Cognitive Development

During the adolescence stage, students’ perceptions are not always realities. If a student has a hole in his shirt he may feel as though everyone can see that hole in his shirt. The way a student views something he/she may feel as though everyone sees it the same way as though it is the truth. This could be a good time in the classroom to not only have mirrors in the class but, to also teach different perspectives. For example, one of my concentrations is history and for history I could show both sides of the civil war the positives and negatives. I could show the perception for the northerner and the southerner. At the end I could have the students chose which side they would have been on. This is showing different viewpoints on the same situation. Showing that everyone doesn’t think the same and that is what helps us grow as people, families, communities, and nations.

            Another part is blossoming and pruning. This part focuses on the brain that is making connections. Brain connections are being made so that the student can link the information to relevant practices. “The periods of blossoming and pruning are critical in brain development. Experiences during these periods, more than any other time, physically shape the brain’s neutral networks and have a huge influence on how the brain gets wired.”  This is a lifelong skill to have and applies to every person and every content. Take math for example, in class the student has just learned how to subtract percentage from whole numbers. The next week the student goes to a market place and in a basket there are items that say 35% off of everything in that basket. The student can now see what his total will be with doing the work on his own. This could also be cultural relevancy teaching. The main point is for student to not just remember facts, numbers, and dates but, make connections between content and experiences.

Identity Development

From google images

  One of the most important developments for children is identity development and foundation. This is where students pull together their values, beliefs, heritage, history, culture, and hobbies to live their life fully. Participating in extra-curricular activities may help students find themselves faster and better. This is an excellent opportunity for the teachers to get a better understanding of the child. For example, there may be a student who is difficult to reach, so attending one of his/her mock trial events could possibly be a chance to relate to the individual and learn something about them.

I believe that parents, families, neighborhoods, schools, places of worship, and communities play a major role in determining one’s identity. Students are watching and learning from everyone and every situation. But, as Brown and Knowles said, the student will most likely be parallel to their parents way of life.

Google images

Emotional Development

As teachers, it is important to note that students are not the same day in and day out. One day, Jacob may be participating heavily and the next he may be silent. This may be more than an emotional dilemma it may be he just has not eaten last night and this morning. He may be dealing with in his home life. Adolescents at this stage are also self-involved. They are beginning to come out of it but, some are not still very self-centered. Some students believe that because I think, feel, or act this way everyone else does too. Also, some adolescents believe that terrible incidents won’t happen to themselves. This is where knowing your students are vital and also having an interpersonal caring relational for your students will help.

Moral Development

This comes as students continue to grow in accord with their daily life habits, routines, and in their community. They begin to perceive different viewpoints on life choices and are able to justify for themselves on these different points. The most important aspect I like about this is the reasoning. Students are growing cognitively and begin to question parents, teachers, and people of authority. They want to know the truth and logic behind everything. This is of high importance. In our historyclass, I believe I could have students looking at people that made a change such as; Martin Luther King, Bethune Cookman, Thurgood Marshall and many others and have students name the modern MLKs or Malcolm Xs of today. I would ask questions like, "If there are no modern people of this caliber why do you think that is?"

From google images

Social Development

“Although family, church, and community are important sources for developing friendships, for most students school is a primary place to acquire a sense of social group belonging and to practice skills necessary for making and keeping friends”- Sheets (2005,71)

Social development is of high importance to the classroom and school atmosphere students must be capable to blend with their fellow classmates. They must have friends and associates. Even teachers and adults have friends and people we associate with day in and day out. Now imagine an adolescent with all the challenges of physical, cognitive, and identity development to have to cope with this as well. This is a challenge for the student and the teacher. Teachers should take this challenge on full force by having collaborative projects, more hands-on activities, and different styles of teaching and learning. In history class, this would be the perfect time to do role-playing of individuals during the civil rights era. Have a child play Rosa Parks and have a child play Malcolm X. This will give students the opportunity to interact with their classmates. I think that the teacher must be aware of the students during these times for not only content level but, on the social level. And not only in the classroom but, in P.E, lunch time, recess, during class, etc. Any down time that students have, teachers or adults should really pay close attention because this is where the students show their true selves. School is also a primary site to learn the quality traits in a good friend such as kindness, trustworthiness, honesty, forgiveness, and loyalty.

I believe that sometimes for the students who don’t fit in. This is where bullying and forms of negative behavior happen as students strive to find their niche. Popularity among the students is taking place. Adolescents know who is popular and liked by most people and who is not. It is extremely important for teachers to not just let negative behavior or questions from these adolescence to go by unanswered or ignored. Instructors must take advantage of this stage because this may help or hurt students find their identity.

Physical Development

From google images

“I’ve changed physically. I’ve gotten so out of shape. I come home so tired every day. All I want to do is eat. I gained twenty pounds this year”-Dan age 12

Students are tired all the time and sleepy a lot. This would demand the teacher to incorporate different teaching and learning styles. It would be the ideal time to have students learning from one another in this environment and under these circumstances. Also, I believe the teacher should be flexible with students who may be sleepy and tired. They may need to transition to something more interactive. Or students may be too energized so you may want to convert that energy into a more positive direction. 

Height and weight for the adolescents vary greatly. Some students are very tall and some are very short. As a school and even a class there may girls taller than boys. There are a lot of weight variations in this age group.  How do students respond to this? In an environment where girls are bigger, taller, and maybe stronger than other girls and even some boys this orders the teacher to have a strong sense of respect in the classroom from the beginning of the year and throughout. Teacher should be able to show that big, small, tall, short, overweight, or skinny everyone can accomplish great things.

From google images