pages 42-63

In these pages the NMSA helps establish what an advocate is supposed to do as well as having backup research for all the characteristics of a “successful” school and characteristics of young and developing adolescents. We, as teachers, must take in to consideration all aspects of the blooming child whether it is physical, emotional, psychological or intellectual. Every child is different and grows or blossoms as it may be into the adult they are meant to be. This may take several years or only months for the young adolescent to find who they really are. As teachers, we are guides and advocates to bring out the best in our students. According to the NMSA, the “notable characteristics of young adolescents are in the physical, cognitive, moral, psychological and social-emotional dimensions of development,” (page 53), all of which are important and all of which should be the focus in the classroom. Through these last pages, I figured that the NMSA urges us to be good role models, excellent observers and consciences of the world around us. We must not only focus on the students but the community and the parents as well because they are in fact all influences on the students. They help the students make choices by guidance so we must be aware of where they go in life and why. I appreciated how the NMSA broke down each developmental characteristic between pages 55 and 62 to show us what we should look out for during these adolescent years and how we can be of assistance because going into the classroom blind would not be beneficial for anybody affected in the teaching atmosphere (principal, colleagues, teachers, parents, community members and students themselves). They described each developmental factor physical, cognitive-intellectual, moral, psychological, and social-emotional in a way they we can manipulate the way in which we teach in the way in which students learn. This section, I feel, will be very helpful when placed in a classroom as a reflective piece in which we can get a sense of re-focus, why are we in this profession and how can we enforce change state-of-mind, a sense that can help us be better teachers overall.