Feb 7th blog, adolescents and Puberty

I thought it strange that at one point when I came across the sentence, "we regret that we are able to say little about the pubertal experience of groups other than middle class white youth". It really got me thinking on what we know or pretend to know in relation to youths in our MPS classroom. For me at least I know that many of my students are on free lunch, some are in a single parent household, and others have lost loved ones to early in life. I struggle in terms of my experiences, where I have come from and how I am able to relate that to my students. But it seems that simply empathy and listening are the strongest tools I have rather than relating on any other level. I think simply being aware is the easiest and strongest avenue towards understanding growing youths. The pubertal experience is simply awkwardness in its most basic form. I think from our individual project on what we remembered from middle school suggested the same thing, awkwardness. Within my classroom I see it on both ends of spectrum, those accelerating through puberty and those yet to start. In both camps alike all the students in one way or another appear to be going through these growing pains. What I'm trying to say is that at least on my experience in the classroom, regardless of the social or economic situation, my students appear to be just as confused and awkward as most other students.