Eighth Grade Teachers Research Articles

One Teachers’ Use of Computers and Technology: A Look inside a Classroom

Looks at how technology has changed an eighth-grade teacher’s world of teaching and learning in a variety of ways, including: professional growth; connecting the writing process with word processing; presentation of information (such as short story elements or parts of speech); research on and access to the Internet; electronic literary magazines and portfolios; and e-mail and online discussions.

Collaborative action research on the learning and teaching of algebra: a story of one mathematics teacher's development

This paper presents the story of a mathematics teacher's transformation that resulted from her engagement in collaborative action research. The collaborative research, conducted by a university mathematics educator and an eighth-grade mathematics teacher (Marylin), centered on investigating the outcomes of implementing a ‘Hands-On Equations’ approach to teaching algebra. This algebraic study, which is briefly reported herein, serves as a vehicle for examining the questions, reflections, and changes brought forth by Marylin throughout the collaborative process. Thus, the project of investigating the teaching and learning of algebra can be viewed as the ‘sub-study’ within the broader study of the effects of collaborative action research on the mathematics teacher involved in the investigation. Within this paper, issues related to the broader study of collaborative action research in the mathematics classroom, that are connected to Marylin's transformation, are discussed. These issues include the characterization of and goals for collaborative action research as well as the challenges for collaborative action research in mathematics classrooms.

A Culture of Experimentation: The Change Process at a Middle School

This case study explores the change process at a middle school that made significant changes in the delivery of instruction and programs over a five year period. During this time the school became involved with school reform organizations and developed ongoing outdoor educational experiences for sixth and eighth grade students. The author discovered a culture of experimentation that was primarily responsible for facilitating these changes. Characterized by (a) support for experimentation, (b) shared beliefs, and (c) a feeling of ownership, this culture developed through a unique blend of teacher impetus, leadership from the principal and others, professional development, outside support and funding. These people and resources provided support and encouraged risk-taking among faculty. The author suggests that the development of this “culture of experimentation,” considered in the light of current literature on school change, offers a number of lessons for middle level educators interested in innovation and change.“I have a dream,” said Donna Popper1 to her principal Sara Wilson. An eighth grade math teacher, Donna's dream was to do something other than another “meaningless field trip.” She had decided that the annual eighth grade trip to Vanceton, the state capital, had very little educational value, and this year she wanted to do something “to make a real difference in the students.” She wanted them to go on an Outward Bound trip. Donna had heard about OB working with students from a staff development workshop she had attended and decided that it was an opportunity that their students needed. Sara was open to the idea and gave Donna the support to try and pull it off. Donna brought the idea to the other teachers on her eighth-grade team, and they agreed to the trip on the condition that all eighth grade students would get the opportunity to go. She then called South Western Outward Bound (SWOB), found out the cost, and set out to raise the $30,000 needed. The money was raised, and the first group of eighth-grade students and teachers from Hilton Middle School went on an Outward Bound trip.

Finding Patterns in International Assessments

The results now being reported from a study of 45 countries describe complex patterns of science education practices. The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) ([wwwcsteep.bc.edu/TIMSS][1]) for the first time connects the intended curriculum in texts and curriculum guides, the instructed curriculum that teachers report implementing, and the achieved curriculum as measured by student performance. The wide variations in the intended and instructed science curriculum in countries participating in TIMSS influenced the design of the international assessment and now guide interpretation of the results. Each country proposed and critiqued potential questions. For earth science, some countries identified questions about fjords and glaciers as central to instruction while others rejected them as esoteric. Many countries objected to testing on topics their students would study only after they took the test. Scoring written responses to questions such as, “Carbon dioxide is the active material in some fire extinguishers; how does carbon dioxide extinguish a fire?” required distinguishing memorized information from thoughtful connections between ideas. Studies like TIMSS underscore the complex influences on science learning but also suggest patterns that lead to success. Variables such as annual hours of science instruction, curriculum standards, class size, amount of homework assigned, reported time spent doing homework, hours spent viewing television, and frequency of classroom tests cannot, by themselves, account for the results across countries. In Korea, where students performed best on the international assessment, eighth-grade teachers report the largest class sizes and students report the fewest classroom tests. At the same time, many TIMSS countries can serve as case studies for addressing complex questions such as: Do students learn more from deep coverage of a few topics or broad coverage of many topics? Or, what mix of topics, course activities, classroom organization, and assignments makes science learning more efficient? For example, the pattern of covering a few topics in depth can help explain why student performance in the top-scoring countries meeting international guidelines diverges between the fourth and eighth grades. Korea performs best at fourth grade, followed by the United States, Japan, and the Czech Republic, whose students perform similarly. At eighth grade, Korea again performs best, Japan and the Czech Republic remain high in student performance, but the United States falls to just above the middle. Compared to the U.S. curriculum, the intended curricula in Japan and the Czech Republic cover fewer topics. For example, experts estimate that between the fourth and eighth grades, Japan and the Czech Republic add about 16 topics to their curricula, while the United States adds about 27 topics. In addition, textbooks for the population of 13-year-olds tested by TIMSS have more than 70 topics in the United States, while the mean for TIMSS counties is about 27. How can students who study fewer topics achieve more? In Japan and the Czech Republic, about half of the TIMSS teachers report meeting with other teachers at least weekly to plan instruction and discuss pedagogy. Fewer than one-third of U.S. teachers report meeting this often. On a recent visit to Japan, I observed teachers there considering how to revise lessons so that students made better connections to previous lessons and to everyday experience. The pattern of teaching topics in depth and regularly testing improvements resonates with results from a decade-long research project I direct ( ). We find that students who make links between science and everyday experience become lifelong learners. Thus, glaciers and fjords can help students familiar with them make sense of geology, weather systems, thermal phenomena, and the like. Adaptations of desert plants may focus the understanding of students familiar with deserts. We cannot possibly teach students all the science we want them to learn, but perhaps we can design courses so that students revisit and strengthen their science ideas. I believe that we should form partnerships of experts in science, mathematics, pedagogy, classroom teaching, and assessment to regularly redesign instruction so it builds on what students know, connects to future science problems, and takes advantage of patterns from studies like TIMSS. [1]: http://wwwcsteep.bc.edu/TIMSS

Effect of School Gardens on Environmental Attitudes of Children

Children develop their personalities and attitudes at an early age. With children spending a large portion of their waking hours in the classroom, schools are a major influence on many factors including environmental attitudes. Studies in human issues in horticulture have focused on how gardens and nature affect other variables in children, but few have focused on environmental attitudes of children in mainstream school districts. The main goal of this study was to initiate and integrate an environmental education garden program into the curriculum of several schools in the midwest and Texas. One objective of the research project included evaluating whether the students participating in the garden program developed positive environmental attitudes as a result of participation in the garden program. The garden program, Project Green, was designed to provide thirdthrough eighth-grade teachers some basic garden activities that could be infused into their classroom lessons and would serve to reinforce curriculum in various disciplines with hands-on activities. Eight schools, ≈1000 students, took part in the study. Students participating in the study were administered a pre-test prior to participation in the garden program and an identical post-test after its completion. Comparisons were made between children based on age, ethnic background, gender, and length of garden season. Results examine the relationship between the garden program, environmental attitudes of children and demographic variables.

Salamanca Hiddle Is Alive and Well: Developing a Palette for Poetry

Describes how one eighth-grade teacher, disturbed by students’ ignorance of the variety of poetry available to them, developed a poetry anthology assignment, in which students immersed themselves in poetry for three weeks, each one choosing and creating a poetry anthology comprised of 20 poems. Notes students’ enthusiasm for the project and pride in its results.

Stealing a Piece of the World and Hiding It in Words

Eighth-grade teacher Wendy King invited her students into the world of poetry by asking for their definitions, and then immersing them in poetry reading to refine those initial definitions. Thoughts that breathe, words that burn, a vocal picture. Try her strategies after reading this article.

The Effect of School Gardens on Self-Esteem, Interpersonal Relationships, Attitude toward School, and Environmental Attitude in Populations of Children

Children develop their personalities and attitudes at an early age. With children spending 25% of each day in the classroom, schools are a major influence on self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, and environmental attitudes. Studies in human issues in horticulture have focused on how gardens affect self-esteem in nontraditional populations but have yet to research children in mainstream school districts. Our main goal was to initiate and integrate an environmental education garden program into the curriculum of several schools in the midwest and Texas. Our objectives included evaluating whether the students participating in the garden program were receiving various emotional, physical, and psychological benefits and whether they were developing positive environmental attitudes as a result of participation in the garden program. The garden program, titled “The Green Classroom,” was designed to provide third-through eighth-grade teachers some basic garden activities that could be infused into their classroom lessons and would serve to reinforce curriculum in various disciplines with hands-on activities. Eight schools, ≈1000 students, took part in the study. Students participating in this study were administered a pretest before participation in the garden program and an identical posttest after its completion. The questionnaire included a psychological inventory, an environmental attitude survey, and a short biographical information section. Comparisons were made between children based on age, ethnic background, gender, and length of garden season. Results examine the relationship between the garden program and self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, attitude toward school, and environmental attitudes of children.

Teachers' receptiveness and comfort teaching sexuality education and using non-traditional teaching strategies.

This article reports on the comfort level of 97 eighth grade teachers using non-traditional teaching strategies in sexuality education classes. Most were comfortable teaching sexuality education and undeterred by external factors such as students' religious beliefs, lack of administrative support, or parental protest. However, a quarter to a third of teachers reported never or rarely using activities such as roleplays, small-group discussions, and problem-solving exercises. Multiple regression indicated that only gender was a significant predictor of such usage. The greatest perceived barriers to teaching sexuality education and using alternative teaching strategies were lack of materials, lack of time, and difficulty with facilitation under traditional classroom structure. Although more research is needed to better understand barriers to using alternative strategies, teachers in two focus groups (n = 19) suggested 1) restructuring classroom settings to match the demands of new teaching strategies, and 2) "experience appropriate" curricula.

Teachers' Receptiveness and Comfort Teaching Sexuality Education and Using Non‐Traditional Teaching Strategies

ABSTRACT: This article reports on the comfort level of 97 eighth grade teachers using non‐traditional teaching strategies in sexuality education classes. Most were comfortable teaching sexuality education and undeterred by external factors such as students' religious beliefs, lack of administrative support, or parental protest. However, a quarter to a third of teachers reported never or rarely using activities such as roleplays, small‐group discussions, and problem‐solving exercises. Multiple regression indicated that only gender was a significant predictor of such usage. The greatest perceived barriers to teaching sexuality education and using alternative teaching strategies were lack of materials, lack of time, and difficulty with facilitation under traditional classroom structure. Although more research is needed to better understand barriers to using alternative strategies, teachers in two focus groups (n = 19) suggested 1) restructuring classroom settings to match the demands of new teaching strategies, and 2) “experience appropriate” curricula.

Using Mathematical Language to Enhance Mathematical Conceptualization

Abstract First-grade teacher: Look around the room. Can you point to a square? A circle? A diamond? An oval? Second-grade teacher: Remember that you can't take a bigger number away from a smaller number. Third-grade teacher: Students, using your multibase blocks, choose an example that will model what is happening when you carry or borrow. Fourth-grade teacher: Rickina, how many times do you think 23 goes into 315? Fifth-grade teacher: Look at these three balls. Now try to estimate the volume of the balls in front of you, using metric units. Sixth-grade teacher: Students, make sure you always reduce your fractions. Seventh-grade teacher: Would everyone please turn to page two hundred and twelve? Eighth-grade teacher: Right, the answer is sixty-four point nine!

Do You Really Know What You're Getting into with Interdisciplinary Instruction?

continuity of instruction and inclusion in a core group. most common means of providing continuity for group membership and for instructional continuity has become interdisciplinary teams, an approach that may have become the definitive characteris tic of the middle school concept (Mac Iver, 1990; Jenkins & Jenkins, 1991). As middle school educators refine the use of interdisciplinary teams, numerous challenges have emerged, notably the devel opment of interdisciplinary units, creation of personality-compatible teams, design of instruction to challenge honor students while motivating low achievers, and integration of subject areas into thematic topics. When lis tening to educators who teach on interdisci plinary teams, one conclusion seems irrefutable: When implemented successfully, interdisciplinary teaching allows teachers and students to achieve higher levels of in tellectual and emotional growth. What is often not so evident is the corollary: when unsuccessful, interdisciplinary teams can have substantially negative consequences for students and teachers. Both conclusions were evident in the New Kids Project at a middle school in northeast Texas. New Kids Project began when eighth grade teachers tried interdisciplinary teaming through a pilot program for 60 stu dents identified as academically at-risk. teachers discovered that when they took a personal interest in those students, the students changed their behavior in signifi cant ways. program included several basic components such as team teaching, flexible schedules, computer-assisted in struction, and cross-age tutoring at a nearby elementary school. A strong self-esteem emphasis was central to the project as re flected in the name the students gave to the program. They began calling themselves The New Kids, based on their feeling that they had been given a new chance to succeed in school.

Teacher ratings of student risk for substance use as a function of specialized training.

The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers' abilities to identify accurately students who are at risk for substance abuse can be improved through attendance at a specialized training program. Sixty-three eighth-grade teachers participated in the study. Of these, thirty-six teachers participated in the training sequence (intervention group), while the remaining twenty-seven teachers served as a comparison group. All eighth-grade students in the school district were surveyed regarding their substance usage. Teachers rated the students regarding their risk for substance usage. Teachers' ratings and students' reported substance usage were compared to assess the percentage of matching responses. After training, the intervention teachers provided more accurate ratings among usage categories than did the comparison teachers. The trained teachers were better at correctly identifying the students who were at risk for substance use.

"Phoetry" in the Middle School

As an eighth-grade teacher of reluctant readers, I am always anxious to find hooks that will motivate students to read and write poetry. Last year two of my students helped me discover an ideal hook. Jennifer and Alex weren't much different from most eighth graders. Before class they circulated a steady stream of personal photos to classmates; then during the lesson they frantically tried to retrieve their treasured pictures. I also observed that although Jennifer and Alex often forgot to bring the required textbooks, they seldom came to class without these photos-either loose or in a minialbum.

The Cardigan Experience—An Eighth Grade Integrated Curriculum

Multidisciplinary to interdisciplinary To fully understand the unit and the curriculum theory behind the integration, a brief history of the program is needed. A visionary science curriculum coordinator for the Bedford School District had an opportunity. It was the science curriculum's turn for revision. In keeping with the science curriculum philosophy of learning by doing, the coordinator, in a brainstorming session with other eighth grade teachers, came up with the idea for an environmental unit. The seeds of that idea were taken to the principal and the assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, both of whom provided the much needed administrative

My Eighth Grade Teacher

My Eighth Grade Teacher

Amoco funds science and math programs

Chicago public school teachers and students will benefit from new precollege science and math programs being funded by the Amoco Foundation. The foundation, which is financially supported by Amoco Corp., will provide $667,000 for special training of 120 Chicago public school teachers in 1985 and 1986. Donald G. Schroeter, executive director of the foundation, notes that Chicago public schools have a growing shortage of qualified math and science teachers. As a result, he says, they're either forced to fill positions with individuals who may be inexperienced, or they just don't offer the courses. To improve that situation, the Amoco Foundation will provide $357,000 for training 80 seventhand eighth-grade teachers and an additional $310,000 for training 40 high school teachers. Both grants are aimed at improving another Amoco-supported effort, the Principal's Scholars Program (PSP), to which the foundation has committed $735,000 since 1981. That program, currently operating in 18 inner-city Chicago high sch...

Death Education: Help or Hurt?

A first grade teacher reads a story about a pet that died. As a result, one of her students vividly describes seeing his dog die after being hit by a car. The student continues talking about his pet and becomes more and more upset until he begins to sob uncontrollably. The teacher, not prepared for such a reaction, does not know what to say or to do. An eighth grade teacher shows a filmstrip about death and dying. After class, a student seeks out the teacher and discusses her mother's terminal

A Discovery in Linear Algebra

An eighth-grade teacher and his class share the excitement of discovery.

Improving Classroom Behavior and Achievement

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effects of behavioral objectives, criterion evaluation, and remediation upon the classroom progress of disruptive adolescents. Two eighth grade teachers participated, and twenty-two students were the Ss. Four observers and one grader recorded data daily. The teachers were trained to write behavioral objectives and to employ criterion evaluation and remediation during treatment conditions. Analyses of variance showed significant differences in classroom behavior and in achievement. It was concluded that the use of behavioral objectives, criterion evaluation, and remediation had a positive effect on the classroom progress of disruptive adolescents.