What I know and What I Believe About the Development and Learning Needs of Adolescents
This paper can be find on Google Docs here.
Journal Response 3
This paper can be find on Google Docs here.
Journal Response 3
To what degree do you think you really understand the needs of your students and what they need for the 21st century? How wide is the “gap” between them and you? In what areas are the gaps? What can you do to make connections?
When I think of the needs of my students, I put those needs into two different categories. There are skills and content that they need to acquire to be successful in their future careers and then there are the social and emotional needs that are necessary to foster their adolescent development.
Having worked in the professional business world for a number of years, I believe that I have a good understanding of some of skills our students will need to succeed in their careers. However, I also recognize that the world is changing so rapidly that it is difficult to imagine what it will be like five years from now. That makes it especially difficult for us to prepare our students for 10, 20, or even 50 years down the road.
Our students need more than just the core academics to survive in this new global marketplace. In order to be competitive, our students need embrace their creativity, learn to collaborate effectively with others, understand how to apply technology to enhance their learning experience, increase their ability to think critically, and to become more globally aware.
I believe that I am well prepared to help my students learn critical thinking skills and to work successfully in collaborative groups. Because of my background in science and my experience working in a business environment, my critical thinking and collaborative skills have been well developed, and I will be able to integrate these skills into my lessons. Additionally, I don’t have a difficult time learning new aspects of technology and embracing technology when I find a purpose for it. I will need to continue to look for new ways to bring technology into the classroom. This will be a continuous and on-going process throughout my career as an educator.
As a white American, I lack a certain perspective or cultural awareness that many of my own students may possess. I do not speak another language and my cultural upbringing was very euro-centric. That said, I have always been very open to learning about the cultural experiences or my friends and colleagues. I want to find ways to embrace the diverse cultures of my students in my lessons and teaching. Not only will this help my students feel accepted, it will assist all my students in understanding how culture influences a persons behaviors, expectations, and decisions. The jobs and careers of the 21st century are increasingly global in nature and our students will need to know how to work with people from different cultures and backgrounds.
Creativity may be my weakest area. I have never considered myself an especially creative person in art or design. However, I also realize that creativity isn’t just about creating artwork, but is also about producing ideas that are original and useful in order to solve problems. It is this concept of creativity that I can easily integrate into the science field. I could do this by presenting real-world case studies in Earth science or biology and have the students work together to find a solution. This would incorporate more than just the creativity aspect, but also could include collaboration, critical thought and even technology and global awareness.
