All posts by Melissa

The Power of Student Choice/Voice

Blurring the In-School Ouf-of-School Line

“Millie was a thin, quiet student who wore large glasses and liked to wear pastel-colored bows in her hair. She was absent often and sick a lot. But when the class began discussing the topic for our documentary, she became animated, suggesting we should make a film about housing.”

It’s Not About Grit – Steven Goodman pg. 15

I find it very powerful that a student who is likely not performing her best at school due to unlivable circumstances at home would suddenly perk up and become very engaged when given the opportunity to investigate and address those same appalling circumstances for a documentary. It seems that she became motivated upon realizing that she could learn about an issue that is personal and meaningful to her. Continue reading The Power of Student Choice/Voice →

Curriculum Integration as a Way to Motivate Students (and Wonderings about How to Implement It)

Differentiation as an Approach to Teaching Diverse Learners

“Motivating adolescents is a concern that middle and high school educators grapple with constantly. More decision-making opportunities for students is one solution to increasing motivation.”

Brown (2011) pg. 201

I completely agree that a major concern about educating adolescents is how to actually motivate them. How can we make them think that school is meaningful and (dare I say it?) fun? No matter the subject, the teacher, or even the student’s ability, I believe that a student must truly be engaged in his or her learning to reach his or her full potential in school. Continue reading Curriculum Integration as a Way to Motivate Students (and Wonderings about How to Implement It) →

The Internet as a Space for Expression, Empowerment, and Healing

eLiteracy and Social Media(tion)

“What might they learn about being Black and female; what might they learn about themselves that might heal them – that might heal other Black females? They too could claim a digital space to tell their stories, for the telling of stories is itself therapy.”

Kirkland (2010), pg. 87

Posting on the internet or on social media is so easy to do with today’s technology, and it’s so common amongst adolescents, we often forget how powerful, artistic, and even therapeutic it can be. Continue reading The Internet as a Space for Expression, Empowerment, and Healing →

Is Fatphobia Preventing Adolescent Women from Reaching their Full Potential in School?

Socioemotional and Psychological Development in Adolescence

“In general, girls who are obese are less likely to enter college, more likely to fail courses, more likely to be truant, and more likely to show mental health problems, net of other relevant individual and family background characteristics, than girls who are not. By and large these relationships were not evident for boys. But more importantly for this section, the associations of obesity with college attendance and truancy were stronger for girls who attended high school with very few obese students, suggesting that the stigma associated with obesity varies by gender and by the proportion of the student body that is obese.”

Eccles & Roeser (2011) “Schools as Developmental Contexts During Adolescence,” pg. 232

This section really struck a chord with me. For the past year or so, I have dabbled in the world of body positivity, learning about how people become victimized by a society that constantly discriminates against larger, softer bodies and bodies with “undesirable” shapes. When I think of young women being unable to reach their potential due to something as superficial as the size or shape of their bodies, as if there is no capable mind or beautiful soul underneath, I feel sad and angry. Continue reading Is Fatphobia Preventing Adolescent Women from Reaching their Full Potential in School? →