Chapter 1: The Construction of Adolescence
Along with many others in
class, I assumed from the lack of blog posts, I too had a hard time
understanding this assignment. I found
it difficult to try and think of people who coauthor with me and have helped
shape me. I did however find it easier
to think of ways in which I coauthor others' lives.
The story of Antwon and
Ms. Peterson reminded me of the children at the center I work in. There was this one young boy who always acted
out and was labeled as the "bad" kid or the "troubled" kid. Nobody wanted to work with him and things
went a lot smoother when he was not around that day. One day I asked him why he was acting out and
he told me he was sad. He proceeded to
tell me something about his mom and grandma and how he was living with one of
them at the moment and he missed the other.
He was sad and angry at the situation he was going through at home. Being that he was only four years old we
don't really expect little kids to have real life problems. He was acting out because he liked the
attention it gave him to make up for how sad he felt. Instead of teaching him how to deal with what
was going on in a positive way to make him feel happier, we were disciplining
him. This is mainly our fault because we
had never bothered to ask what was wrong.
This is why it is important to build a relationship with your students.
"Authentic mind-to-mind connections forged
through the interactive learning processes not only create the cognitive
linkages essential to student development but also nurture the personal and professional
identity of educators."
By talking about his
problems, the student now realizes that he will feel a lot better if he opens
up and is able to get help. On the flip
side, I now realize that students are not always acting out because they simply
don't like to listen but there could be something deeper going on.
**Blog was posted a day late because assignment was posted late and I didn't see it
**Blog was posted a day late because assignment was posted late and I didn't see it
Your story really made me understand how we can teach youth and how youth can learn from us, and what coauthoring means. You were able to help him open up and gave him someone to trust and talk to, and he helped you realize that there could be something causing him to act out. Because of this, you both coauthored with each other and impacted each other's thinking.
ReplyDeleteGreat way to reimagine an assignment that you couldn't get your head around. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the lives of the children. I too work in childcare and the children in my class are growing and shaping into young adolescents. We as the adults are coteaching and helping the young ones.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing a personal example. Your example reminds me of high school.Teachers would often avoid certain students they considered "disrespectful" instead of trying to help them.
ReplyDeleteI really love your recollection of working with a labeled "troubled" youth and digging deeper to find a solution. I think children who act out are often ignored and therefore the problem can never be solves and I think as a youth worker we can never ignore the problem but instead take the step to dig deeper and help figure out a solution that works best for them and us!
ReplyDelete