Blog Post 2: Klarissa Guillen
🥔Couch Potato Homework Blog🥔
Blogger: Klarissa Guillen
Typing from: My Mac book & on the living room couch w/my dogs :)
Who are adolescents and how can I support adolescent literacies and learning?
After watching the episode on Oak Park High School, it really spoke to me. I think that it took me back to my first year of teaching with high school students. I worked in a predominantly hispanic school/neighborhood with the second primary race being Black, then White, then Asian. I feel like I saw my students from that high school I taught at in the one from the documentary. I also feel like I saw myself, along with friends, from my own community high school. It's definitely tough to answer this weeks question. I don't really know if I have a full or solid answer. When speaking on who adolescents are and how we can support their learning and literacies, I'd say it takes tough skin, lots of love, crazy amounts of caffeine, and any ounce of hope you can keep hold of. I decided to create what I've always though adolescents feel like, being one and working with many, I always compare their world like a bubble with crazy chaos (good and bad), the sun being those that support and shine onto the adolescents bubble, the sharp grass for if and when their bubbles pop, and the flowers to take care or show/remember caution and care for the aftermath. Take the image/drawing as you will with your own interpretations. I'm curious to see where your brain goes, please comment what comes to mind :)
I really love the graphic you attached, my interpretation is probably similar to yours. When I look at it, I think about all the worries and concerns that adolescents carry. Those worries sit inside a delicate bubble that can pop at any moment, especially when they’re trying to navigate daily life while juggling everything happening in their personal world. The flowers make me think of people who’ve already gone through that stage and are trying to support adolescents who feel trapped inside their bubbles. Teachers feel like the sun in this image. Even when they’re exhausted from everything they’re responsible for (teaching lessons, managing a classroom, grading, planning) they still try to provide the sunlight students need in order to grow. The graphic really captures what it feels like to be an adolescent, and honestly, it’s one of the reasons I want to teach high school. That period of life is confusing, overwhelming, and scary. I remember how it felt for me. A lot of teachers expect students to separate their personal lives from their school lives, but that’s not realistic. If a high schooler just had a huge argument with a close friend, it’s hard to expect them to sit down and focus like nothing happened. Adults sometimes think these issues are small, but for adolescents, these moments are their whole life. I think one of the best ways we can support adolescents is by showing them that we see them as whole people, not just as students.
ReplyDeleteI really like your bubble metaphor, like how you included so many things inside it. It also made me wonder if adolescents are really trapped in the bubble, or if they are constantly changing and shaping it. I was thinking that the students weren't just dealing with things around them, they were questioning, forming opinions, and figuring out their identities. Maybe supporting adolescents means not only protecting their bubble, but also giving them space to expand it and make sense of it..
ReplyDeleteI also found your sun metaphor interesting. You describe the sun as the people who support and shine onto adolescents, but too much heat can also pop a bubble. Was that intentional? It made me think about how support can be given