Meaning of Adolescence (1953) [Video].

 

Identity Texts

 In my opinion, there is great value in having students produce identity texts. First of all, it teaches students how to stop, reflect on themselves, and then communicate their findings through a means of their choice. Their expression of the final product could be spoken, written, or even performed. When done correctly, students take ownership of the text and become invested in it because it represents their own identity (Gaysek, J. 2012). Besides helping non native students challenge the devaluation of their identity, this approach could be specially helpful to students who might be facing identity issues. Moreover, research has highlighted several pedagogical benefits of the framework such as students being able to find and express their individual voices through multimodal identity text projects than traditional means (Mills, K. 2010). Furthermore, the use of identity texts has proven to be helpful in ELL classes. Teachers can promote Ell students' literacy when they connect with their students in ways beyond the usual constricted pedagogical frame. 

Socially, identity texts tend to uncover much about students' identity, culture, and perspectives on relationships. This important because it gives the teacher an insight into the background of the student. Human interaction is at the heart of schooling and these interactions are often more central to student development than other methods for teaching literacy. Academically, educators can utilize these texts to create  an interpersonal space where learning takes place and students' identities are recognized, affirmed, and explored. These texts  help students affirm their identities in various forms such as dance, music, poetry, stories, bilingual texts, etc... 

The main challenge that this approach faces is the rigidity of the one size fits all curricula and mandates enforced by some kind of punitive sanctions. During my school years in a French Jesuit school, I was never introduced to identity texts nor was I ever encouraged to express myself or my opinion. On the contrary, I was often told to keep to myself and stop complaining. Looking back on it, this might have been the reason behind poor relationships with teachers and many colleagues. Had the idea been introduced to me, I think I might have had a more enjoyable learning environment and experience. 

Evidently, students native language is not totally irrelevant to making progress in learning English language. Literacy instruction cannot and should not substitute for literacy engagement. Such engagement could be promoted through enabling students to use their home language as a source for learning. Educators have a choice to go beyond the conventional academic expertise framework and its curricular guidelines and mandates. This could be done by acknowledging students' prior knowledge and attempting to utilize it to serve the acquisition of new knowledge (Zapata et al. 2020). References

Gaysek, J. (2012). Identity texts. Retrieved 30 December 2020, from https://www.slideshare.net/jsplendiferrous/identity-texts

Mills, K. (2010). What learners ‘know’through digital media production: Learning by Design.E-Learning and Digital Media,7(3), 223–236. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2304/elea.2010.7.3.223

Zapata, Gabriela & Ribota, Alessandra. (2020). The instructional benefits of identity texts and learning by design for learner motivation in required second language classes. Pedagogies. 10.1080/1554480X.2020.1738937.

Teacher-Student Relationship and Student Behavior

    Teachers could elicit not only target language from students but also target behavior. In other words, it is the teacher's attitude that encourages or discourages students engagement, participation, and overall behavior in the classroom. Besides the given professionalism, a teacher may have to develop a set of personal traits and professional skills to help achieve these goals. However, this paper will only touch on some of the possible academic effects on the students of one's own instructional behavior in the classroom.

    Learning how to foster a positive teacher-student relationship is one skill which almost all other skills depend upon. Negative teacher-student relationship may drive the student to stop communication, exhibit undesired behavior, or start to hate the subject and/or school. On the other hand, a positive relationship may lead to better communication which would help the teacher gain more insight into the student's academic needs.

    Emphasizing punctuality and timeliness is always best done by setting the example. A teacher who is usually late to class or does not show respect to schedules and deadlines will have a weak argument if he tried to teach or advise punctuality to his students. Similarly, teachers who emphasize the awareness of time to their students can model steady work and sensible time management to their students. For example, they estimate the time to be spent on different  tasks, or in preparation thereof Boston University, (2020).

    Another form of teacher behavior that could help the academic achievement of students is his ability to encourage high expectations. For example, a teacher could set their students challenging goals for learning. Moreover, encouraging student involvement by varying the types of activities including active learning techniques like asking students to present their work to the class. 

    In conclusion, teachers are not only the most decisive element in any classroom, but also the most influential one. Teachers are also the prearranged models people entrust with their children's education and development.

References

    Boston University, (2020). Behaviors of good teachers » Center for Teaching & Learning. Retrieved 16 December 2020, from http://www.bu.edu/ctl/teaching-resources/preparing-to-be-a-teaching-fellow/behaviors-of-good-teachers/

    Sutherland, K. et al. (2008). Examining the influence of teacher behavior and classroom context on the behavioral and academic outcomes for students with emotional or behavioral disorders. The Journal of Special Education 41(223). https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/1019576/mod_book/chapter/257050/Examining%20behavior.pdf

Zero-based thinking is a core concept of self-help author and motivational speaker Brian Tracy that allows you to start over by calling "time out" in your life and work. It enables you to kill off procrastination and/or instantly create a turn around if you are heading down the wrong path.
# Face up to those difficult decisions! Zero-Based Thinking puts previous decisions you made on trial. It requires you to examine all your current activities––business, career, relationships etc., and ask yourself the question: “Knowing What I Know Now (KWIKN), would I still make the same decision? Would you get into that relationship, start the same business; make that investment etc., again”? If the answer to this question is “No!”, then the very next step is to ask yourself “how do I get out of this and how fast”? In other words, revert to zero and start from scratch. This is the ultimate ‘drawing a line in the sand’ personal development exercise.

#*Zero-Based Thinking goes against traditional dogma of sticking with something even if it does more personal damage to you than good, which is often one of the biggest problems in personal strategic planning, namely attempting to make something work that you wouldn’t even have gotten into in the first place had you known better.
# Know when something isn’t quite right. The best indicator of a zero-based thinking situation is stress or frustration; something keeping you up at night and continually preoccupying your mind.


#*Often the best solution for your biggest problem is simply to discontinue that activity altogether. Just going cold turkey on your biggest problem can be the simplest and most direct solution to that problem.
# Make a decision to stop. This is like grabbing the steering wheel of your own car and wrenching it, stopping you in your tracks immediately and giving yourself the opportunity to turn around. The key idea here is no matter how long you have gone down the wrong road you can always turn back. As they say, there’s never a wrong time to do the right thing.


#*You will be amazed at how creative you become when you do this exercise, examining every area of your life as though you could start again. Numerous possibilities will arise, difficult situations will be confronted and solutions will emerge.
# Learn how to cut your losses. Zero-based thinking is a great decision-making tool when it comes to money management and investments also. If you know that a particular stock purchase or property investment is simply eroding your wealth now but you’ve had difficulty facing up to this realty, don’t waste a single second more, and ask yourself the hard question: “Knowing What I Know Now... would I purchase that property/stock”. If the answer is no, it’s time to make that hard decision and cut your losses so you can invest your capital elsewhere to get a superior return and build wealth.


# Study the opportunity cost and the law of comparative advantage. The concept of Opportunity Cost and the Law of Comparative Advantage as attributed to nineteenth century English economist David Ricardo, is often associated with macro economics and international trade. However, it can equally be applied to personal development. The chief problem with holding onto a business, relationship or “investment” that does not serve you is not just the limitations it puts on you but the real loss is the loss of opportunity elsewhere, such as business endeavors, relationships, investments you could be making elsewhere that would serve you better.

#*Remember, every activity/situation has an opportunity cost, the cost of not participating/contributing to another opportunity. A good question to ask yourself to assess potential opportunity costs is, "What other opportunities am I missing out on that would serve me better than my current activities do”.
#*Each day we are faced with opportunity cost decisions in our business and personal lives. Another lens through which we could view the law of comparative advantage is the 80/20 rule (sometimes referred to as the Pareto Principle, named after Vilfredo Pareto, the Italian economist). Applying the 80/20 rule here might also lead you to ask yourself “What are the highest value (20%) activities I should be undertaking” and then delegate or eliminate the other low-value (80%) activities.
# Sum up your understanding and start over. If a certain decision you made is now holding you back in life, just be ruthless, use the Knowing What I Know Now Q&A technique to give yourself the chance to start over. There is no honor, no dignity and no purpose in pursuing something that no longer inspires you or serves you. From a wealth creation perspective, Zero-Based Thinking is an excellent way of doing a quick back-of-an-envelope analysis on whether an “investment” you made is still worth keeping or not.


#*All your problems started out as opportunities or good ideas at one stage but that could have been a long time ago. It’s very possible that your life, your needs and your knowledge has evolved and what was once a good idea, opportunity or investment may not be so now. Remember, it’s never too late to do the right thing.  No matter how long you have been going down the wrong road, you can ''always'' stop and turn back.
You are the sculptor of your life. You have the right and freedom to carve out the best possible setting for living your life. Let nothing interfere with this, least of all circumstances and the resultant feelings of frustration or melancholy. Zero based thinking helps enormously in designing the life you want to live.