His wisdom and passion for young adolescents opened the doors to working with and respecting them that was once dreaded.
One can experience his profound respect for-young adolescents in an online NMSA article Understanding and Appreciating the Wonder Years. In the article he reminds us that “….
Young adolescents are a wondrous group, eager, enthusiastic, curious, adventuresome, full of life, fresh, and refreshing. They are genuine and do not shine in borrowed plumes. Their honesty is often disarming. They have a sense of humor, albeit one that is sometimes a bit weird. We should celebrate this stage of endless discovery during which youth come of age. Their capacities for thinking and reflecting are unfolding. Their outward behavior may belie the seriousness of their inner thoughts, but those who work closely with these young people know of their concern for the less fortunate, the environment, and other national problems. They worry about nuclear war, HIV, family disintegration, and moral issues. Their penchant for service is expressed in such things as can-a-thons, service learning projects, and campaigns to save the whales. They seek heroes and heroines, individuals of character and conscience, ones whose examples can be emulated. This is not the time for adults to abdicate their critically important guidance role, yet this is too often what happens as adults assume that the peer group takes over.”
So my questions to you are: “What does this quote and the respect for young adolescents that Lounsbury has defined mean to you as one who chooses to work with the young adolescent population? How do you plan to respect and celebrate them and guide them and to stand with them in the present and move towards the future they deserve?”
24 comments:
Hello, its Brady DeNio, my blog name is senatordenio.blogspot.com.
Hi, I'm Lauren Brownstone. My blog is http://adoomoo.blogspot.com/
I really appreciate this quote, and i totally agree with it. Working with middle school students for the past 5 years I agree with the fact that middle school students are exceptionally honest..almost brutally honest. I hope they maintain this kind of innocence.
I firmly beleive that being a teacher is changing the world. This middle level age is where students really start to identify who they are. If i can have a hand in this self identity, i find myself privileged. I am going to have a part of shaping our future leaders. I am so excited and i can't wait. I am in this learning process along side my students. I want to impart knowledge and encouragment to them. I am excited!
Hi, I'm Tina Pauley
My blog is tmpauley.blogspot.com
I'm Kimberly Arfsten and I created this blog in my methods class (haven't added anything yet) and it is called http://arfstenscience.blogspot.com/
oh by the way this is Ms. Rachel Godbert
I think it is interesting how the author speaks about respecting these adolescents. I think nowadays to respect adolescents means to take them seriously, when they express thoughts to consider them just as you would another adult, rather than trying to convert them to your own views the author respects their individual thoughts.
p.s this is Jeremie Lappe
During my Practicum II I taught an Immigration lesson and one of the activities that the students had to complete was a packet. In the packet was a quote from the Book "Dreaming to Come to America." I had the students free write about how the quote makes them feel. One of the students expressed her feelings about the pollution in the world and how no one seems to care. She is angry that people do not take care for our earth as much as they should. Towards the end of her paragraph she begins to drift away from her entire enthusiasm on our Earth and begins to think that she should not care as much. I replied back to her that she has to care and we need people like her to continue with their passion. I also told her that she should be an environmentalist, someone who studies the actions of people on our environment. I noticed after she read my comment, that she seemed to hold her head higher.
I really enjoyed this quote because it reminds people that young students are people who have world concerns and and want to express themselves. It reminds us, as teachers, to encourage different thoughts and allow students to express themselves in a way that is comfortable for the student.
-Anne Christenson
MLE500.blogspot.com
Hi, I'm Tim Judd and my blog is Hole17.blogspot.com
I agree with the quote completely. I have just started substitute teaching and I have quickly been drawn to the middle school grades. I have found that this can be an awkward time in a child's life and have expereinced many of the situations that they are going through. I look foward to being able to help this age group with situations and advice that may come about. I want to be able to distill my enthusiam for school in the students.
This quote by John Lounsbury is a great general summary of what makes middle level education students unique. I appreciate how he mentions different aspects of their age group, such as their behaviors, passions, etc. Middle school can be a challenging time for both the student and the parent. Sometimes we forget what it was like to be a twelve year old being exposed to many new ideas/attitudes at once.
I plan on celebrating these students by being a respectful and accepting teacher. Middle level education students begin to realize that other people (including their friends and parents) may judge them based on their personal interest or hobbies. I want to embrace their individual personalities and help them feel comfortable expressing themselves. Remembering both the positive and negative experiences of middle school will help be become a better middle school teacher.
Brooke Walper
http://middlelevel500.blogspot.com
Although most people think that I am crazy for wanting to work with adolescents, I can not wait. I feel like I was unappreciated as a young adolescent myself, and hope to bring out the very best in my future adolescent students. I want them to know just how much I appreciate them and all they bring to the classroom and the world. I think this quote rings true for anyone who chooses to be privileged to work with young adolescents.
I agree with this quote. My experiences working with sixth graders reflects some of the ideals expressed in your posting.
1) Student honesty is disarming. An educator needs to realize this and display constantly flexibility yet professionalism in the classroom. I could tell you a number examples of such in person I do not want to post such online!
2) Humor is essential to use in the classroom and, whether you like it or not, students will explore subject matters/the learning process through humor regularly. Embrace these situations when possible and appropriate. Laughter and personal connections all students make - middle school or not - allows students to revisit curriculum and truly connect to it.
3) Middle School students will worry about and deal with life events inside/outside the classroom. We talked about this in MLE500 this morning and I have experienced it in my own classroom. Middle school students deal regularly with issues of socialization, family conflict, death, and disease. We as educators need to be perceptive to our students' behaviors, words,interactions, and body language. Inside/outside of the classroom, with the entire class or with individual students on the side, we need to address life concerns so that students do not overly worry about life events but learn to deal with them naturally in a supportive classroom environment.
It is refreshing to see comments on adolescents that are so positive. All too often, people express their shock and horror that I would ever choose to work with students in a middle school population. They regard students in middle school as disrespectful, defiant, and rebellious. They fail to recognize (or remember from their own experience) the sense of excitement and genuineness that students in middle school possess. It is the teacher's responsibility to use the multitude of characteristics that these students have in a positive way in the classroom. When the negative traits that some of these students have begin to dominate the classroom, that is a failure of the teacher rather than a failure of the student(s). If a teacher approaches the students in the correct way, they will have the opportunity to teach them to grow, become good decision makers, and be effective citizens of society.
Hola. This is Zara Dittman. My website is http://srtadittman/blogspot.com
I am really pleased with this quote because it captures the sense of wonder and possibility that comes with working with young adolescents. I know I would have loved this quote when I was in middle school too. The teachers that made the greatest impact on me in middle school (and they were also my favorites) respected my ideas, encouraged my independent thinking and gave me the opportunity to be an individual, not just another tween. I’m glad his is so enthusiastic about working with young adolescents and I hope all teachers catch his fever when reading this quote.
I agree with Lounsbury and the respect he has for young adolescents. Often time, the general society does not given enough appreciation and respect to young adolescents. The issues that affect the local communities and the world as a whole as well are closely monitored and affect adolescents. As a teacher, I want to be aware of the issues that can and do affect my students. For example, American students come from all walks of life and different parts of the world. So when there are wars and famine in different parts of the world that we think are so far away from us, as a teacher, we need to be conscious to the fact that there can be that one student sitting in your class who has relatives still living in that nation and is thus closely affected by what happens and is deeply concerned with the issues. I think teachers should therefore incorporate such issues and allow for students to openly discuss issues that they are thinking about.
Huntsman's blog is huntsmansthoughts.blogspot.com.
The part about the sense of humor reminds me of a story. During my classroom observations, I made many of them in middle schools. In a history class, the teacher who was a stone-faced, monotone speaking man, was lecturing about starvation at the Plymouth colony. He was using utterly disgusting examples to keep the students' attention. A girl blurted out that she "could never eat a person." The teacher replied that she didn't know what she could do if she were starving. Another girl blurted out, "I bet you'd eat US!" That brought the house down. Even the teacher had to laugh at that. I became interested in teaching middle school kids after that.
This is Matt Muto, and my blog address is beladog1.blogspot.com.
I thought this was a very interesting quote by Lounsbury. I think that more than anything it reminds me that even though many young adolescents may be dependent on their family for basic necessities, they are certainly independent when it comes to other aspects of their life. They have their own set of beliefs, ideals, and passions. I think that as a future educator, it will be important for me to acknowledge these independent characteristics, and utilize them whenever possible within the classroom.
"We should celebrate this stage of endless discovery during which youth come of age." I think too many people forget how special and important this period of time is in a young person's life. As teachers, we can remind students, parents and others that this time is special and help them make the most of it.
I think a large part of this is helping students find their own voices and listening to them.
The line that hit me the most was "They have a sense of humor, albeit one that is sometimes a bit weird." I experienced this during my student teaching with 6th graders. Compared to high school classes I was teaching, the middle school humor was amazing. They were always capitvated and engaged and the classroom was truly a fun enviroment for them. My wish as I move forward to that I encourage that enjoyment so they may bring it into their high school experiences.
I like this quote because it really does summarize the general characteristics of middle school aged students. Reading some of the characteristics Lounsbury mentioned made me picture some specific students from this past school year.
One of the things that has helped me be successful in my classroom is recognizing my students' individuality and getting to know them individually. I really believe in showing the students that you are a real person too and can laugh and relate to them in some ways. It helps build mutual respect which is key in maintaining an effective learning environment.
Hi! I am Jeannie Carlson. My blog is mscarlsonblog.blogspot.com. I agree with the quote and think that middle school students are very intuitive and know a lot more than most teachers give them credit. We need to take incorporate their goals into the lesson in order for them to be meaningful.
I really like this quote because it sums up what it means to be a young adolescent. This is a crucial time in their lives as they are still searching for identity. I think it's important for teachers to recognize this.
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