“For students who do not fit into tidy identity boxes, raising teachers’ awareness of changing identifications among adolescents can enhance this sense of belonging. In our interviews with students who negotiate complex identities on a daily basis, they expressed a need for teachers to take notice of intolerance based on identities rendered invisible by the school.”

(Raible, J., & Nieto, S. (2008). The complex identities of adolescents. In M. Sadowski (Ed.), Adolescents at School: Perspectives on Youth, Identity, and Education, p. 222)

This reading by Raible and Nieto reminded me of one of our early class conversations. We talked about how important it was for teachers to get to know their students, and one way Professor Doucet suggested was to have students fill out a short questionnaire at the beginning of the school year with questions such as: What is one thing you want me to know about you? What was your favorite thing that you did this summer? What are your goals for this school year? Knowing these small, but important details about students can have a big impact in the class and when incorporated, such as referencing a trip a student took over the summer to demonstrate an example, can show students that you are listening and that you care. As all the readings this week spoke to the fact that adolescent identities are constantly developing as they try to discover who they are and where they think they fit in, doing a questionnaire to check in with students maybe once a month could have a huge impact, or perhaps even once a week. These questionnaires could be a small way to let students know you care about them, and hopefully will let them see you as someone they can turn to for support. Furthermore, if students share that they experience distress over identities that are “rendered invisible by the school,” the teacher can develop ways to support a student. Knowing is the first step, and I think questionnaires can be a great start to support adolescents on their journey to define themselves.