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- Classroom Size -- Erie Martha Roberts, 07:24:40 04/15/07 Sun
In Chapter 11, the book said that the the highest levels and gains in achievement occur with classes of 20 or fewer students. I think this is a fasinating statisic, because I fervently agree with it. I teach in MCS and am lucky enough to teach classes of this size. (Side note, the reason why is that I teach American History at an ELL magnet school, so all of my ESL students--at least 5 per class--are taken to the special ELL American History). I find that I am able to give my students more individual attention, help their individual needs, and keep them on track better within the 55-minute class period than many other teachers with larger classes.
I wish we could do this for all the teachers in the school. The problem is space. Smaller classes require more space. Instead of 30 in one classroom, you need 2 to hold 15. In some ways, overcrowding and impersonal treatment isn't a result of a teacher shortage, it's a facility shortage. If the middle school were just a bit longer and we could fit in just 4 more classrooms, then we could make sure every teacher had classes that small. Then it would be much easier and feasable for all driven teachers to make significant academic gains.
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- Chapter 11- Expectations -- Lila Kayali, 16:22:28 04/15/07 Sun
Chapter 11 states that one improvement that needs to be made in high schools is higher expectations for student achievement. Senior year is looked at as a time for students to have fun and party, esspecially for students who have been accepted into college. I think students might have an easier first year of college if they are more productive their senior year and use their time more wisely. The book says students are getting high grades without studying much and 20% of college track seniors did not take a math course in their final year of highschool. I think schools really should be challenging seniors more.
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- Direct Instruction -- April Dandridge (Happy), 20:45:24 04/18/07 Wed
After reading the approaches to educating students, I understand why it is very important that a teacher be able to give instructional objectives in a way that the students can learn. However, attempting to decide the best instructional strategy can be difficult. Is Direct Instruction the best choice for teaching adolescents? It depends on the person you are asking. Many educators feel that direct instruction prepares students for lecture-oriented college courses. However, students criticize constantly about how tedious and uninteresting their classes are. When I was in high school, I would have stayed home and slept on a bed of nails; rather than, to sit through a fifty minutes lecture about History. So how is it that a known practice, such as Direct Instruction, remain so permanent in our classroom, even though, we are losing their attention?
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- Obstacles to Achievement - Chapter 12 -- Evelyn Moore, 18:47:58 04/18/07 Wed
Chapter 12 higlights three obstacles to academic achievement procrastination, anxiety and protecting self worth by avoiding failure. I understand that the major number one obstacle is PROCRASTINATION. Yes I am a procrastinator. The text clearly describes my actions or prior actions of not setting goals, not planning how to reach my goals and not monitoring my prograss toward reaching my goals. There were key programs that helped me Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and using a planner helped. But like a drug addict you have to be very careful not to fall off the wagon again.
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- Single Parenting/Family -- LaShundra Richmond, 10:19:04 04/10/07 Tue
Its funny how studies are being done regarding single parenting and how many factors have been corelated to the idea of mothers raising children without fathers. As a single parent myself, I disagree with half of the research information because I beleive a child has just as many chances and opportunities coming from a single-parent home as those coming from a home where the mother and father are present. Though, some mothers or fathers fail their children and some do poor jobs of raising their children, some of us are still capable or raising wonderful, productive and successful children minus the behavioral and social issues.
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- Intrinsic Motivation -- Rachel Landau, 23:24:15 04/15/07 Sun
In reading chapter 12, I found the section on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to be very interesting. There is a lot of positive research for personal choices, optimal challenge for an individual's skill level, and interest. Classrooms need to be designed to encourage intrinsic motivation for all students. Can anyone tell me what the research says on how this looks in the classroom with different ages- specific activities or strategies?
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- Chapter 11 and ADHD -- Fawziya Rafael, 14:56:42 04/14/07 Sat
In chapter 11, the author discussed the proposed etiologies of ADHD. He states that ADHD can be caused by low levels of certain neurotransmitters, prenatal and postnatal abnormalities, and environmental toxins such as lead. It has also been proposed that maternal prenatal smoking increases the chances of a child getting ADHD. However, I recently came across a research study that looked at both maternal prenatal smoking and low birth weight as possible risk factors for the development of ADHD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) and Conduct Disorder (CD) (Nigg & Breslau, 2007). In regards to ADHD, the researchers found that although at first there seemed to be higher risks of developing ADHD with exposure to maternal prenatal smoking, the effects were no longer statistically significant once familial characteristics were controlled for (maternal substance use and educational level). What I found most interesting was that the study found that children who were exposed to maternal prenatal smoking had a higher risk of developing ODD, and through this, develop CD later in life.
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- Implicit Association Test - Gender Science -- Tish Colvin, 18:27:30 04/09/07 Mon
There's an interesting website (www.implicit.harvard.edu) that tests your unconscious beliefs about gender stereotyping. The Implicit Association Test, or IAT, asks you to first categorize words such as girl, aunt, grandma, wife with female (in the left corner of the screen) and boy, uncle, grandpa, husband with male (in the right corner of the screen)... easy enough. Then you're asked to categorize words like literature, music, humanities with liberal arts (left side of screen)and chemistry, biology, and astronomy with science (right side of screen)... again, easy enough. Then as rapidly as you categorized the first words you're asked to categorize these same words with the words female and liberal arts on the left, and male and science on the right. If you're at all biased it's easier to do this activity than it is to do the next task: Rapidly categorize the words when female and science are together on the left, and male and liberal arts are on the right. Your speed gives you a glimpse into your own gender stereotyping.
with liberal arts and men with science
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- Parenting Styles -- Lila Kayali, 11:23:03 04/04/07 Wed
In this weeks readings, the mother's role on adolescent development is discussed. It's interesting that they point out how motherhood is not appreciated enough by society, and that money and achievement are considered more prestigious than motherhood. Furthermore, if an adolescent has bad behavior or turns out rebellious, mothers are wrongly blamed and viewed as the cause of their childs bad behavior. While parenting styles affect adolescent behavior, so many other factors also contribute to how a child behaves.
I've seen some families where the parents are authoritative and have all the skills associated with positive parenting (they have a balance between control and giving independence, they are loving and spend time teaching their child values...etc.) and yet their child is rebellious, deviant, and problematic. I wonder what influences this type of child to behave so negatively. It shows there are always exceptions in psychology!
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- Authoritative parenting -- April Dandridge (Happy), 15:58:41 04/04/07 Wed
According to the textbook, researchers have found that African-American parents are more likely to use physical punishment. Apparently, I am the only exception to this fact. I do not use physical punishment towards my son. I think whipping is temporary and it is a quick fix for a problem. I communicate with him to solve problems. However, my entire family thinks that I am spoiling him because I am not whipping him. On the contrary, I think that I am being more of an authoritative parent by not whipping him. Authoritative parents encourage their children to work out their problems and not to choice violence.
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- Parents -- Tish Colvin, 17:53:36 04/01/07 Sun
This week's reading discussed "reciprocal socialization" as it relates to adolescents and their parents. I can see that phenomenon already with my 7 year old. When he was a toddler his friends were mainly children of MY friends. Now that he's older it seems to be the reverse: I need to become friends with the parents of HIS friends. We're both influencing each other.
On another note, my Midlife course has again overlapped a bit with this course. I read an article by Hyde and King (2001) entitled "Women, Motivation, and Achievement". The authors touched on gender issues in the classroom. Not surprisingly, due to gender stereotypes, parents overestimate their sons' abilities in subjects traditionally viewed as "male-dominated" such as physics, while underestimating their daughters' talent in the same subjects. But unbelievably these parental perceptions were better predictors of the children's self-confidence than the children's actual grades. Wow! The power of perception is amazing. It's also a bit scary.
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- Parenting -- Rachel Landau, 18:34:01 04/04/07 Wed
So as I was reading through the chapter, I couldn't help but think about the plethora of information linking particular parenting behaviors with positive child outcomes. First, the organizational scheme in figure 9.1 showing how child behavior, marital relationship, and parenting are all influencing each other. Research shows, happily married parents are associated with better parenting and healthier children and adolescents. The chapter also describes parents as managers and their role in their adolescents' lives to guide them to make responsible choices. Throw in the appropriate combination of Baum's parenting styles used by both parents (coparenting) and you've got the outline of a manual for parenting--my mother always used to say she wanted one :) Anyhow, this information needs to be brought to as many (in my opinion all) couples through a simple presentation with resources for help during the child's development. The book refers to "marriage enhancement programs" that I know little about; however, it seems that such programs should be focused on improving the parents' relationship to be able to then work on providing appropriate parenting to the child/adolescent. I think these programs should be mandatory or strongly encouraged (incentives?) to prepare parents ahead of time and provide support and information during difficult times of child rearing.
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- Parenting Styles....and more -- Kelly Folsom, 19:51:53 04/04/07 Wed
This may not be a parenting style, however I think it may be close to the definition of indulgent parenting: It sometimes disturbs me when parents attempt to be best friends with their adolescent children. I have witnessed this on several occasions, usually between a mother and daughter. I have seen moms dress like their daughters and talk with them (bargin with them) like peers. I understand the desire to keep trust and communication channels open with teens, but believe that a pseudo-peer role for parents and adolescents could be dangerous.
I also heard a recent NPR piece that cited research that mothers spend roughly the same amount of time with their children today as mothers did in the 1970s. This seemed unfathomable when I first heard it, but the researcher explained: While a higher percentage of women may have been stay-at-home moms in the 1970s that time did not necessarily relate to increased time with your kids. Parents were more apt to allow kids to play outside or go to a friends house to play, thus taking them away from home. Also, mothers were much more comfortable allowing their children to leave the house alone, or be alone, when compared to parents today.
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- Chapter 9-Family Processes -- Evelyn Moore, 20:27:38 04/04/07 Wed
Chapter 9 reflects on two basic premises of parent-adolescent relationships 1) the very important aspects of developments and 2) more positive once believed. Stanrock outlines this faimly process in three stages Reciprocal Socialization and the Family System; the Developmental Construction of Relationships and Maturation. This is a very interesting concept and holds a lot of merit. In my family I know that there are certain dynamics between parents together (polyadic) and parents alone (dyadic)(Stantrock, 2007). The old saying that you are a momma boy or a daddy's girl, must have come from this concept. This family social system has its own subsystems of which polyadic is a part. I remember that I could not get my way with both my parents, but I had a better chance when alone with my father. I found it just as interesting findings were consistent among happily married parents are warm, sensitive, responsive and affectionate with their children (Stantrock , 2007). I had two happy parents, but my children only had me, a single parents. I would think that it was not the happy marriage as much as it was a sense of confidence in their ability to be a parent and passing this assertive position on to the children. In addition to be Black and a woman, there is a sense of assertiveness and control in the position of being a parent.
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- Parenting Styles -- Fawziya Rafael, 12:53:24 04/04/07 Wed
It was interesting reading about Baumrinds Parenting Styles in this weeks reading. When looking at my own parenting style I believe I tend to use a combination of these styles. As a parent I believe there are always times when we might be indulgent towards our children, particularly when they are toddlers. There are other times when I become more of an Authoritarian parent, especially when it comes to my childrens safety. However, I do consider myself to be mostly an Authoritative parent in that I like to explain to my children the reason for my rules and expectations. This is the parenting style I feel they learn the most from because they can comprehend the rational behind the rules they must follow. Although the author emphasizes the use of the Authoritative style, I believe that most parents, like myself, tend to use a combination of parenting styles and that these styles tend to change depending on the situation and context (and the child as well).
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- friends as a means of reinforcing behavior -- Jessica Roesch, 17:19:37 04/04/07 Wed
I thought that the part of the chapter discussing social comparision and reinforcement was really important. During adolescents the group of friends one belongs to has a tremendous impact on their behavior choices. I thought it was interesting that research indicates that nonsmoking adolescents who became friends with smoking adolescents are more likely to start smoking themselves. Does this mean that adolescents who smoke try to get their non smoking friends to take up the habit, or that adolescents who are predisposed to engage in risky behavior choose friends who are already experimenting with these behaviors (i.e. smoking). It would seem reasonable that non-smoking friends would have as much influence on their smoking friends and would, in effect, cause them to want to give up smoking (of course, this doesn't account for the addictive components of smoking, but you get the idea).
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- Single Gender Education -- Erie Martha Roberts, 14:41:07 03/28/07 Wed
Reading this week's assignment made me think a lot about single gender education. As a student, I was against it (except in gym class). I thought that if I was going to be required to compete with the boys in the "real world" for jobs, etc., then I should start at school. Now that I've started teaching, I'm begining to question that assumption. This week's reading about gender stereotypes and sexism made me think of the stereotype bias we discussed a few weeks back. Is there a stereotype bias for women? Would a single gender classroom help eliminate it? Would girls feel more confident in science if there weren't any teachers subconsiously supporting the idea that girls aren't "suited" to it? Would more boys enjoy art and literature if they were surrounded by other boys?
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- gender gaps in education -- Jessica Roesch, 14:16:59 03/28/07 Wed
We always hear about how girls in different parts of the world are resricted from the same types of priveledges as males, but reading about the statistics concerning education presented in the text really struck me. Authors describe that by age 18, girls have received, on average, 4.4 years less education than boys have (p.187).
A four and a half year difference in educational attainment is huge. such a limited education compared to male counterparts prevents these girls from gaining positions of power in society. Growing up in the United States, i've taken the power that my education has provided me for granted. We can see from this gender difference in many less developed countires, which happens early on in life, how males come to almost complete control political and religious functions.
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Gender role -- April Dandridge (Happy), 20:51:53 03/28/07 Wed
I recently subbed for a kindergarten class and it was funny how gender-role played in the classroom. The girls thought that the boys were nasty and cruel, and the boys viewed the girls as being spiteful. The girls seemed to watch the boys every move. It was as if they knew eventually that the boys were going to do something inappropriate, so they could tell me. At that point, I had already summed up the class; the girls were like little baby dolls (cute and lovable) and the boys were like little G.I. Joes (rough and rugged). However, during center time, the same rough and rugged boys were playing with the stoves and kitchen toys. It amazing how gender roles intersect.
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- Gender-Role Transcendence -- Julie Falvey, 18:29:05 03/28/07 Wed
On the Today Show on Monday, Meredith Veira hosted a segment called "How to Raise a CEO". She interviewed four sisters who have all reached high-ranking positions with major U.S. corporations. The sisters attribute their career successes to the way they were raised. The said they were encouraged by both parents from an early age to set career goals and create plans to achieve their goals. In addition, communication among family members was encouraged and expected, and "failures were celebrated". They were taught that it was okay to fail and were praised for challenging themselves and for taking risks. Their father also shared his work experiences with the girls on a regular basis, and their mother taught them that "ambition is an integral part of femininity, and not independent from it." Do you think it is possible to incorporate some of these strategies into the classroom environment?
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- single sex vs. coed schools -- Bradley Kovach, 20:05:46 03/28/07 Wed
I agree with many of the people on here, that single sex schools provide a better environment for students making it easier to focus on their work. On the other hand, I think school and in particular high school serves a dual role in that it educates as well as socializes the students. Not only is it important to gain those fundamental levels of knowledge, but it is also important to learn how to interact with the opposite sex. I think the best solution lies somewhere in the middle. Maybe the core curriculum could be single sex, and then electives as well as lunches, etc. could be coed. That way, the students still have that learning time away from the opposite sex but can still interact at different parts of the day. After all, if all of the girls went to school by themselves who would the cheerleaders cheer for? (Just kidding, but food for thought)
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- Identity -- Ethel McKinney (perturbed), 17:44:00 03/28/07 Wed
I must say that last week I was ready to give up teaching. There are children in my neighborhood that would rather hang around and vandalize homes and property than do anything worthwhile. My neighborhood isn't bad but bad people have started to hang around. The Memphis gang the Vice Lords are trying to claim my neighborhood as theirs. They have apparently recruited several local boys to terrorize us with vandalism and theft.
These same young people have no parents at home as far as I can tell. They roam around from morning to night. No one calls for them to come home, no one comes around looking for them.
Many of the Psychologists we have discussed recently believe that a developing child's greatest influence is the home environment. If all you have at home is an uncaring parent or a gang banging relative, you have nothing good to identify with.
I hope someone somewhere can publicize an appealing program to influence these children to strive for better things. Monday morning between 3am and 6:15am, our car was severely vandalized and burglarized. We fixed the damage through the insurance company to the tune of $1500 with a $100 deductible. On Wednesday morning between 6:40am and 7:50am, they did it again.
It's really hard not to wish them ill, but they need to identify with more positive influences. STAY IN SCHOOL!
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- CHapter 6 - Gender Differences Around the World -- Evelyn Moore, 19:35:05 03/28/07 Wed
Chapter 6 highlights gender differences around the world might be a very interesting topic, as the differences that a teacher might face with a multicultural classroom. There is the old fashion sexism that says that women are weaker than men. I ejoyed the cartoon wehre the woman is taling to the man and says, "So according to the sterotype,you can put two and two together , but I can read the handwriting on the wall". Maybe I liked it because I am a woman, but the reality is there are some things that a woman can not do. This is not sexism, but physical capability. The truth of the matter is that there are differences in gender whether biological factors, or sociocultural factors of both. This is not a myth, for in 1990 when I was given an assignment to go to Japan to work the issue of gender can up and a caucasion male was assigned as the head contact person because the culture did not have a lot of respect for women and/or blacks. It okay to work in the background but I could not be the primary contact person. It make me wonder about the classroom. there was a time when young men were told to be gentlemen let the woman go first, but what now. On top of sterotyping the Asians as being very smart the focus is on the male and not the female. So yes there are physical differences as well as cognitive and socioemotional differences.
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- All Girls High School -- Ethel McKinney (peaceful), 17:27:14 03/28/07 Wed
I attended and graduated from Immaculate Conception High School for girls. I chose the school not because there were no boys, but because the classrooms had large windows. Those four years taught me that all women are powerful. There was no gender competition. It was strictly peer. Our main focus wasn't on how cute we dressed but who was the smartest and got the most out-of-class privaleges. (I was in that group.) Now I must say it was difficult finding dates to the different dances and social events, but there was no pressure waiting on some boy to ask me. We had to do the asking. I think education should be co-ed until high school. This is the time when young people should start interacting with good role models. They should be learning the best way to empower themselves without the added pressure the opposite sex always adds to a situation.
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- Character Education and Culture/Government -- Tish Colvin, 07:23:07 03/23/07 Fri
Last night we briefly touched upon the idea of character education vs. values clarification. Character education implies that some person or organization imposes his (their) own values on another person or organization. Values clarification, on the other hand, elicits discussion and allows people to form their own ideas about what is important to them. I couldn't help but think of this issue with regard to the many cultures and countries around the world. I think more often than not the United States takes part in character education rather than values clarification. For some reason we think all of our ideas should be shared by the rest of the world - end of story. Of course, atrocities shouldn't be condoned but beyond that who is to say that our way is always the "right" way? It sounds like values clarification could help in peace processes.
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- Social Influences on Gender -- Brooke Sanders, 11:26:10 03/28/07 Wed
I believe that the people around us have a major influence on gender during our adolescent years. Our parents, siblings, peers, and teachers have an important role in our lives. The lack of parental guidance during this time results in adolescents spending the most time with the person in their lives that accepts them for who they are. Also the differences that are made between male and female influence adolescents, like, independence, dress code and culture.
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- Middle School Students -- Derwin Sisnett, 07:17:10 03/21/07 Wed
I read an article in the NYTimes the other day that addressed the woes of middle school education. They addressed the fact that most teachers desire to be elementary or high school teachers, but they become middle school teachers out of necessity. Although middle school students begin to experience changes that can cause them to "act out," the very fact that many teachers are not passionate about working with them can cause more harm than good.
A very interesting point that was made was that many middle school teachers across the country are not required to be certified in adolescent development or adolescent pedagogy. As we discuss the MANY issues that adolescents face, it would only seem logical that middle schoolers get as much attention (if not more) as elementary school students and high school students. What would it take for middle schools to receive the attention that is needed?
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- gender differences -- Fawziya Rafael, 20:20:00 03/27/07 Tue
The author discusses the findings of Maccoby and Jacklin that indicate that males have better math and visuospatial skills than females, and that females have better verbal abilities than males. I have previously heard of these differences but have always wondered if these cognitive differences were actually due to environmental factors as opposed to bilological, which is what the above researchers seem to imply. It seems to me that societal stereotyping of gender roles might better account for these differences than biology. Since children are very young we tend to encourage boys to play with building block and other toys known to develop visuospatial skills while girls tend to engage in more pretend play, which increases their communication skills. We also tend to encourage boys to pursue scientific and mathematical careers more than we do with girls, which also might be a contributing factor to these gender differences.
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Identity -- April Dandridge (Happy), 20:38:59 03/21/07 Wed
While surfing the net, I found a quote by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. It stated, Identity: Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. I totally agree with this statement. Even though, identity is influenced by many different social contexts (such as family, friends, and media), I believe that an individual really cannot define their identity until they discover their passion. You are what your heart is. If you have a heart filled with love and compassion then your identity will characterize that.
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- Self-Esteem -- Lila Kayali, 17:33:54 03/25/07 Sun
After reading about all the potential consequences of low self-esteem, I wonder how we, as teachers, can help adolescents increase their self-esteem levels. Schools have activities such as sports, which are believed to increase self esteem levels but what about the students who isolate themselves from these activities and the students who isolate themselves from social activities altogether? While the book says adolescents' self esteem levels rise as they transition into young adulthood, some students low self esteem may have detrimental consequences. They may turn to drug abuse, eating disorders, and even suicide. I think it's important to recognize students who need help with this issue and to figure out ways to build their self-confidence.
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- Heinz's dilemma -- Jessica Roesch, 18:14:09 03/18/07 Sun
I thought that the Heinz's dilemma exercise that we did in class was really interesting. while i had been exposed to this example before, I had never considered how people from different age groups and moral levels of development might respond in entirely different ways. It was really difficult at times for our group to decide on which level to place given responses. When presented with the dilemma, there are many arguments that can be formed for a particular solution I think that people use their own experience or what they have been taught when forming their opinion. For this same reason, two people can read the description of the dilemma in two different ways. I don't think these individual differences make one person more or less moral, just different. It's always interesting to me how perceptions can be so different and forces me to consider that other people don't see things as i see them.
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- Chapter 5 - Identity Development -- Evelyn Moore, 20:33:34 03/21/07 Wed
During our class interaction on last week, we touched on the episodes of youth crime sprees in the city of Memphis. There were recent events of High School Senior Honor students that were involved in shoplifting and carjacking. It is very interesting that Erikson identifies seven stages and seven developmental periods. The fifth stage "Identity vs Identity Confusion" appears to be where these adolescents fall as they are in search of who they are. i was always familisr with the culture shock experienced from elementary into jr high school, but I did not know that there was yet another level of confusion in knowing who you are. I also experienced culture shock when I left home from high school to go to college, it seems to reason that Erikson was definately on to something. It be interesting to see more research on the search of identity during the age of adolescence among high school honor students.
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- Ethnic Identity -- Miriam Dolin, 14:41:39 03/18/07 Sun
I thought the section in the text about ethnic identity was really interesting. Growing up I knew two girls whose mother is American and father is British. They lived in the States but spent their summers in England. They could flawlessly switch between an American and British accent depending on the situation (and amusement of their friends). I also had a good friend who was Korean. Her family moved to the States when she was about 10 years old. Growing up she quickly adapted to American culture and language, but her parents held onto their traditional Korean culture and often put her in the role of translator. She really struggled to balance her two worlds. I think adolescence must be so much harder for people in minority ethnic groups because not only are they defining their identity, but they also have to contextualize that identity in two different cultures. From my friend's experience, she really had a hard time in adolescence because she also had to pave the way for her parents in their new culture when they were hesitant to adjust.
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- Moral Identity -- Tish Colvin, 18:23:32 03/16/07 Fri
I read a quote in this week's Memphis Flyer promoting the upcoming performance of To Kill a Mockingbird: "Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." - Atticus Finch. I thought this line was very relevant to our Moral Development discussion. It seems to most closely relate to the idea of moral identity. As mentioned in Santrock (2007) people have a moral identity when moral commitments are really a central part of their lives. If they violate the moral standard they've set for themselves their sense of self-integrity is at risk. From Atticus' quote it sounds like he has indeed set a bar for himself and cannot go against what he's established. To do so would negatively impact his self image.
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- Chapter 5 -- Fawziya Rafael, 13:12:34 03/21/07 Wed
It was interesting to read that the traditional idea that hormones are to blame for adolescents excessive negative emotions is actually not very accurate. The text indicates that hormones only have a small influence on adolescent emotions, and that it is the environmental experiences that have the greatest impact. I think this is an important fact to be aware of since many adults are quick to dismiss adolescents complaints or feelings because they attribute it to their "overactive hormones".
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- Social Contexts -- Brooke Sanders, 11:09:22 03/21/07 Wed
I found the section on Self Understanding and Social Contexts to be very interesting. I know we can all think back to some people who act differently around there mother, father, peers, close friends, or employer. As a minority in the US I find myself moving between two cultures. I actually think it makes me a more well rounded individual and bicultural.
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- Multiple Roles -- Tish Colvin, 10:04:28 03/19/07 Mon
I'm also taking the Midlife and Adult Development course this semester. I just finished reading an article about emotional development and the midlife crisis myth. The article touched on a few issues relevant to this week's Chapter 5 reading: The Adolescent book says self-understanding is somewhat based on different roles people play (i.e. athlete, student, daughter, etc.). Interestingly, the midlife reading said the more social identities/roles a person has, the lower his/her psychological distress.
And, as has been noted several times in this course, peers are very important. The midlife reading said a "less dense social network" (in other words if you know a lot of different kinds of people)is better for mental health when you're faced with trauma (compared to a tight-knit group). If I understood the authors correctly they explained this by saying if you're in a small group of friends everyone knows what has happened to you. In contrast, if you know many people you can sometimes escape from the trauma you've faced (because those people don't know exactly what happened to you) and just be who you were prior to the trauma. Friends are obviously influential in adolescence but also remain important throughout our lifetime.
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- Moral development -- LaShundra Richmond, 16:04:22 03/16/07 Fri
In discussing moral development last night, I had to speak out about the role that parents play in moral development during our group discussion in the beginning of class. I have to speak out about mothers and fathers who simply carry the title and is not adequatly equipped to fulfill the roles and challenges of being a parent. In some cases, mothers can fathers can be damaging to a child, if them, themselves are not able to readily identify with morals and values. In many instances, I blame mothers and fathers of grown boys not men, and "trifling" girls, not women. It bothers me, as a new parent myself, that some of these kids start off wrong and unless their strong-minded and strong-willed, find it very difficult to stray from the destructing path they started on.
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- Stages of Moral Development -- Ethel McKinney, 13:54:58 03/16/07 Fri
Wednesday morning I was listening to the cartoons my 6 year old was watching. There was a little boy about 4 years old on the cartoon. He'd found a jump rope in his front yard.He didn't know who it belonged to so he asked around. His older sister told him to just keep it; finders keepers, losers weepers. His imaginary dinosaur friends told him the whole concept sounded fishy. Later on in the story the boy meets a troll who is wearing a pair of glasses he found. The glasses belonged to the dinosaur friend, and the troll told them finders keepers; losers weepers.
They were no on the other end of the problem.Finally the little boy realized what the right thing to do was and got his friend's glasses returned. When the boy returned to the real world, he put together a neighborhood lost and found so that no one would be a loser weeper.
His stage of moral development in the story was at least a 3 or 4 and supposedly 4yr olds don't think like that. I wonder if the author took that into consideration or are they just trying to make sure that the media for children stays positive and within societies moral parameters.
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- Morality and Religion -- Lila Kayali, 12:40:37 03/15/07 Thu
I found it interesting to see the chart on page 258 in the book showing a shift in the life goals of college students. It showed that nowadays, it is a more important goal for adults to be very well off financially than develop a meaningful philosophy of life. I'm assuming that many adolescent's feel the same way. Because of society's emphasis on materialism, each generation is focusing less on finding deeper meaning to their lives. I imagine it's difficult to teach morality to students or influence them in their search to find meaning in their lives because those issues are often related to religious beliefs or individual opinion. While there are basic moral standards you can instill in students, there are gray areas that make teaching morality very complicated.
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- morality and religion -- Emily Clark, 18:53:12 03/14/07 Wed
I found all the different influencers of moral development to be pretty interesting--especially religion. How interesting that church attendence is actually associated with more moral behavior. I suppose I just always assumed that many religious young people were, to a certain extent, living fairly hypocritical lives. Apparently, religion does have a big impact on young people, even when they may not be entirely sure if they believe what their parents and church taught them to. What was especially surprising/confusing to me was the study on 3,350 adolescent girls at the end of the chapter. Surprisingly, girls who identified highly with "personal conservatism" (ie. agree that scripture is with out mistakes) were more likely than others to have unsafe sex, whereas frequent attendence at religious functions was linked with fear of unprotected sex and increased birth control usage. This goes against the assertion that religion is linked with morality. Apparently religion's impact on morality is a very complicated one and depends a great deal on the context and the type of religion! As we see in the last section, cults, which consider themselves to be religious organizations, may have negative influences on morality. There's certainly a lot to think about with regard to showing young people the right way to live if you're using religion as a tool to show what's right.
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- Moral development -- April Dandridge (Happy), 19:50:02 03/14/07 Wed
I recently finished my observation at Cordova High School. During the moral development discussion, the students expressed that religion had little to do with their moral behavior. Many of the students considered church as a place for hypocritics. I also discovered that many of the students believed that parents say one thing, but do another. They commented that parents always want them to do whats right, but they are acting immaturely. Therefore, I asked them who teaches them about morality. Dreadfully, a lot of their guidance come from their peers. I think it is sad that an adolescent has to go to another adolescent to search for morals and principles; instead of turning to an adult.
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- Religion vs. Spiritual -- Evelyn Moore, 19:40:33 03/14/07 Wed
Chapter 8 touches on research on the subject Religion. I was very impressed with the numbers of students that believe in God, and pray. However, as difficult as it is to believe the textbook looks at the subject academically, as for example, "... students report that they are spiritual and not necessarily religous or that they don't identify with a particular religion denomination." This is actually old news. As we have learned better, we do better. There was a time when we religiously by rote or by repetition or by tradition exercised our faith walk. However, knowledge is power and as a result informed people make informed decisions thereby making it no longer a need to be associated with a denomination or tradition. Our Faith walk became more personal and less a matter of association with any particular denomination. This is actually the spiritual side. So I ask you what is the real transition? Is it religion vs. spiritual; or denomination vs. personal?
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- Kohlberg's theory -- Cassandra Schuyler, 19:35:14 03/14/07 Wed
I thought that it was intereting how Kohlberg hypothesized that there were 6 stages of moral development but that we only really reach stage 5. Plus, we only really reach this stage after hitting the late 20s. His stage 6 even had to be removed recently. Kohlberg's stage 6 addresses people thinking at a "universal human rights" belief when faced with a dilemma and people going with their conscience over the law (p.241). People tend to go with their conscience, regardless if it agree with the law or not. If you believe that what you are doing is okay, of course you are going to do it. I thought that his "dilemma" stories were quite interesting as well.
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- Technology and Moral Development -- Tish Colvin, 07:28:13 03/13/07 Tue
Cyber-bullying seems to be at the intersection of technology and moral development. An article in my sons school newsletter addressed the issue. Apparently adolescents have now brought the age-old act of bullying classmates into the new era of technology. An example includes using a cell phone camera to take a picture of a classmate changing clothes during gym class. The image, along with discouraging remarks, is then forwarded to friends via email. Sometimes rude comments are emailed directly to the person being bullied. Schools must remain in touch with these changing tactics in order to ensure the rights of all students. In regard to moral development it would seem apparent that the bully remains in Kohlberg's stage 1 because he/she is egocentric, lacking the ability to imagine him/herself in the same position as the person being bullied. However, the bully is not obeying the rules in order to avoid punishment. Instead he/she imagines he/she will never get caught.
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- service learning -- Fawziya Rafael, 09:46:45 03/14/07 Wed
In this chapter, the author introduced the concept of service learning and the many benefits it has on students. Service learning not only improves student grades, self esteem, and other personal qualities, but it is also very beneficial in teaching adolescents to care for others rather than only for themselves. The author reported that over the last 20 years, adolescent concern for others had greatly decreased, and instead, teens today are mostly concerned with their own well being. I believe that if more schools incorporated service learning into their curriculum/educational goals, then we might be able to help re-instill empathy for others in the teenagers of today. If adolescents are introduced to the concept of social and community responsibility at an early age, they will most likely continue to exhibit these qualities throughout their adult life.
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- Moral Development -- Bryan Wilson, 13:53:06 03/12/07 Mon
According to the text (240), Piaget offers to a young group (heteronomous) and an older group (autonomous) to change the rules in the game of marbles. The older group accepts and listens, but the younger group resists the change. I believe the older children have been taught in the way of the world and how things suppose to flow. I also believe the younger children are raw and have not been shaped to fit into the paradigm of society. A couple of weeks ago we touched on childrens imagination being unrestrained and unshaped which enables them to think outside the box. We also spoke on how we as adults have been programmed to think and act in a certain way, which hinders our imagination. I think this fits into that discussion, as well. Just a thought!!!
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- Piaget's Stages -- April Dandridge (Happy), 21:37:11 02/21/07 Wed
I am so fascinated with Piaget's preoperational stage that occurs between ages two and six when a child learns to use language. I think this is when children are most creative. In this stage, they will turn anything into something. My son use to turn a toilet paper roll into a bullhorn or a comb into a microphone. Also, I love a child's energy at this stage. They are so busy and so alive.
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- Creativity in College Admissions -- Tish Colvin, 17:53:45 02/23/07 Fri
I heard an interesting story on NPR today. The admissions department at Tufts University is implementing a new strategy to try to differentiate amongst all the bland essays they receive year in and year out. Most of their students are high achievers and on paper they all tend to look the same. The Tufts dean of arts and sciences is none other than Robert Sternberg of the triarchic theory (analytical, creative, and practical intelligence). Weighing in on the subject, he says "...the problem isn't lack of creativity in the students but lack of creativity in the college admissions process." Students are now able to chose from a list of optional "quirky" essay questions based on Sternberg's research. The dean of admissions says the essays are much more enjoyable to read and he feels like he's getting a better sense of who the students really are. It's a real world example of the relationship between intelligence and creativity.
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- Imaginary Audience -- Tish Colvin, 05:48:24 02/23/07 Fri
Last night all 3 presentations mentioned the idea of an imaginary audience. I'm in the midst of reading "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High". These students had a real audience. I can't imagine the internal struggles they each faced. A quote from the book describes one of the Little Rock Nine's perspective: "My eight friends and I paid for the integration of Central High with our innocence. During those years when we desperately needed approval from our peers, we were victims of the most harsh rejection imaginable. The physical and psychological punishment we endured profoundly affected all our lives. It transformed us into warriors who dared not cry even when we suffered intolerable pain (p. 2)".
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- Flynn Effect: IQ/G/etc... -- Elizabeth Luster, 20:30:29 02/17/07 Sat
Okay- I dont know why this is bothering me so much but I cant seem to quit pondering our class discussion about intelligence. It seems that the overall opinion is that there is a "g",an underlying intelligence, kinda like a tree with branches of different types of intelligence steming from "g". But then there is the Flynn Effect that we are attributing to exposure and not evolution because it has transpired too quickly? Exposure should have nothing to do with an underlying intelligence; this is genetics. Hear me out-I can have all the best nuturing, healthy diets, and opportunity in the world but if I am a cactus at creation-I will never be a 1000ft Sequoia. I may be the greatest cactus that ever lived but I am still a cactus. So, if genetics are the cause of g, which I truly believe, then Flynn Effect is the result of a rapidly occuring variation of natural selection. And if there is one area in which natural selection--survival of the fittest-- would benefit most--it would be intelligence. Besides, who says evolution cant evolve too? Any thoughts?
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- Cognitive Development -- Ethel McKinney, 21:35:30 02/21/07 Wed
I just finished watching a fabulous documentary about adolescence on PBS. It went through all the stages of development from Brofenbrenner's perception. It illustrated his views of how the older an adolescent is the more ideal their reasoning becomes. They no longer blindly accept life as it is, because now they understand it more through their experiences and can build upon that knowledge with some sound reasoning. The best part of the film discussed how if something really awful happens during the beginning of puberty and adolescence, the person is changed in some way. This fell right in with what we had discussed in class. The film showed really teenagers and just how they really reacted to their lives and their home environments.
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- Flynn Effect -- Jeff Osborne (Jeffrey Osborne), 21:22:16 02/21/07 Wed
Reading a bit more into the Flynn Effect I found it interesting that several researchers have reported that in certain places in the world, the Flynn Effect is said to have peaked and is not progressing any longer. For instance, in Denmark, a developed country, IQ scores for men is said to have peaked in the mid '90s and have declined since then. I found this interesting because at first I felt that the Flynn Effect was plausible, but after reading a bit more into it (not a whole lot into it though) I tend to agree that like many trends there seems to be an apex that once reached we will see some decline. Our improved nutrition and greater access to information has appeared to have had a tremendous impact on IQ scores, but when a large portion of the public stat to relying solely on the information provided to us through the tv, radio, and the Internet I think we will see a decline in intelligence and subsequently we will see a decline in IQ scores. I believe this will happen because people tend to lose their own reasoning skills and information processing abilities.
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- Intelligence and Creativity -- Lila Kayali, 09:56:10 02/20/07 Tue
In class we discussed whether creativity is something we are born with or if it is something we can learn. I found an article in Scientific American Mind about this topic and it states that "all of us can call up originality from within our minds through training and encouragement." It also goes on to say that our creativity level is repressed through school and by society, and so our ways of thinking become more of a habit, but the ability to be creative still exists. It also gives examples supporting the idea that IQ scores are not a valid predictor of creativity. Anyways, the article (Unleashing Creativity By Ulrich Kraft) is interesting, here's the website if you want to read it. http://www.sciammind.com/issue.cfm?issueDate=Apr-05
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- Egocentrism -- Julie Falvey, 20:41:07 02/21/07 Wed
David Elkind believes that egocentrism can be broken down into two parts: the imaginary audience and the personal fable. Since these behaviors are directly related to social cognitive development, I think that teenagers who live in countries with a strong media presence may be more inclined to exhibit these behaviors than teenagers in cultures with less exposure to the media. In our culture, we are bombarded with visual scripts that encourage us to develop from the outside in rather than the inside out. Create your "self" in reverse from a picture in a magazine or a character in a tv show or movie rather than listening to who you are on the inside and expressing that to the world. I agree with Vygotsky's view that knowledge is constructed through social interaction and, in this case, I think these behaviors are directly related to the presence of the media in a particular culture.
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- Response to Intervention and ZPD -- Tish Colvin, 06:55:08 02/16/07 Fri
At the end of Missy's presentation last night she mentioned the need to examine a student's "response to intervention" before tracking the child in special education. Although I don't know much about the practice it reminded me of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD). In both cases the educator is looking not only at the student's current ability but at what the student can do with the help of others.
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- Metacognition -- Brooke Sanders, 09:31:53 02/21/07 Wed
I can remember when I was about 12 years old and I would go into deep thought. I would find myself sitting back thinking about why I was thinking what I was. It was rush for me and I was so amazed at the thought process that I was participating in. It was not until high school when I found out that this process was called metacognition.
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- Creative Thinking -- April Dandridge (Happy), 21:11:04 02/14/07 Wed
As a teacher, I am in favor of creative thinking. I believe that creative thinking allows teachers to reach all learners. Creative thinking also allows students to think independently. I dont believe a persons intelligence can be placed in a box or determine by an I.Q. test. For example, my father was very creative. He grew up in a time where a child was made to go to work rather than obtain an education. He didnt graduate HS, but he displayed a cleverness that astonished people. However, he always thought that because he didnt graduate from HS that his intelligence did not match up to anyone. My father had life experience and that will always outweigh any diploma or degree.
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- Metacognition -- Tish Colvin, 07:11:06 02/16/07 Fri
In our small group discussion last night none of us remembered learning about the emotional and cognitive development (including self-regulatory strategies) of adolescents when we were adolescents. Is it not taught in the adolescent setting because adolescents are not yet able to adequately use metacognition (to think about their thinking)? As the book states, adolescents' metacognition is better than children but not as honed as adults (hopefully). Do we have to be beyond our adolescent years in order to view the issues appropriately?
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- Piagets stages of cognitive development -- Fawziya Rafael, 18:33:38 02/21/07 Wed
The reading for this week covers Piagets four stages of cognitive development. These stages are very important for teachers to keep in mind when developing teaching strategies/methods. Each of these stages provides valuable information on childrens cognitive development at various ages, and help in determining what type of instruction is appropriate for each developmental level. From this information teachers can tailor their instruction to incorporate methods that would provide the greatest understanding for the students in their classroom. An example would be ensuring that when presenting abstract material to children in the concrete level, teachers ensure that they are incorporating some type of visual representation that would help their students in grasping the abstract concept.
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- Intelligience vs. Creativity -- Evelyn Moore, 17:47:31 02/21/07 Wed
One of the questions in last weeks group and class discussions was, "How does intelligence differ from creativity?" "How are they similar?" Intelligence and creativity are different in that intelligence is more convergent thinking (only one answer to a problem) and creativity is more divergent thinking (many answers to a problem). Intelligence uses everyday experiences to get solutions to resolve problems. Creativity uses unique and unusual ways to solve problems. Intelligence and Creativity are similar in that they both aim to solve problems.
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- Executive Functioning -- Bradley Kovach, 16:41:32 02/14/07 Wed
The section on executive function does a great job explaining what Bill Cosby calls "brain damage" in children. You tell the child she can't have cookies, then you catch her trying to take the cookies and ask her why she did that when you said not to and she says "I don't know". That seems like a really common answer amongst children and adolescents when asked why they did something. I think as teachers it's important to make that distinction between when someone is lacking knowledge and when someone is lacking the ability to apply that knowledge.
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- Multiple Intelligence in the Classroom -- Erie Martha Roberts, 18:38:55 02/13/07 Tue
I just finished reading Chapter 4 and I was struck by the discussion on multiple intelligences. I the evidence that they present is very convincing. Considering that teachers, aspiring teachers, and other educational professionals populate this class, I have a question for you all: how to we make sure students of all intelligences succeed in the classroom? As we all know, having a quality education is important and many jobs do look at transcripts. So how to we make sure that our kids with mainly musical intelligence, or bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, or practical intelligence learn the material well enough to achieve success in the "real" world?
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- Chapter 4 Cognitive Development -- Evelyn Moore, 21:13:02 02/14/07 Wed
While reading chapter 4, I begin to wonder if I was still an adolescent especially in relationship to cognitive development. It must have been a key point in my adolescent age where I changed how I thought about the world. Working at Federal Express as an analyst and even today, I realize that I use a congitive process. Piaget's theory that adolescents construct their own worlds through two processes: cognitive operational and formal operational. I have assimilated and accommodated through the years. Once I adapted a learning process I stuck with what worked.
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- Teaching talented students -- Lila Kayali, 10:35:42 02/14/07 Wed
I agree that it is a teachers duty to encourage each student's unique abilities but it can also be an overwhelming task. Schools have a curriculum that teachers are required to complete so teachers often overlook individual talents due to lack of time or resources. I think teachers should integrate activities into lesson plans and focus more on relating information to student's interests. By teaching with a variety of different methods, teacher's enhance student learning. I think the key is to be creative and get student's involved in each lesson. An emphasis is placed on grades and talents are often overlooked. If a student has a musical ability or technical skill, for example, they have a chance to form successful careers with these skills. Ofcourse, it's still important for them to achieve good grades but they should have the opportunity to build on their talents and interests.
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- Puberty and Stress -- Jeff Osborne (Jeffrey Osborne), 18:28:40 02/14/07 Wed
After our discussion last week I was a little more curious about the factors that affect pubertal timing. It was intersting to find that stress and social factors also influence the start of puberty. However, these factors may only shift the timing of puberty by only a few months rather than a few years like other physical factors. Several examples of stress and social factors affecting puberty are high-stress houselhods, those experiencing sexual abuse, and and those who have been adopted. Studies suggest that the onset of puberty in girls with such circumstances is earlier. I believe we could speculate that stress and social factors may also be contributing to the trends in pubertal timing that we are seeing in many countries, however we know that these factors are not solely responsible for the trends.
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- Critical Thinking and Service-Learning -- Tish Colvin, 07:24:09 02/12/07 Mon
Chapter 4 discusses the importance of critical thinking. The author suggests educators introduce controversial topics in their classrooms. I wholeheartedly agree. Although difficult I think it's important for everyone (including non-adolescents) to talk through all aspects of an issue. My office at Virginia Commonwealth University helped promote the idea of service-learning: going out into the community as part of a course. Instead of learning simply from books, students were able to interact with people in their everyday circumstances. Some worked with refugees, others with the homeless, etc. Students then kept journals and were able to look back on how their own thinking of the topic changed throughout the course. I'm curious - do any of you use that format in your classrooms? Is it working well?
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- body image -- Jessica Roesch, 15:05:54 02/13/07 Tue
I thought that our class discussion about the impact of puberty on the people we are today was an interesting one. In particular, the way changes in body image that occur during puberty relate to how we see ourselves today really hit home for me. While i don't think that my experiences from puberty have had a substantial impact on who I am now, I do believe that we are products of every experience we've ever had, and so naturally puberty has played a small part in the person i've become. I went through puberty somewhat sooner than my peers. I remember playing soccer and the coach yelling out to me and a few others, "use those hips!" to shield the ball because at 13 our hips were bigger than the other girls who hadn't reached puberty yet. While I knew that my coach wasn't trying to make me feel bad about my body image (and being a man, i don't think he realized that that phrase is directly translated into "you're a big fat cow!"), it did in some ways have an impact on how i see myself, even today. I know logically i'm usually one of the more petite women in the room, but alot of times i still have that feeling of being "big", and i know now, after years of self psycho-analysis (yes, i'm a psych major), that that single experience on that soccer field in some small way changed the how i view myself now. As someone who works with children, i need to remember my own experiences and how adult words get heard by adolescents going through the drastic changes of puberty.
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- CD article on Intelligence -- Fawziya Rafael, 16:55:17 02/14/07 Wed
It was very interesting reading the commentary by Williams in the class CD. I have always heard about the dramatic global rise in IQ scores, but always attributed it to better nutrition and health care. Although all these are surely factors of the rise in intelligence, I can see Williams point regarding the exposure to similar test materials as being a possible factor as well. However, I do not think it is actually that individuals are exposed to similar items per se, but that children today (adults as well) have access to many resources that develop the skills measured by our IQ tests. Today, we have toddlers using computers, putting puzzles together, and playing with various other educational games that our grandparents did not have access to. Therefore, I think our children today have the opportunity to develop various skills that were not available 100 years ago. This could also be a contributing factor for minorities scoring lower on IQ tests, since due to low SES they might not have access to the various resources available to increase these skills.
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- Chapter 4- -- LaShundra Richmond, 13:44:56 02/14/07 Wed
After reading Chapter four, as a future teacher, it gives me some heads up of the many types of learning and types of learning to look at with children. Their different levels of intelligence and the many ways they can be taught (triarchically). Also in regards to African Americans doing poorly on tests, it makes you wonder, is there a real solution and how can we help students overcome issues, we as a society, know they will face?
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- Last weeks discussion -- Brooke Sanders, 10:26:05 02/14/07 Wed
I really enjoyed last weeks class discussion about the journal articles that were presented. I think we all can remember some events that happened in our life while going through puberty. Im pretty sure that we all could relate to something during the discussion. That discussion made me conscious of somethings that I should and should not say while dealing with adolescents, who may be going through puberty. I can just look back and remember how sensitive I was to certain things that were said to me.
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- Obesity! Sleeping Giant -- Bryan Wilson, 21:01:58 02/07/07 Wed
While reading chapter 15, I was stunned to find that the United States ranked so poorly in terms of adolescent health. Our youth seem to eat more junk and exercise far less than most countries. I understand that most of our society equates body size with wealth, but this is really, putting your money where your mouth is (corny I know). Seriously, as I look at our society, I have thoughts of high school cafeteria menus. I see different forms of media, advertising high cholesterol. I look back at the increase in sedentary activity (video game playing, TV watching, internet). I see increased belt sizes along with decreased exercise routines. After all of this, I realize that even though I am not obese I am heading down the path of the unhealthy.
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- Eating Disorder: Bulimia Nervosa -- Brooke Sanders, 13:42:43 02/08/07 Thu
I enoyed reading the section in Ch. 15 on eating disorders. I agree with the research that many factors can contribute to eating disorders but I feel that in today's society girls are making effort to look like people in the media. The section on Bulimia Nervosa really hit home for me. My best friend passed away recently from cancer. Once her family started going through her things they read in her journal that she was struggling with bulimia, even during her cancer treatments. I personally am slightly educated on this issue but I wish I had been more aware of the warning signs of this eating disorder so that I could have reached out to her.
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- Weight gain and Puberty -- Ethel McKinney, 22:07:05 02/07/07 Wed
My oldest daughter is in her Freshman year at college. She was a tremendously active child and supressed the onset of the menrche until almost 13. This may seem normal but understand hereditarily I was 10 and my sister 9; and the two of us were also overweight. Now that my daughter is in college, she no longer ice skates or practices 4 hours a day for marching band. She has gained 20 lbs. She has fits of depression and drastic mood swings that were not present before the weight gain. Now I don't attribute all of her maladies to the weight gain, but that coupled with the fact that her adolescent body is still in flux may be a contributor.
As parents and educators of adolescents, I think it becomes increasingly important for us to find relevant and appropriate activities for them. We can help them keep their weight down, alleviate stress through the adrenaline rush and endorphine release of proper excersize. I think proper diet and excersize are important to help all individuals have higher self-esteem and better body image; things that the text reads decline at the onset of puberty.
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- Eating Disorders -- Missy Flinn, 22:01:14 02/07/07 Wed
I enjoyed reading the research findings in Chapter 13 regarding adolescent girls and eating disorders. However, what the text does not mention is the effect of competition among girls on the likelihood of development of an eating disorder. Having attended an all girls school for 14 years, I saw this impact first hand. Several of my classmates had eating disorders, and some were even sent off to rehabilitation centers out of state. It would be interesting to study the effects of a same sex school on the likelihood of developing an eating disorder.
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- Joint environment -- Ethel S. McKinney, 17:37:58 02/04/07 Sun
I agree with Vygotsky's collaborative learning environment, but being a teacher, I must make sure the team has at least one knowledgable member.Modeling the behavior of their peers is what adolescents do and teacher administators feel this should be actively modeled in the classroom. In a perfect world it would work without a hitch, but in practicum, I know that if I have not set ground rule several days before, prepped the classroom, gathered the materials, and shown the students a sample of what is expected, they will not be able to work together without causing chaos. Middle school and high school classrooms are allowed to have up to and no more than 35 students. Peer collaborative activities, while beneficial according to Vygotsky, are a nightmare for the teacher. Knowing this will help most of my students learn better, I still only have group activities once a month because of the extensive planning. Personally I think its fabulous to utilize in a smaller group environment.
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- Eating Disorders -- Missy Flinn, 21:59:27 02/07/07 Wed
I enjoyed reading the research findings in Chapter 13 regarding adolescent girls and eating disorders. However, what the text does not mention is the effect of competition among girls on the likelihood of development of an eating disorder. Having attended an all girls school for 14 years, I saw this impact first hand. Several of my classmates had eating disorders, and some were even sent off to rehabilitation centers out of state. It would be interesting to study the effects of a same sex school on the likelihood of developing an eating disorder.
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- Chapter 3 Body Image -- Evelyn Moore, 21:41:59 02/07/07 Wed
While reading this Chapter on Puberty and Biological Foundations, I could not help but think of the underlying reasons why the puberty stages have changed over the past 147 years. I wanted to have a better understanding of the 5 stages that females experience. I found http://www.puberty101.com/p_pubgirls.shtml website that gave me a very easy overview. Stage One usually begins between the age of 8-11,for females tells us that there re no outward changes by the overaies a enlarging. The Second Stage usually ages 8-14; average 11-12 the first outward appearances are the enlarging of the breasts. Stage Three usually ages 9-15; average 12-13, the breast continues to grow and pubic hairs begin to grow. Stage Four usually age 10-16; average 13-14, pubic hairs take on a triangular shape signs of adulthood, ovulation begins eggs are release but cycle as not yet started. Stage 5 usually age 12-19; average 15 is the final stage of development when the pubic hair and the breast growth is complete. Menstural periods begin and ovulations is monthly, the female adulthood is complete. So many years of changes, I now understand why women are considered emotional. Who would not be emotional when you have years of not knowing what is going to happen from day to day.
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- effects of exercise -- Brad Kovach, 20:59:42 02/07/07 Wed
I enjoyed the section on exercise and the effects it has on school performance, coping skills, and self esteem. When I was in high school we pretty much play ping pong, dodgeball, or basketball at our own pace. Most of the activity was really optional, after all how do you really define "participating". The only time that activities were mandatory was when doing those Presidential Fitness tests. I think if someone had explained to me then what I read in chapter 15 about all of the additional benefits besides fitness itself, maybe I wouldn't break a sweat when reaching for the doritos.
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- Puberty and education policy? -- Kelly Folsom, 20:10:04 02/07/07 Wed
As I was reading chapter 15 I began thinking intensely of an NPR broadcast I listened to recently discussing later starting times for high schools. The story talked about several school districts around the country that had pushed back their high school starting times in order to fit adolescent sleep paterns. I was happy to see the text examine these issues in more detail on p. 489 and 490. It also gives me some reassurance that my instruction is not always the sole catalyst for my students grogginess.
The text, as well as the NPR story, stressed that teens tend to need more sleep due to biological stresses we see discussed in Chapter 3. However, would this need for more sleep, or a different sleep pattern be at odds with attempts to combat adolescent obesity?
I also would like to support Julie's comments on the dangers of dismissing adolescent risk taking and experimentation as just a period or a fad. Though, I remember in high school I was reluctant to put much weight in the opinions of many of the adults in my life, just as many of my students seem to take my encouragement and caution with a grain of salt.
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- Self-Esteem -- Jeff Osborne (Jeffrey Osborne), 16:14:26 02/07/07 Wed
In reading chapter five I was struck by the fact that low self esteem and school success were only moderately correlated. I do agree that many adolescents have very high self esteem and perform poorly in the classroom. However, in my opinion as an 8th grade science teacher, through my interactions with students, family, and the urban school system, I am under the impression that low self esteem can have negative implications on academics.
I do not feel however that low self esteem is the root cause for low levels of academic success. I believe that the factors that led to a child's low self esteem may contribute. For example, consider an adolescent that may be a decent B/C student with minimal behavioral problems. Now add in the fact that his parents (assuming he lives with both) have jobs that keep them from ever spending quality time with their child on a regular basis and when they are together the adolescent has four more siblings that comepte for the affection and attention. Also, the adolescent is in a rough school where fights are commonplace, disrespect to adults and one another is "cool," and the expectatios of children to succeed in both school and life are kept at a minimum. These factors contribute to low self-esteem in the adolescent who then may become antisocial and/or disobedient, in turn losing interest in school.
It's interesting to see how all of these factors are associated, but it seems true. The adolescents in the your classroom may not be performing well because they have no expectations to do so. They don't even have someone at home to ask them how there day went (which is something most of us take for granted).
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- Eating Disorder (Dying to be Thin!) -- April Dandridge, 20:05:16 02/07/07 Wed
Recently, I read an article stating that African American women are joining the mainstream of eating disorder. This is not shocking to me. Our society is so fixated on being thin that people are willing to put their lives at risk. According to the article, many experts aren't prepared to deal with this disease among African American girls clinically. The textbook even stated that most anorexics are White adolescents, but as we can see, it is spreading among all of us. This disorder doesn't choose its victims by race, gender, or class. Therefore, I ask myself...how can I help devastate this disease. First, I have to love myself and celebrate being a curvy African-American woman. Next, I would encourage other adolescents to love themselves and to embrace their natural beauty.
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- Chapter 15 Response -- Julie Falvey, 08:17:44 02/07/07 Wed
In Chapter 15, the authors state that problem-focused coping, e.g., seeking additional support from a professional to solve a problem, is effective in bringing positive change (495). Earlier in the chapter the authors state: Though adolescents suffer from a greater number of acute health conditions than adults, they see private physicians less often than any other age group (Edelman, 1996) (480). This conversation between the data suggests that our society needs to be better educated about the importance of seeking treatment at all ages for depression, eating disorders, etc., rather than delaying treatment because its just a stage or he/she will grow out of it. Too often, adults characterize abnormal behavior in adolescents, e.g., depression, drinking, obsession with body image, as typical adolescent behavior, so warning signs are not addressed and problems escalate. I think the best way we can help adolescents cope with this period of change is to have a deep understanding of the range of behaviors and recognize when abnormal is no longer typical.
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