All posts by Sophia Bolt

Setting Goals Together

Blurring the In-School Ouf-of-School Line, Urban Adolescents

“Goal setting is deeply implicated in any expression of agency, for example, in expressing agency, students set goals based on their conceptions of self and vision of themselves in the future; youth act based on their goals for change, and they reflect on their progress toward their goal and modify these goals as necessary. An essential part of developing agency is recognizing and articulating one’s unconscious goals, defining conscious aspirations, resolving conflicts between competing beliefs, and acting in a way that aligns with one’s most valued intentions. ”

Basu, S. J. (2008). Powerful learners and critical agents: The goals of five urban Caribbean youth in a conceptual physics classroom. Science Education. pp. 255  Continue reading Setting Goals Together →

Netflix in the classroom: Developing a critical lens

Differentiation as an Approach to Teaching Diverse Learners, Urban Adolescents

One of our ground rules for this course states: “Acknowledge that one of the mechanisms of oppression (racism, classism, sexism, etc.) is that we have been systematically taught misinformation about our own groups and especially members of devalued/subordinate groups.” I strongly believe this acknowledgement should be fostered in adolescent classrooms during crucial developmental years. One media modality that has become part of adolescent life today that can be used to build the realization of this acknowledgement is Netflix, and even TV shows and movies in general. By helping students gain a critical lens with which to analyze the TV shows and movies they consume, we can help them process the misinformation they may be receiving about themselves and their communities as they continue to develop their identities.
Continue reading Netflix in the classroom: Developing a critical lens →

Bringing the digital world into the classroom to foster critical conversations

eLiteracy and Social Media(tion), Urban Adolescents

“Therefore it is important for educators to act in ways that allow us to know Black women today. In cyber space, those women are unlike my mother. They are, more and more, becoming writers of their own stories. Obtaining the evidence of this and studying this evidence, for me alone, has been transformative. I believe, if taken to scale in classrooms, such a study of digital texts will make for more informed, more loving, and more sensitive youth.”

Kirkland, D. E. (2010). 4 colored girls who considered suicide/when social networking was enuf: A Black feminist perspective on literacy online In D. Alvermann (Ed.), Adolescents’ Online Literacies: Connecting Classrooms, Media, and Paradigms. (pp. 87) Continue reading Bringing the digital world into the classroom to foster critical conversations →

They don’t care what you know; they want to know that you care

Socioemotional and Psychological Development in Adolescence, Urban Adolescents

“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) Continue reading They don’t care what you know; they want to know that you care →

Social Interactions: Make them matter in the classroom

Biological & Cognitive Development in Adolescence, Urban Adolescents

“The teen brain is similarly attuned to oxytocin, another neural hormone, which makes social connections in particular more rewarding. The neural networks and dynamics associated with general neural reward and social interactions overlap heavily. Engage one, and you often engage the other. Engage them during adolescence, and you light a fire.” (Dobbs, D. (2011, October). Beautiful brains. National Geographic Magazine.) Continue reading Social Interactions: Make them matter in the classroom →