Crossroads North Middle School revitalizes courses
By Principal Mark Daniels
As the doors of Crossroads North opened to welcome the return of its students last month, it did so with a number of revitalized course offerings.
We believe these course revisions will strengthen our students’ capacity to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.
Last year, we reviewed several of our math and technology related encore courses to determine if any revisions were needed to address state standards.
We also wanted to ensure our exploratory program contained a meaningful infusion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (S.T.E.M).
In an effort to enhance rigor and further align our math curriculum with the Common Core State Standards, we also felt the need to make some adjustments to the configuration of our math courses in 7th and 8th grade.
Pre-Algebra, which recently served as the on grade level math course for students in 8th grade, has now been assigned as the on grade level math course for 7th grade.
Replacing Pre-Algebra at the 8th grade level is a newly developed course entitled Concepts of Algebra.
Concepts of Algebra is designed to introduce students to a variety of math topics including functions, equations, geometry, and data analysis.
In grades 6, 7, and 8, our technology related encore courses have provided students with the opportunity to broaden their interests, and deepen their understanding of an array of technology tools designed to support and enhance their educational experience.
Prior to this school year, these courses were as follows: 6th grade– Digital Tools I, 7th grade– Digital Tools II, and 8th grade– 21st Century Skills.
Although each of these courses adequately addressed middle school technology standards, we thought there were still opportunities to enrich their content.
This initiated a collaborative effort between middle school technology teachers, building administrators, and the district’s STEM supervisor, to augment the courses, which resulted in each of them adopting an up to date and "contemporary" feel.
Our 6th grade technology encore course kept the name "Digital Tools", but the topics addressed were slightly enhanced, and students are now exposed to the following topics while enrolled: Google Drive, Google Spreadsheet, Google Presentation, Google Draw, Cybersafety, Cyberbullying, and Touch Keyboarding.
Our 7th grade technology encore course changed its title to "Design and Technology".
This course is intended to introduce students to the following topics while enrolled: The Design Process, Structural Design Challenge, Recycled Design Challenge, and a Real World Design Challenge.
Our 8th grade technology encore course is now entitled, "Innovations and Inventions".
This course is designed to help students gain a deeper understanding of the following topics: The Design Loop, Problem Solving, Propose and Build, Advertising, and Finance.
This year, Crossroads has also added a "Technology Extension" course that is designed to familiarize 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students with "Scratch" programming.
Scratch provides students with opportunities to program their own interactive stories, games, and animations. Scratch is also designed to promote creativity, systematic reasoning, and collaboration.
As we begin the month of October, we are very excited about these course revisions and additions to our middle school program.
As principal, I strongly believe these enhancements will significantly contribute to the ongoing development and success of our students, as they cross the educational "bridge" between their elementary and high school years.

