Bright Futures

The first thing that stood out to me was the Bright Futures mission statement. It is all about better the middles level practices. It has high expectations for all their students and uses the Maine Learning Results as a basis for the curriculum, instruction, and assessment. I have been a big fan of the Maine Learning Results for a couple of years now because it breaks everything down into simple standards that are easy to follow. One of the best things about it is they advocate for young adolescents even if what they do may not be current practice or easy to accomplish. This initiative has been growing for many years and that’s what makes it a lasting and profitable resource. It is always evolving and improving in order give young adolescents what they need and part of that is making sure that the teachers are all up to date and knowledgeable about all things in their field of teaching. Those teachers need to make sure that the learning experiences in their classes are meaningful, coherent, and relevant so that students can think at high levels. This will better prepare them for their futures. Aside from academics, this curriculum helps students understand themselves and the world they live in, while broadening their views on such things. Bright Futures talks about what it is like when students first reach middle school. They have a heavier work load as well as an increase in sophistication of reading and writing in multiple content areas. Focusing on these areas with ongoing instruction will improve the literacy in all content areas and bring each student to the same standard of reading and writing ability. Bright Futures is a well thought out initiative that I cannot help but agree with.