January+24,+2012+-+HALR+Ch+3+reflection

//Handbook of Adolescent Literacy Research// Chapter 3 **“Who are Adolescents Today?”**

I especially enjoyed this chapter. It focused on two important issues, the first one being the importance of having students involved in the decision making process regarding the education. The other is how a student’s success is positively influenced when they have a teacher that truly cares about them. Relationships do matter!

I was stunned to learn that it took till 1992 before there was research done by **Erickson and Shultz in 1992** to find out directly from students what they thought about what was transpiring in their classrooms. I would equate it to a doctor asking everyone but the patient what symptoms they were having. Boredom being the first problem and the one I can definitely remember suffering from. Students need to be involved in their schooling; empowering them with choice will help them take ownership of their education. The top of page 33 has some interesting statistics that demonstrate the positive effect of a students’ success when they have a voice in their academics. The bottom line is that we as teachers need to be listening to our students more and talking less. Students should never be passive listeners (37). Think about learning preferences. Very few are auditory. Most of my students are kinesthetic and visual learners. This means if they are sitting and listening they’re not learning. The last thing we want is a student who is bored. I was that student and I thought of all kinds of things to entertain myself and others. Higher order thinking questions are one way to keep the students’ attention. I especially like this tidbit of data on page 42, “Phelan, Davidson, and Yu’s (1998) study showed that students valued teachers who demanded higher-order conceptual thinking” (42). They want to show us their critical thinking skills.

The other topic that I appreciated was the importance of fostering positive relationships with students. I remember hearing a line and I don’t know who said it, but it goes something like this. You can’t teach them till you reach them. Our school implements a program called //Capturing Kids’ Hearts//. Our first week of school is spent getting to know our students. This attitude continues throughout the year. The questions that they asked the student on page 37 are similar to questions that are on a reflection sheet that all my students fill out at the beginning of the year, and I keep on my nightstand all year long for frequent reading, so that I stay tuned in to their needs.

I think that a lot of schools are getting on board with these outlooks toward education, and I am thankful that I work at a school that believes in it.