Adolescence and College

Preparing for College in the Adolescence stage can be stressful and exciting!

One of my goals as a future educator is to encourage and help our children understand the importance of getting an education. Our textbook says, "Although nearly 69% of White high school graduates enter college, only 61% of African American and 47% Hispanic graduates do so." (p 425) It explains that "college students are primarily White and middle class." (p 425) Financial aid has a large portion to do with why some students do not go into college, because of recent changes in the availability of aid.

** I remember a friend of mine in high school, who knew that she was not going to go to college. She told me from the time I became her friend our Junior year. I thought she would have been great at college; she made better grades than I did and she was good at just knowing information. However, even though I kept saying I was doing this or that to get ready for college and she just would stick with, "it's not for me". The reason was because of the money... she knew it was easier for her to go get a job with a good company and it would provide her with enough money to support herself without struggling in college... however, now she has been a stay at home mom (after working for 5 years for a large retail corporation) and has recently began studying for her nursing degree! So, I believe that situations make it too difficult to go right into college straight from high school with or with out financial aid. Its really hard to swallow how much stress and life changes you go through when you're not middle class or your parents aren't able to pave the easy road with money. Now with our economy, being a student at 28 is just as hard as it was 10 years ago for me financially; and I was the one thinking I would have my degree by now! My friend, knew her path and stuck to it, but realized that education is something you can really get until you're ready to work for it. Degrees don't come cheap, but they are necessary to obtain recognition and knowledge in particular subjects.

** Watch this video found on youtube about a wonderful non-profit organization called "Admission Possible" that is looking forward to helping 1000 students from the graduating class of 2009 in Minnesota. It would be great to start a program like this, here locally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhTCXv6gWkI

Stress and Psychosomatic Disorders

Stress is defined as : the physical response to events that threaten or challenge us
Psychosomatic Disorders is defined as: Medical problems caused by the interaction of psychological, emotional, and physical difficulties.


**During the teenage years, stress can become even more of an issue because so much tends to be going on inside a teenagers life. Stress over social issues, educational issues, and home life can cause anyone to be bogged down and finding themselves wondering why this or that has caused them problems. Sometimes, these problems are hard to identify, and even that causes a sense of stress because the child can be struggling to understand the entire problem, not realizing they are allowing it to take over their thinking completely. Our textbook refers to problems that come from our body fighting off the bad effects stress can cause us. It mentions that headaches, backaches, skin rashes, sleep disturbances, indigestion and even the common cold can be all related and linked to the level of stress a person has.
Psychosomatic disorders can happen, when medical issues occur, like ulcers, asthma, high blood pressure, etc. Sometimes these occurrences were going to happen, but due to stress they are worsen or brought on earlier in life due to stress.

**I can recall, in high school, having a number of days at school, where I made myself sick worrying about school work or what a friend said. The worse I remember, I had to act out a short monologue play and I got so nervous that I came down with blotchy red skin, and felt like it was hard to breath, ended up walking out on the class, chickened out and didn't perform. I ended up having to do the performance by myself with the teacher there. I had the worse case of stage fright ever! It was so embarrassing to have this happen, my junior year in high school! I even think I made my mom let me stay home the next day so I didn't have to face anyone. Secretly hoping no one would recall what happened.

I can also remember how nervous I would get when I had to tell my parents something bad or if I had not so good grades... the nervousness about talking to my parents would keep me from eating and make me have a bad attitude about everything. It was miserable sometimes to have to know I was going to have to explain myself or talk to my parents about my grades. I would have rather cleaned the house 10 times before dealing with my issues with them. Not to say I was a bad kid, no matter what the problem was, I would stress out a great deal, sometimes unnecessarily, just because I thought I knew I was burnt toast!

Divorce

A negative topic all the way around but unfortunately it's one that is common in over half of the households in the US according to our textbook. Personally, I knew the pressures of divorce in middle childhood and even now as an adult. My parents threatened divorce every other month since I was in grade school and then finally, once I moved out of the house, my mother filed.
It's very real the pressure the children feel and have intuition on. I think now, my parents underestimated my involvement and my understanding of exactly what was going on. They made the mistake of allowing me to "reffere" some of the larger arguments and I know now that I should have never been involved, and struggle sometimes to keep my arguments with my husband away from my son. It is really a cycle... a vicious cycle to see. Our textbook mentions that children from divorce often find themselves in divorce later in life. I absolutely despise that "stereotype". I think it's onesided and unfair. However, society does think that way -- regardless of if it really has anything to do with if you get a divorce or not.

My husband, tells me that I tend to jump to that when it gets heated... that I may mention the divorce word way before he ever would and he makes me feel like I do this because of what I saw and deal with when it comes to my family. At first, that thought made me angry -- but it makes sense. No matter what the age of the children when their parents get a divorce, it's hard on them. "70% of divorces,...children in these households may have a more diffivult time adjusting to divorce." In rare situations is the life of the child better after divorce. In my case, I have little contact with my father, I see my mother every week, but our relationship is very rocky. It has never been a good, smooth, mother/daughter relationship.... it would be nice, but it's hard to understand sometimes.

Beyond the Three R's in Middle Childhood

Education is a term used today for the 3 R's (reading, writing, and arithmatic) is what we're seeing more of in our schools but with an approach that allows the student to be selective with what courses they do take. Prior education was "emphasised on their social well being". It's important for children to have experience in all levels of studies, a set cirriculum will not work for every child the same. "Cultural and Social experiences in elementary school can make a difference in the classroom." Diversity and multicultrual differences will change the make up of the classroom. How can a child learn, if it's not comfortable for them? How can we expect to teach when it's hard to communicate? Being able to speak and communicate with your students is vital for the success of your classroom. If you're class speaks mostly Spanish, then it's in your best interest to be familiar with how to connect with them.
Every child learns different, no two are the exact same. To be a great teacher, it's important to listen and indivudualize/modify lessons if necessary. If you show that you're willing to explain it different ways until it makes sense then they will be more confident in themselves, and you will learn what works for the next time. I heard once that "your textbook [as a teacher] is a guide/reference tool", meaning it's not in concrete that is the only way to explain a lesson. If you're able to refelect on what works and what doesn't it will serve the entire class.

Developmentally Appropriate Educational Practice

Recently, I have found myself in a situation with my 2 yr old that had me worried with the educational practice of his day school. I have always been a believer in only teaching a child what they can developmentally handle. At the age of 2, his school has chosen to use an Abeka Curriculum. I am fine with implementing a "textbook" into his school, as long as it is not the center of the day. Children learn from the examples other children show them. They also learn the best with hands on experiences, and not by learning parts of a whole.

On page 255 of our text, it reads "children of a particular age cannot be expected to master educational material without taking into account their current level of cognitive development." Giving a child a chance to show you the best way that they learn, is a technique that will improve with experience. However, it is a major factor in having a developmentally appropriate educational practice.

Our book describes this term as: Education that is based on both typical development and the unique characteristics of a given child.

Personally, this is part of my attitude as a future educator. I feel it is important to have a foundation of education, but to also know that not every child learns the same way. Being able to understand to offer both hands of the learning tool, will provide the child with security to learn the best way for their individual needs.

I found this video about using this technique in classrooms with school age children:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fnh9q_cQcUE&feature=related