brain development

Some people are cat people. I am not. I am also not a kindergarten person, or 1st, or 5th grade person really, but the real little ones scare me. Imagine a city girl camping in the woods: oh my god! What was that sound!? Is it a monster? No… it’s a kindergartner who just got into the glitter. It’s a for-real glitcident!

If you’re good with the littles, I’m impressed; we need people like you, but I start sweating when they even walk up to me: are they going to ask me to hold their tissue or something… do they even use tissues? Some teachers specialize in a content area. I specialize in 8th grade (ok, I see you 7th graders, you can be my favorite, too!). Thirteen to fourteen year olds, you know, the real smelly ones? They’re my favorite.

I am fascinated by their brain development, and find them to be like the chihuahua of the dog world because they, too, are perfect. You tell them “no” and they look at you like, “excuse me? Did you just say… NO… to me?” And I smile. Oh yea, silly me, I meant to say that that was awesome and I give you a brownie point for style, but let’s do more awesome writing and less awesome pencil flipping. Oh, ok, Ms. E., how many brownie points is that now? Oh I think about 15. Ok. Gets back to work. Later that day my teacher buddy-in-crime tells me she had a strange conversation with one of our students. Now that could mean any number of things: how concerned should I be? She’s shares that the student in question asked her with genuine concern what a brownie point was. Recap: “That means I get 15 brownies at the end of the year, right? Does she bake those or buy them? I don’t get it.” Me: Face palms and giggles with teacher-buddy. Wow, we should totally bake them brownies at the end of the year. (If only we baked.) I wonder what other references I’ve been assuming they get? Prerequisite: you do have to want to understand the age you say is your favorite in order to say they’re your favorite. Lead with curiosity.

Dr. Jay Giedd explains that right before age 13, the brain is adding gray matter: the thinking material. This explains why 5th through 7th graders can be such voracious learners. Then, beginning at age 13, the brain goes through a pruning period, where synapses are being trimmed and consolidated. This doesn’t mean they learn less, just differently. It also leads to them losing about a pound of gray matter every year from age 13 to 18 as their brain pathways rewire. So if it feels like they are feverishly trying to figure out who they are and who they are not, what they need and what they do not, that’s because they are, by trying to get rid of a pound of inefficient synapses that year, which in my opinion makes them that much more fun to teach- there’s an energy in that. And why it is so important that I provide opportunities for students to make personal connections in the classroom and create meaning in THEIR own ways. It’s their brain they’re using the rest of their life, not yours.

Teens also tend to take more risks. If they didn’t, Dr. Thomas Armstrong reminds us that if puberty didn’t make us take risks, we would all still be living in a cave, so there is an evolutionary reason to do so. Teens explore. They form bonds with other peers and discover to which tribe they belong, and who they will spend the majority of their adult lives with. So it makes sense that their social lives are a much higher priority than at any other time. Which is also why it is important that we focus on the social part of social-emotional learning as well. They can’t figure out their tribe without access to a tribe.

Regarding Negative School Culture (which is a real thing so must be capitalized): To the teachers I see who get easily ~~pissed off~~ aggravated by the students they teach, and complain about their students, I want to tell them it’s not the kid’s fault they are behaving that way: it’s brain science, and it might be the teacher, too. Because if you don’t find them amusing, you need to get out! Get out now! Adolescents will not respond well to someone demanding they be compliant, or otherwise not respect the age and stage of development they are in. We need teachers who LOVE the age they teach. If they make you feel icky like I do when a kindergartner (when I’m allowed to be around such littles) asks me to go to the bathroom when I JUST ASKED YOU AND YOU SAID NO, then it’s not the kid, it’s you. Ok? You just haven’t found your kid-breed yet. Not everyone can be a chihuahua person.

If you know someone who is a cat person in a dog world, ask them about what they love, and once you get them talking about their passion, pay attention to which age they gravitate towards and gently nudge them into that as if hey, you said it’s your life’s dream: what are you waiting for? Or place subliminal messages all over the staff room of how rewarding that age they said is so maybe they’ll start really considering a change that will be best for everyone… because when you get to teach the age you love, it is magical.

Teacheree

middle school teacheree things

The 8th Grade Brain