Blog 6 - TCH 130

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One thing that I read that I definitely experienced was in the comments by Doda and Knowles. They write, “The separation between boys and girls is even more pronounced… Boys and girls will absolutely not mix, except in the rare groups of girls and boys that are friends; these groups are either absolute highest status or at the very bottom.” (page 35) This really stuck out to me because this was my middle school experience. I had a big group of girl friends, and then near the end of my time in middle school there was a group of both boys and girls at the very top. They were the big popular group that everyone knew because it had kids from all of the different schools in the area.

“Females’ friendship needs differ from males’ during the stage of development as they seek intimacy and emotional support from their female friends.” (page 36). This really connected to my middle school experience. I was definitely looking for friends who would be there for me and be good friends in time of need. Another quote that really stuck out to me was “There is so much pressure on popularity and being perfect in middle school, and it’s hard to recognize your ‘real’ from ‘fake’ friends.” (page 36) I definitely fell victim to comparison in middle school. I was constantly comparing myself to my friends. I was too tall, not skinny enough, my hair wasn’t long enough, etc. I think a lot of middle schoolers go through this stage where they feel they aren’t good enough. I definitely felt that way. It all just feels impossible, and you definitely become more critical of yourself.

One thing that stuck out to me on page 44 was this quote: “A typical thought process is, ‘Because I am thinking about me, then everyone must be thinking about me. Because I notice my hair, everyone else must be looking at it. Because I pay attention to myself, everyone else must be paying attention to me.” I definitely was more self conscious in middle school because I was so self critical. I was super insecure at the time, and I thought everyone else would notice the things about me that bothered me.

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“Friendships influence adolescents in many ways, as researchers discovered in a study in which young females’ depression and anger were affected more by social factors than hormones.” (page 36) This was super interesting to me because throughout middle school I was just told I was moody because of puberty and growing. I know now it is not only about hormones and puberty, but a big part is social interaction.

One thing that made me think about my experience differently was this quote from page 36. “Adolescents may interpret messages of surprise or concern as anger, threats, or insults. Misreading these messages may lead them to exaggerate their intensity and intention; for example, saying ‘Ms. Green yelled at me today when I wasn’t doing anything wrong!’ when the teacher calmly and politely asked the student to stop talking.” I definitely was and still am a pretty dramatic person, and looking back I can see how I did this a lot.

“Young adolescents' academic identity may impact the effort they put into learning, and it affect their self-esteem related to academic success; thus educators can’t ignore their students’ identity searches.” (page 45) This really made me think about my past and how I can use that to be a better teacher. I was a student whose academic success defined me. I was having a bad day because I was struggling academically. Because I felt bad about myself physically, I defined my self worth based on my academics. It was really hard to break away from and sometimes I still catch myself doing it. I want to make it known to my future students that while academics is important, they should not define themselves by one test score.

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One thing that really stuck out to me was this quote on page 36: “young adolescents are ‘psychologically vulnerable, because at no other stage in development are they more likely to encounter and be aware of so many differences between themselves and others”. This really stuck out to me because we have read so far that this age group goes through more developmental changes than any other age in childhood. This really made me think about my experiences and reflect on how I became more aware of the people around me and their actions.

“Along with the need for successful peer interaction comes an increased awareness of the broader social world with an accompanying concern for social justice… If you want to find a solution to a social problem, give it to a group of middle level students.” (page 39) This really stuck out to me because I began to fall into my beliefs in middle school. I used to blindly follow what I was taught, but around this time I began to think about what I wanted to stand behind and what impact I wanted to have.