ADOLESCENCE
YES! that's the way in which many people think about that beautiful stage of the life and I wasn't the exception.
Adolescence as many people think is the stage of the catastrophe with whims, endless discussions and incomprehensible rebelliousness, girls and boys that go to parties every Saturday night ignoring rules, guys who want to discover everything around them, without thinking in it's consequences, but when they are at home they sleep a lot and then, don't want to do anything else. That´s the concept that we have seen all our life, because our parents told us, or we saw that in someone that we know, even, we can see that in many cartoons and TV series. and everything is true. adolescence is a process of physical and cognitive changes in the life, is a transition from the childhood to maturity, in other words, been adult. However, all those things have a reason.
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What I found
Adolescence
Is the transitional period between puberty and adulthood, in human development, extending mainly over the teen years and ending legally when the age of majority is reached; youth.
Thanks to school, these are things that we already know, but it's right know them again.
My own experience
Of course I already pass Through this stage, but in my own experience as teenager, I didn't have too much Problems, I mean, I wasn't one the girls that went to discos without the permission without the permission of their parents, on the contrary,I was a person very shy and insecure and I still have problem with that. I can remember that when I was in class, something that was very afraid for me was speak in public, I didn't like to participate in front of all my classmates, I couldn't raise my hand when the teacher ask something even, if I knew the answer. and that happens to all teenagers.
However, one of the big reasons that made me feel like that, was that I had many bad experiences with my teachers at school, they were always little patients, which should not exist in a teacher, their strategies were humiliate their students when they didn't know the answer, instead of help them to find the right answer.
Thinking as a teacher
Nowadays what I had seen is that many teachers have forgotten his real role, which is be a guide for the new knowledge, maybe because they are tired or simply they don't know what to do.
Their interests and choices
I think that it's important think in what they like and what they need, I would like to use activities in which they can express their preferences like use music, technology, or watching a movie, also activities in which they use their own creativity, for example create a task and give them the chance to do it in their way, for example the choice can be in the type of tool that they can use or the way to present it, teenagers enjoy being autonomous. .Also, I would create difficult activities that make them challenge themselves, that can help them to be motivated and self-confident.
Is the transitional period between puberty and adulthood, in human development, extending mainly over the teen years and ending legally when the age of majority is reached; youth.
Physical changes
For girls these changes take place around 10 or 11 years old, but they might start as young as 8 or as old as 13 years old. On the other hand, for boys these changes usually start around 11 or 12 years old, but they might start as young as 9 years or as old as 14 years old.
Some of these changes are:
- changes in body shape and height
- growth of pubic, body and facial hair (in boys),
- breast development and the start of periods or menstruation (in girls)
- growth of penis & testicles, erections with ejaculation (in boys)
- changes to voice (in boys)
Cognitive Development
All parents wonder, Why this step is so difficult? Which is the cause of rebellion and all problem? but nobody takes the time to research and learn about it, and to be honest, I didn't have idea of this.
In this stage of the life, there is a process that take place which is called Prunning. This is a process in which a part of the brain called the gray matter are pruned away, one the other hand, other connections are straightened, this is a way of the brain to become more useful and ready for the next stage of the life.
This process begins in the back part of the brain.Otherwise, there is a important part of the brain which is called prefrontal cortex which is located in the front part of the brain, but why is so important? well, the prefontal cortex is that little voice that help you to make decisions.His main function is plan and think about actions and their consequences, solve problems and control impulses and the strange thing is that this part of the brain is the last to be remodelled.
"Because the prefrontal cortex is still developing, teenagers might rely on a part of the brain called amygdala to make decisions and solve problems more than adults do" (Raising Children Network)
The amygdala is associated with emotions, impulses, aggression and instinctive behaviour.something that it's important to be mentioned is that all teens develop differently, which is why some give more problems than others.
Psychosocial Development
This is a process of development of personality, including the acquisition of social attitudes and skills, also, is a Psychiatric process of interaction between a person and her environment, through stages from infancy to adulthood.
Erick Erickson describes that a central concern during adolescence is the search of identity which involves, sexual and values components.
Cognitive Development
All parents wonder, Why this step is so difficult? Which is the cause of rebellion and all problem? but nobody takes the time to research and learn about it, and to be honest, I didn't have idea of this.
In this stage of the life, there is a process that take place which is called Prunning. This is a process in which a part of the brain called the gray matter are pruned away, one the other hand, other connections are straightened, this is a way of the brain to become more useful and ready for the next stage of the life.
"Because the prefrontal cortex is still developing, teenagers might rely on a part of the brain called amygdala to make decisions and solve problems more than adults do" (Raising Children Network)
Psychosocial Development
This is a process of development of personality, including the acquisition of social attitudes and skills, also, is a Psychiatric process of interaction between a person and her environment, through stages from infancy to adulthood.
Erich Erickson proposed a lifespan model of development, taking in 5 steps up to the age of 18 years and three further stages beyond. In addition of dealing with physical changes, teenagers have to discover who they are and that's other of the reason of why they tried to follow what they see around them. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others. Erickson makes a big emphasis in adolescence, due to , this is a crucial stage of developing a person's identity. " The successful compilation of each stage result in healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues" (McLeod, Simply Psychology)
My own experience
Of course I already pass Through this stage, but in my own experience as teenager, I didn't have too much Problems, I mean, I wasn't one the girls that went to discos without the permission without the permission of their parents, on the contrary,I was a person very shy and insecure and I still have problem with that. I can remember that when I was in class, something that was very afraid for me was speak in public, I didn't like to participate in front of all my classmates, I couldn't raise my hand when the teacher ask something even, if I knew the answer. and that happens to all teenagers.
However, one of the big reasons that made me feel like that, was that I had many bad experiences with my teachers at school, they were always little patients, which should not exist in a teacher, their strategies were humiliate their students when they didn't know the answer, instead of help them to find the right answer.
Thinking as a teacher
Nowadays what I had seen is that many teachers have forgotten his real role, which is be a guide for the new knowledge, maybe because they are tired or simply they don't know what to do.
my ideas:
Based on my own experience as student, I would like to create a comfortable atmosphere for my students, with activities that involve sharing thoughts in groups, like role-plays and interviews, but taking time to students to feel sure to pass in front later on.
Their interests and choices
I think that it's important think in what they like and what they need, I would like to use activities in which they can express their preferences like use music, technology, or watching a movie, also activities in which they use their own creativity, for example create a task and give them the chance to do it in their way, for example the choice can be in the type of tool that they can use or the way to present it, teenagers enjoy being autonomous. .Also, I would create difficult activities that make them challenge themselves, that can help them to be motivated and self-confident.
References
"Your Teenager's Development Brain" raisingchildren.net.au. Centre for Adolescent Health. 12 Mar.2014.15 Aug.2016.http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/brain_development_teenagers.html/context/1152
"Erick Erickson" SymplyPsychology. 2008.15 Aug. 2016.http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Hello Hazel! I like the way you talk about the psychosocial development of teenagers because it was one of my favorite stages in this period of adolescence. I like when you say that psychosocial development is "the interaction of a person and his/her environment. I really enjoyed reading about this topic because I personally think that it is important to create a confortable environment for our future students. If we know all the difficulties adolescents face in this period, we have more possibilities to think at the time of planning a lesson.
ReplyDeleteHello Hazel, I like your blog, it’s really colorful and creative. Another details that got my attention were the precise information that you shared, and the Scientifics that you presented. You specified the physical changes that teenagers suffer during this period, the modifications that the teenager’s brain gets and the stages that the teenagers pass to establish their identity. Something important you mentioned was that this period not only takes place on the teenager’s development, but also the parents’ assistance takes place during this stage of their life.
ReplyDeleteHi Hezel! I feel identified when say that you did not know the cognitive part of our body and believe me that I did not know it but thanks to all the research that we did we learned the cognitive part has important role in the life of a teen, as always say never is late for learn, well the cognitive part is one areas that I like because the teacher can take advantage of the potential that young people have in their ways of think and see things from a very different and analytical point of view as a future teacher we will create material or activities like Debates or exposition to help the young peolple develop that area.
ReplyDeleteHi miss Hazel! I read your blog. All of us lived this period of time and yes! Everybody thinks that is the best period of the life and many teenagers do not what going on with all the changes because nobody explain nothing about the development. I really agree with you because “Prefrontal Cortex” is a fundamental part of the brain it permits that teenagers make good decision. In the other hand, it is not develop at all. The age that “Prefrontal Cortex” is fully develop is 25 years old. As future teachers, we have a big challenge teaching to teenagers.
ReplyDeleteHi Hazel. I thought the same as you, right now we are "adults" in my case when i thought about teaching teens I thought about teaching to problems, to drama cases, that was terrible. But after reading your blog and my other coleages' blogs know I am amused about this coming experince, i am sure we will learn and aenjoy a lot. I love your bog, the other of all the parts, your comments, your experience your ideasn what did you learn is it awesome, Excellent job.
ReplyDeleteGreetings. I just want to say that I like your post. Something that I will recall it is that you say that parents argue about this stage, but they do not take the time to know about how to figure out their kids and how to deal with them.
ReplyDeleteI really like that you share the different stages each teen shall overpass so we as a teacher could use those details to understand and plan or classes. (Because we sometimes forget that we were teens and we do not want that rebellious behavior in our classrooms).
Good job. I will expect your next post.
Hello Hazel, I was reading your blog and I found pretty interesting information.I agree with all you said,we as teachers need to know our students and we need to know all the changes that are taking place in the teenager's life in order to have suitable activities that call the attention of our students.
ReplyDeleteHazel: I think you have the perfect scenario to make the difference with your students and impact them in a possitive way, the reason why I am telling you this is because you experienced some of those classroom issues that now you know can affect the life of the students. I am glad that you are looking for a way to get rid of the personal barriers that may hinder your teaching performance. I hope you live a great experience with the group of teenagers you'll be working during this course.
ReplyDelete