class pupils, and due to this he argues that working class parents were less likely to read with their children thus stunting their intellectual growth and development. However, is has been argued by sociologists that cultural deprivation is not the only factor contributing to the underachievement of working class children, and that material deprivation and internal school factors may be just as important, if not more so, than cultural deprivation. The second aspect of cultural deprivation is Language, which is the differences that exist in the language used by the middle class and the language used by the working class. Bernstein has identified two different types of language, separated into different ‘Speech Codes’. The Restricted Speech Code is the one most often used by the working class and can be...

Words: 933 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Developmental Process Presentation

...Developmental Process Presentation Natasha Medina AED 202 November 27, 2011 Kristen Weiss Developmental Process Presentation Here I am on the final part of this multi-step assignment. I am here to inform you of the two age groups I chose weeks prior to this assignment. I chose early childhood 2-6 and middle childhood 6-10. These two stages seemed very interesting to me, maybe because I am planning to teach the Pre K age group. The first group is the early childhood group consisting of children from age two through six and the next is the middle childhood ages six through ten. In these two groups, you will see several characteristics or developments from physical, emotional, cognitive, intellectual, language, social, reading, writing, and interpersonal. I will begin with the physical development of both groups. This is where you will notice their motor skills. There are two different motor skills, gross and fine. Gross motor skills involve the larger muscles including the arms and legs. Actions requiring gross motor skills include walking, running, balance, and coordination. When evaluating gross motor skills, the factors that experts look at include strength, muscle tone, movement quality, and the range of movement and the other is fine more skills, which involve the smaller muscles in the fingers, toes, eyes and other areas. The actions that require fine motor skills tend to be more intricate, such as drawing, writing, grasping objects, throwing...

Words: 1864 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Middle Childhood Observation

...For my middle childhood observation I chose a 10 year old female by the name of Mycah Landry. Just to give you a bit of a background, Mycah attends a magnet school and makes straight A’s. She is a very smart young girl. We will start off by comparing Mycah’s physical development to that of Berger’s in the text. As documented in the text “Unlike infants or adolescents, school-age children’s growth is slow and steady. Self-care is easy –from brushing their new adult teeth to dressing themselves, from making their own lunch to walking to school. In these middle years, children depend less on their families and do not yet need to cope with the body changes and impulses of adolescence. Muscles become steadily stronger.” From my observation I gathered that Mycah is a very independent individual. She is the middle child, and the only girl so she has a nurturing side to her and wants to take care of both of her brothers. She is able to dress herself, clean, and cook simple meals. Berger goes on to discuss health problems in middle childhood. Asthma was one of the topics covered in the text and coincidently, Mycah has suffered from asthma. Simply put, asthma can be defined as a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that makes breathing difficult. Of course she uses an inhaler as needed to cope with her asthma, but according to her parents she also had to get steroid injections at one point because her asthma attacks would become more frequent. Now that her asthma is under control...

Words: 683 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Edu 590 - Final Assessment

...list them under each category. Physical different growth rates growth spurts awkward and uncoordinated hormones cause restlessness and fatigue In need of physical activity sudden outbursts of activity risky diets causing weight change vulnerable Kids in this stage are exploring their own bodies, which are all growing at different rates. Because they are unsure why they are growing the way they are, they may have sudden outbursts of energy, or solicit themselves to risky health behaviors that could result in unintended consequences. Cognitive - Intellectual different cognitive development rates some moving towards formal operational thinking facing situations that require advancement of cognition wide range of intellectual interests; few need sustaining Prefer active learning and interaction to passive learning and seclusion curious about world and self, not with academic subjects respond positively to opportunities to connect learning to real world develop understanding of current abilities Kids in this stage are exploring their own minds, which are all growing at different rates. Some kids are still only thinking about problems in a concrete fashion. A larger majority of kids are able to think about problems in a formal way, trying to connect the questions being answered to their real life. Research have shown this may be particularly valuable to low-income students to become more engaged with their school environment. Moral Start to think about the greater...

Words: 967 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Btec Level 3 Develop Through Life Stages

...The physical, intellectual, emotional and social development for each of the life stages of an individual All living things have a life cycle. Every human goes through these stages throughout their life in which changes occur. -Infancy -Childhood -Adolescence -Adulthood -Elderly Infancy After around nine months inside the mother’s womb a child is born. During the infant stage the individual is extremely dependant, the adult would have to feed, nurture and look after the infant. Infancy occurs from birth to around two or three years old. Although every individual goes through the developments, they occur at different rates. The physical developments that occur in the first two years are rather dramatic. The infant’s weight will double from birth to five months, triples by twelve months and quadruples by the age of twenty four months. During this stage the individuals length does not change as rapidly as the infant’s length at birth is already 75% of what it will be at two years old. The head grows the fastest followed by the rest of the body downwards. The brain triples in weight and size by the age of three. During the first year the child masters a number of gross motor skills. One to two months old, the individual will hold up his head, four months may involve rolling from side to side. Between seven and nine months the child may sit up without assistance begin crawling and pulling himself up to standing. Around eleven to twelve months the infant will attempt...

Words: 2563 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Middle Childhood

...Observation and Analysis: Ten Year Old Male In middle childhood, children continue to learn and build cognitive abilities as well as physical skills. During this stage, children go through growth spurts which include changes in height, weight, and increases strength and stamina. Many theorists developed many theoretical interpretations that will tie in the whole developmental status for middle childhood stage whether it is physical, biological, socio-emotional, or cognitive development. Sigmund Freud is one of the well-known theorist that identified the middle childhood as the “Latency stage” because the physical growth of a child at this stage is slow and at a steady pace. The subject of my middle childhood interview was Bryce, a ten-year-old Filipino-American boy who lives in a single family home with his parents, grandma, and two younger siblings (Personal). Bryce weighs about 107 pounds and a height of four feet and seven inches tall (Physical). According to his mother, Bryce is very active not only in school, but also active in the community. Every Sunday, Bryce participates in choir group at their local catholic church. He plays the guitar and ukulele during a church ceremony (Social). According to his father, he also engages in sports activities such as basketball every Saturday at a local YMCA gymnasium. His grandmother also mentioned that he displays cultural ethics as evidenced by his coming home from school, going to his grandmother, holding her hand, and placing...

Words: 1052 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Developmental Stages

...During the physical developmental stages there are significant milestones that these school age children experience. By the beginning of middle childhood, children typically have acquired a leaner, more athletic appearance ("Cliff Notes", 2000-2012). All through the middle childhood weight gain and height is at a steady increase. During this developmental stage an individual will lose his or her baby teeth and their permanent teeth will come through. Depending on the individual a child can begin the early stages of puberty during this time. Physical development (early adolescence) The physical development of a child in the early adolescence stages can be a drastic change for an individual. The hormones of the early adolescence are at a rapid growth and are better developed throughout the years. As the level of hormones increase this causes acne to form as well as his or her height and weight will increase. Emotional Development (middle childhood) As children develop in age each individual child will react to various situations differently. During the middle childhood stage an individual’s emotional development goes through some drastic changes. To give an example of the transitions that he or she will face is the start of school that will allow them to come into contact with new teachers and also the opportunity to build friendships with other children. During this stage a child will gain a sense of responsibility as well as the feeling of being more independent...

Words: 969 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Developmental Process Presentation

...differences between early childhood (2-6 years old) and middle childhood (6-10 years old). In early childhood their language and communication skills start to develop quickly. The child will begin to learn new vocabulary, the correct use of language in social settings and their grammar has noticeable changes. Even with all these advancements that are taking pace, it is still noticeable that these children are just in the beginning stages of learning as compared to children in middle childhood. In middle childhood children have already developed a set of language skills. They have the ability to use correct vocabulary during a conversation, effectively use language for different purposes such as school or a conversation with friends. They can also restate ideas and have the capability to speak in front of their classmates when giving presentations with confidence. Physical development in early childhood and middle childhood is extremely different. In early childhood children have an abundance of energy that they have a hard time controlling. In this stage children run instead of walking. They jump and skip showing the exuberant amount of energy that they have. During early childhood gross and fine motor skills are starting to become refined. A child’s hand eye coordination improves and they develop the ability to do tasks such as jump rope, hit a ball and use things such as pencils and crayons with better control. Although growth has slowed down in this stage, children start to lose...

Words: 1172 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

School or Agency Assessment Program

...School or Agency Assessment Program Goals and Purposes of the Assessment Program/Plan Teachers, counselors, administrators, and parents need all types of information about students. They need to know about their cognitive and scholastic abilities, their interests, their achievement, and their problems. Schools implement assessment programs to provide information needed to improve the public schools by enhancing the learning gains of all students and to inform parents of the educational progress of their children (Drummond & Jones, 2010). School assessment programs are in place for a variety of purposes, such as: 1. Identifying the readiness of kindergarten and first-grade students. 2. Determining whether students have mastered the basic and essential skills required by the school system. 3. Placing students in educational programs. 4. Identifying students with special needs. 5. Evaluating the curriculum and specific programs of study. 6. Helping students make educational and vocational decisions. 7. Assessing the intellectual ability and aptitude of individual students. 8. Measuring achievement in specific courses and subject areas. Types of Information Needed to Make Decisions Accommodation Resources is one type of resource needed to make decisions. Accommodations are changes to materials or procedures that enable students with disabilities or English language learners (ELLs) to participate meaningfully in...

Words: 1523 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Verna Languages

...Black Death almost collapsed Europe with so many citizens dying, but the Renaissance brought growth and rich culture to Europe. VERNACULAR LANGUAGES “Latin was the main vernacular language for the educated upper class and clergy.” (MUSE). All court documents and medical books were all written in Latin. This language separated the upper class from the rest of the lower class, less educated citizens; which also limited the less educated from moving up in class for a better life a new more common-man vernacular languages were created. Charlemagne aka Charles the Great (742-814) was the first "Emperor" in Western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire. Alcuin of York (730 – 804) was a scholar, teacher and poet who created a successful curriculum of reading and writing for children. This combination of King and scholar changed the future of student’s curriculum. After being introduced to Alcuin of York, Charlemagne invited him to come and teach at Charlemagne Palace School. He taught all the royal children and young clerics that were attached to the palace chapel. “Alcuin became a leading scholar and teacher at the Carolingian court and joined the royal court in 781, and became one of Charlemagne's chief advisers on religious and educational matter; where he remained a figure in the 780s and 790s”.(bbc.co.uk). Alcuin brought all new educational standards of the Palace School, introducing Charlemagne to the liberal arts and creating a personalized atmosphere of learning...

Words: 864 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Middle Childhood Research

...Middle childhood is a very important transition in a child's life. It's where they learn to instill what they have been taught, good and bad. Children learn from sight and experience. A child who has had a traumatic childhood is going to act out on what they have experienced, even if it's wrong, it's all they know. A child that may have experienced the best life, can still act out, but the ratio is much lower. When children enter adult hood, this is where they get to display their self and their moral development that they learned throughout their childhood. Moral development will show through their actions and personality. If there were no social skills or love from the parents in that child's life during the first five years of life, then that child will live their lives accordingly. Gender and Peer relationships...

Words: 786 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Socialisation

...you would often be unable to do. This is because you know from a very young age that there are a lot of barriers in your source of primary socialisation. A good example for this would be swearing; when you are in your primary social group this is often frowned upon, whereas when you are with your secondary social group it is often the norm. Three identified Socio-Economic Factors are: Education, Money/Income and Housing. In infancy education is very important for intellectual development. Education is important through all life stages. It is a known fact that if you have a better education, and attended a well known private school you are more likely to get a well paid job. This is because private schools are known to have smaller classes, so teachers are able to help students better. This could also mean that you have a better general knowledge as you can also learn from friends. It is also known that it is better to be taught in a school as you will be able to socialise and the teaching is often better as in a school they have guidelines to follow and criteria pupils must meet. With a better income you will be able to buy more luxuries and necessities. This will make you feel a lot better about yourself. You will also be able to buy a nicer house. Better housing improves your self-esteem...

Words: 928 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Relationships in Middle Childhood

...Relationships in Middle Childhood Friendships in middle childhood… -Provide information about the world -Provide emotional support -Facilitates the development of emotion understanding and emotion regulation -Are a training ground for communicating and interacting with others -Foster intellectual growth by increasing range in experiences Stages of Friendship (Damon and Hart 1988) Stage 1: (4-7) Basing friendship on others’ behaviors Stage 2: (8-10) Basing friendship on trust Stage 3: (11-15) Basing friendship on psychological closeness What role does popularity have in friendships? More popular children: -tend to form friendships with more popular individuals -have more friends and interact with greater number of children -tend to form cliques What personal characteristics lead to popularity? -Social competence: the collection of social skills that permit individuals to perform successfully in social settings -overall popular children are friendly, open and cooperative -Social problem-solving: the use of strategies for solving social conflicts in ways that are satisfactory both to oneself and to others. *Social problem- 1.Find and identify relevant social cues- 2.Interpret and evaluate the social cues- 3.determine possible problem-solving responses- 4.Evaluate responses and their probable consequences Social Problem-Solving Abilities Popular children: -better at interpreting others’ behavior accurately -possess a wider inventory of...

Words: 438 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Disability and the Influence in Australian Schools

...through a physical, intellectual, psychiatric, sensory or neurological impairment. The process of education serves to encourage students to reach their potential, through an understanding that everyone has the right to best possible human experience. Education has a duty to help and serve students overcome restrictions of history, provide an equal field for the growth of all students. Schools within Australia serve to provide a means for students with disabilities to overcome impairments and strive to their best possible future. Testing provides an adequate mechanism for measuring student’s results. Students that exhibit learning difficulties (LD), the result of disabilities, are more likely to be prone to test anxiety. A study into testing procedures in the Learning Disability Quarterly indicate ‘results of the present study suggest that LD children’s schools problems may in some cases reflect motivational factors involving fear of failure…’ (Bryan, Sonnefeld & Grabowski, 1983) The results show that ‘test anxiety is relatively strong in the learning disabled child and therefore should be addressed....’ Anxiety stems from a feeling that a person is inadequate to perform a task. It seems reasonable that some disabled children would suffer problems in testing due to conditions such as autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder classifies some autistic children has having anxiety, ADHD or depression and therefore it would be likely create problems in testing. Schools throughout Australia...

Words: 1631 - Pages: 7