During my first few years of teaching, I struggled to understand why my high school students were so apathetic, lazy, and whiny. I tried everything I could think of to help them snap out of these caprices but rarely did my methods have any effect.
In reflecting on that year, I am able to realize that my expectations of those students were a result of the standard I held for myself as a student. I always enjoyed school and wanted to learn. I was an athlete, musician, theater performer and academic overachiever who refused to let lack of sleep hold her back. So when I compared my own experience to that of my students, I wanted to tell them to "toughen up". Fortunately, as I began to research and better understand human development, I was moved to compassion for my students.
What a plight! There is so much going on inside of these students; hormones raging, brains developing, self-awareness arising, metacognition evolving, and relational awareness advancing. And that's just on the inside! The outward peer pressure, family dynamics, community expectations, environmental forces, and media coverage greatly affects their ability to learn. Students are combating these biological, cognitive, emotional, and sociological factors daily in our classrooms. So it is vital that I support them by furthering my understanding of child and adolescent development and the teaching methods that best aid them in their learning.
