"Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand."
-Chinese proverb

What Do Teachers Make?

I stumbled across this Taylor Mali Youtube video when I was in college and its message has stayed with me ever since, I highly recommend it. The video is a mantra for teachers everwhere. If you ever come across someone that minimizes your career choice, think of this video. Mali challenges the misconceptions about teachers and shows how very much more there is to being a teacher than just the teaching part. 

Enjoy!

Taylor Mali's What Teachers Make 

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."

-Henry B Adams

Adolescent Changes

         As adolescents’ bodies change through puberty, body image becomes important to both young boys and girls, specifically physical attractiveness. According to Dolgin (2011), there is research showing that adolescents who are “ranked as physically attractive are also rated by teachers and by themselves as having better peer and parent relations than are adolescents who are not considered as attractive,” as well as directly effecting an adolescent’s self-esteem (p. 98). Because of the images that the media have portrayed as the “perfect” body type, young girls of all racial diversities are unhappy with their own body, which eventually becomes dissatisfaction with one’s self, resulting in lower self-esteem (Dolgin, 2011, p. 99). As adolescents bodies change and develop, they become more aware of their gender roles than they have been. Adolescents, specifically girls, develop anxieties regarding whether boys find them attractive (Dolgin, 2011, p. 170). This can then effect identity formation because girls will limit their career choices by shying away from careers that are not "feminine" to align with society's view of a woman's role (Dolgin, 2011, p. 170). 

       Teachers are placed in the unique position to help guide their students during this important time in their lives. Students spent an abundant amount of time at school and their teachers become an important part of students’ lives.  It is extremely important to teach math, English, science, and history; however, educators have the ability to constantly remind students of the importance of healthy eating habits, exercise, nutrition, and the need for sleep.  Educators have influence over how students begin to view themselves and others, offering an opportunity to ease adolescents’ minds as they go through these physical changes. English teachers can choose reading material that deals with some of the issues adolescents experience and create a dialogue with their students to work through their own issues and concerns, all under the guise of a book discussion. Overall, all teachers should show an invested interest in their students and allow for students to feel safe opening up and discussing any major problems he or she is experiencing. Sometimes a teacher is the only adult an adolescent has available to him or her to talk to.

Remember:

1. Adolescence is a struggle in some way for every student.

2. Look back on your time as an adolescent to relate to your students.

3. As a steady influence in your students' lives, you can help them cope.

References

Dolgin, K.G. (2011). The adolescent: Development, relationships, and culture. (13thed.). Bostin, MA: Pearson.

"Give a high school student ten days, and the student will mirror you."

-Charles Galloway

What’s Your Status?

             A major factor influencing an adolescent’s mental and emotional growth is socioeconomic status (SES). As Dolgin (2011) states, “Awareness of different levels of SES influences adolescents’ self-perceptions as well as their perceptions of the external world” by comparing themselves with others and being found lacking (p. 55). Because of low SES, limitations on a student can occur, such as limited alertness, helplessness or powerlessness, deprivation and hardship, and insecurity (Dolgin, 2011, pp. 56-7). Students from minority ethnic groups are often targets of prejudice or hostility, specific for students: bullying (Dolgin, 2011, p. 60). If adolescents are not dealing with enough because of their changing bodies and minds, and the emotional baggage this time of their life comes with, many young boys and girls live in a low socioeconomic status environment and/or are a racial minority. As adolescents begin to develop their identity, it is common for adolescents who come from a low socioeconomic status to also have lower self-esteem and a poor self-concept, in the respect that the adolescent is doing poorly because of their economic situation instead of viewing themselves poorly (Dolgin, 2011, p. 154). Often, adolescents from a low socioeconomic background have reduced parental support, and often do not have the latest fashions or are able to join the same clubs/organizations for financial reasons (Dolgin, 2011, p. 154). Erickson notes that identity formation is the major goal of adolescence (Dolgin, 2011, p. 150) Yet, both of these factors can lead to negative identity formation.


            Teachers are able to offer opportunities to many students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to experience, including field trips to the zoo, theatre, guest speakers (especially for career days), and viewing movies. As an educator, keep in mind that not all students come to school with the same background knowledge and experiences. Take time to step outside the curriculum to bring some invaluable experiences to the students. Help open the eyes of all your students to the world around them to reduce prejudices, racism, and bias. It could be through you that a student begins to form a positive identity and their self-esteem will begin to grow. What could be more important than that? 


So, remember: 

• Low socioeconomic status plays a role in a student's identity formation.
• Often low socioeconomic status results in low self-esteem.
• Forming an identity is the goal of adolescence, according to Erickson.
• You can introduce new experiences to all students and begin to fight unfair prejudices of the students. 

Reference

Dolgin, K.G. (2011). The adolescet: Development, relationships, and culture (13thed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

"Schools should be built better and kept up better than banks because there's more wealth in them." -Martin Haberman