More co-authoring!

            I really enjoyed reading these two chapters and Nakkula discussed a lot of ideas that really resonated with me.  He continued the theory of co-authoring our students’ lives and I have found myself thinking about that (sometimes) throughout the day as I am teaching.  This thought of co-authoring was further enhanced for me at the end of chapter 5 where Nakkula was discussing the role of mentoring for adolescents.  On page 97 he discusses the “close, trusted relationships” that mentors use to do great things.  

Throughout my years of teaching in the group home I have seen the impact that mentors can have on individuals of this age group.  Many of the girls here are included in a therapeutic sports program that involves them with other same age peers and allows them to cooperatively play volleyball, basketball, or soccer.  These sports programs have many benefits to the teens, but one that I have seen over and over is the relationship that the girls form with their coaches.  The look up to their coaches, look forward to seeing them every week, and it means so much to the adolescents to receive compliments from their coaches.  I often hear stories about their experiences the next day in school.  This excitement illuminates the students and it’s obvious that they look forward to going back to their activities every week.  These chapters made me want to cause the same emotions in my students when it comes to going to school too!

A project that I always have my students complete when they first start in my classroom is one that I designed about seven years ago when I was teaching in Pennsylvania that I call Top Four Job Choices.  In the project I have students think about four jobs that they might like to have in the future and tell me the salary, job description, education required, why they would like the job, and what they might not like about the job.  The students then make a Power Point and get to share their findings with the class.  Students generally love completing this project and it helps me get to know something about their interests, from an early point in our relationship.  

The reason I mention this project now is because it always surprises me how many of my students choose Residential Counselor as one of their jobs.  Residential Counselors are the ‘staff’ who are in charge of monitoring these teen’s behavior, enforcing rules, providing general care for them, and putting ‘hands-on’ when a student needs to be restrained for safety reasons.  Typically, I would think that these teens would be resentful toward these individuals, and sometimes they are, but overall it seems that they respect them and even would consider having this job in the future.  On page 66 Nakkula discusses that many individuals in the mental-health field had challenging experiences of their own that they were able to overcome and turn into a positive experience by eventually helping others.  I believe that this same sentiment is what makes the role of Residential Counselor appealing to the students who are in my classroom.  Throughout my five years of being affiliated with this classroom, I have heard of at least four individuals who used to live in this group home (before my time here) who eventually applied for a job with Family Services of Rhode Island.  As Nakkula points out, it makes sense that these females want to take what was a difficult experience and turn it into a somewhat positive experience for others who are in the same position.