“Physical development is an overriding concern of young adolescents. Looking at themselves in every mirror they can find, they will often see an alien body staring back. Whether it’s the reflection in the bathroom mirror at home or the one hung in their locker, in the window of a car the doorknob to their classroom, or a cafeteria spoon, middle school students watch themselves, convinced that everyone else is watching them too. They want to know, “Am I normal?” – Brown & Knowles, 2007
The passage also mentioned that complaints of high rate of restroom pass from a middle school principal. After the principal set the mirrors inside the door of each classroom, there was the dramatic drop in the number of student requests for restroom pass. Hahaha~ This recalled my memories in middle school in Taiwan. In Taiwan, students did not change class period by period, or subject by subject. On the contrary, teachers changed classrooms period by period depending on which class they taught. Students sat in the same classroom every day from morning study to the last period, which also included lunch recess and nap time. Everything was conducted in the same seat which students were assigned by a classroom teacher. Every student had own seat and a desk with a drawer, allowing them to store personal stuffs in school without bringing home every day. One of the noticeable personal stuffs you would become aware of on desk was mirror! Mirror was the top essential item on every girl’s desk. The scenery of the classroom was a mirror standing on each desk; every 5 seconds each girl would look into the mirror to check their look. How about me, of course, I had a tiny mirror too. Personal appearance was a huge deal to middle school girls. They paid extra attention to simply a strand hair bent. In addition, I remembered every girl with a comb in their uniform pocket to make sure their hair could be fixed well-behaved any times.
Teens’ stress their appearance in huge importance. Thus, they are worried about what they are looked like in others perspectives, which distract them from learning in the class. Teachers shall not inhibit this development but rather to cultivate the wide rages of aesthetic standards and encourage appreciation of them. Last but not the lease, leave your students to check the mirror as much as they want.

Reference
Brown, D., & Knowles, T. (2007). Understanding the young adolescent’s physical and cognitive growth. In What every middle school teacher should know. (2nd Ed., pp. 10-36). New Hampshire: Heinemann Press.