All posts by Marla

Faith, art, and vulnerability

Blurring the In-School Ouf-of-School Line

“Writing poems, drawing pictures, playing music, inventing games, choreographing dances, playing sports, cooking meals, planting gardens, building dioramas, making pottery, coordinating an outfit, getting to the math problem’s solution differently from one’s teacher—all these things thrill adolescents precisely because they involve the imagination and creation of something into being. Perhaps nowhere is the adolescent’s sense of possibility more pronounced than in those moments where they use their creativity in the service of their ultimate concerns, when they bring a small part of the world closer to their vision of what it could be.” (Toshalis, 199)

In Toshalis’ article “A Question of ‘Faith’: Adolescent Spirituality in Public Schools,” I was moved by the ‘faith-friendly classroom’ segment’s emphasis on imagination and creative expression. Continue reading Faith, art, and vulnerability →

lol. txtng = “linguistic miracle”

eLiteracy and Social Media(tion), Media and Technology Critiques

We’ve all heard the argument that with the advent of text messaging, formal writing is not just going under, but being obliterated. Many firmly believe the lols, brbs, omgs, and wtfs are moving the culture and our youth in a devastating direction. After participating in discussions with linguistics professors and reading articles by the academic elite, I too, allowed myself to accept this seemingly logical belief without much critical analysis. Continue reading lol. txtng = “linguistic miracle” →

Road trips more relevant than ever

eLiteracy and Social Media(tion) 
“The research act involves building relationships with dignity and care, and creating terrains of exchange to confront multiple borders of difference.” (Jocson, 105)

“...you died by the gun, that’s the way you went out
 pouring liquor blazing the trigger with glory without 
 a doubt but whose glory
 my story
 ain’t goin out like that...” Verse from Naier’s poem “Wasted Away” (Jocson, 113)

In Jocson’s chapter entitled, “Critical Media Ethnography: Researching Youth Media,” she discusses the changing tide of adolescent research methods and the role adolescents play in opening the window into their increasingly media saturated lives and practices. Continue reading Road trips more relevant than ever →

Water people

Socioemotional and Psychological Development in Adolescence

“I don’t feel I fit in with totally black people. I feel like if it’s more mixed, I have a better chance of fitting in. I would actually have to say I fit in best in the water. I know it sounds kind of weird, but that’s something that I’m really good at. I can just swim around and forget about everything that’s happened to me.” (Sadowski, 2008, 212)

Continue reading Water people →

Trusting the Myelination Process

Biological & Cognitive Development in Adolescence

“But if we smartened up sooner, we’d end up dumber.” (Dobbs, 2011)

It’s so easy to criticize teens for engaging in risky behavior. In Dobbs’ article featured in National Geographic Magazine entitled, “Beautiful Brains,” he challenges the negative judgments typically assigned to adolescents for their choices for the positive impact this period has on the developing adult brain. Continue reading Trusting the Myelination Process →