Nathan could not sit still. It was
only one class period from art class, and he could not wait to get his hands on
Michael. If Michael thought for one minute that he could get away with saying
that kinda stuff about his baby sister, well, boy, he was gonna get it. Nathan
watched the clock as the minutes ticked by. He wanted to jump up and run out of
English and go find Michael, but something wouldn’t let him do it. He looked up
at Mr. Sterling’s algebra equation, but he had no clue as to what was going on.
He tried to concentrate on what his teacher was explaining, but he couldn’t
stop thinking about those words Michael had said, “Nathan’s little sister is
easy ....” Thinking those words took Nathan’s breath away. He wiggled in his
seat and tried to focus on the board again. Finally, the bell rang, and Nathan
headed for the door.
“Oh, Nathan,” Mr. Sterling called to
him, “don’t forget that assignment.”
“Oh, yeah, sure!” Nathan yelled back.
But he didn’t know what Mr. Sterling was talking about.
Nathan was fortunate that his
prefrontal cortex was able to control his emotions. As much as he wanted to act
on his need to find Michael, he knew he should wait until his next class with
him. Unfortunately, because the prefrontal cortex was so busy keeping his
amygdala in check, Nathan had no space free for working memory. He couldn’t
take any of the information that was offered in his math class and work with it
in his brain. He didn’t even realize that he had been given an assignment.
Learning cannot take place under those circumstances.
Another problem many of our
adolescents face is common among adults: sleep deprivation. Did you get your
eight hours last night? Our young adult students need more -- nine hours and
fifteen minutes to be exact. Why so much? For the brain to go through the
stages of sleep an appropriate number of times, it takes that long. Why aren’t
our students getting enough sleep? There are several explanations. It is known
that changes in the brain at adolescence change the biological clock, a cluster
of neurons that send signals throughout the body and controls fundamentally all
of the internal operations. One of those operations is sleep. The time that
melatonin, the chemical that is released to induce sleep, is distributed in the
brain suddenly becomes about one hour later, so these students are not ready
for sleep. Add to that the desire to be more independent, the need to control
your own life, and the fact that many of our older teenagers work late hours; a
problem exists. What’s more, those chemicals needed for sleep are still in
their bodies during first hour class. Edina, Minnesota schools changed their
starting time from 7:25 to 8:30 and found better grades, higher test scores,
and happier teachers and students. (University of Minnesota 1997) (Have you
ever wondered why that difficult class you have never seems to be a problem to
the first hour teacher? They’re virtually still sleeping!)
What makes this information even more
alarming are the possible repercussions of sleep deprivation. The first to
consider is the negative effect it has on learning and memory. The brain needs
sleep to dispose of unimportant information and to practice new information.
(Dement 1999) Sleep also appears to be necessary to regulate emotions. Emotions
are already a problem for this age group. It has been hypothesized that this
may be adding to some of the increased violence. (Carskadon 1995)
That was the bad news. The good news
is that this brain is plastic. It is still growing and changing. It is
not too late for positive transformations and eventually most of these students
will have the physical ability to perform the operations that are expected of
adults.
As a classroom teacher who has dealt
with adolescents since 1971, it amazes me how science is confirming so many of
the strategies that have been useful with these students. How do we deal with
these learning limitations? First, we must recognize that many of our students
handle these situations quite well. However, there are ways to make learning
less of a struggle for all.
Changing starting times would be
helpful. Short of that, be aware that your first hour students may not perform
as well as your other classes. Repetition and out of class work may be
necessary for these students to stay on track. Rotating schedules will help
this situation. I was involved in a rotating schedule for several years; both
students and teachers loved it. It is simply starting Tuesday with second hour
instead of first, Wednesday with third hour, etc. In this way, it takes six or
seven days before that first hour class is back in your room first hour. It’s
also an excellent way to see how students perform at different times of the
day. Let’s face it, last hour classes can be a challenge for teachers and
students.
“What about me?”
I have often felt that students, in
their own ways, were always asking this question, so I look at it as an
acronym. The m is for motion
and the e for emotion. I find that if I keep students moving and
deal with their emotions, the adolescents in my classroom learned more rapidly
and easily.
Provide emotional outlets. Journaling
is one way to do this, or five minutes of group conversation at the beginning
of class may allow students to calm themselves down and attend to learning. A
technique I borrowed from a primary teacher works very well with adolescents.
She called it the “backburner.” First, I explain how sometimes we have to put
something that is on our mind on the backburner – like your mom might put food
on the backburner while she attends to other details in the kitchen. I ask them
to write down anything that might be bothering them and that could interfere
with their learning. After they write them on small pieces of paper, they fold
them, write their names on the back, and deposit them in a box on my desk. I
tell them that I need their attention now and these things are on the
backburner until the end of class. At that time, I hand them back. The students
look at their problem and decide if it is still important and needs some
attention. They are offered a few minutes to discuss the issues with me or
their classmates.
Put students in groups or on teams.
The older the students are, the smaller the groups should be. Teams provide a
feeling of belonging. Becoming a significant part of a relationship allows the
brain to release feel-good chemicals (Glenn 1990), and this is one way to
promote it. Another plus is that team projects allow for students to physically
move in the classroom in appropriate ways.
Become aware of their emotional states
and be prepared to manage them. Look for frustration, anger, fear, and apathy.
Of these, frustration is the easiest to change. If students are frustrated with
what you are teaching, try a different approach. Have students teach each
other. Studies have shown that scores increase with peer teaching.
(Ginsberg-Block 1997) It is also a
great state change. As the students begin to drift away from what you are
teaching, or if they become frustrated or even bored with the material,
teaching it will give a much needed change. It will also reinforce the learning
for those who know it and help the student who just doesn’t quite get it the
way you presented it.
Provide ritual. Rituals make room for
challenge, novelty, and a little craziness which make the classroom fun. This
simply means that at certain times and in certain situations they know what is
going to happen. It’s a stimulus/response situation. Predictability puts students at ease. I use music to provide ritual. Each day my students enter my
classroom with specific music playing. They have grown to expect it and many
find it comforting. Other examples are celebrations, openings and closings of
class, and test taking rituals. These
provide the security that the brain needs to feel safe enough to transmit
messages to higher levels for complex thinking.
Classroom rules are very
important. They also provide security as long as you stick to them. Be sure
students understand the rules. It is always good to have the students help you
make them. Post them, send them home, and follow them. They become rituals if
you follow them consistently.
Give overviews. Students need to know
what they are going to be doing each day. Create a mind map or outline on the
board with the schedule of events. This
will help your students de-stress. Knowing what is going to happen, even if it
is painful, gives students a feeling of “Okay, I know we are going to write an
essay, but I can get through it.” (It’s like going to the dentist. If I know he
has another appointment thirty minutes after mine, I can cope knowing it won’t
last too long.)
If those mature bodies are entering
your classroom everyday, or the smaller bodies start exhibiting some strange
behaviors, understand that many changes are occurring. Teenagers don’t really
have such scary thoughts. They are simply at a fascinating time in their
development. Understanding the changes that are taking place and providing for
some basic needs may keep the classroom running smoothly.
Brownlee,
Shannon. (1999, August 9). Inside the teen brain. US News & World Report,
127, 44-54.
Carskadon, Mary
A. A prominent sleep researcher says staying awake may be overrated. Q & A
(On-line). December 1995. Available:
http://www.brown,edu/Administration/Brown_Alumni_Magaxine/96/12-95/elms/qa.html.
Dement, William
& C. Vaughan. (1999) The Promise of Sleep. New York: Delacorte
Press.
Ginsburg-Block,
Marika; and John Fantuzzo. 1997. Reciprocal peer tutoring: An analysis of
teacher and student interactions as a function of training and experience. School
Psychology Quarterly; Summer; 12(2): 134-149.
Glenn, H.
Stephen. (1990). The Greatest Human Need. (Video recording.) Gold River,
CA: Capabilities, Inc.
Liebowitz,
Sarah. (December 1998). Gray Matters: The Teenage Brain. Charles A. Dana
Foundation. Available: http://www.dana.org/dabi/transcripts/gm_1298.html.
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