Child and Adolescence Development
As elementary teachers, we are certified to teach K-6 meaning that we may teach all of those grades during our careers so we need to know the different developmental stages of children.
InTASC Standard #9
The teacher engages in ongoing professional learning and uses evidence to continually evaluate his/her practice, particularly the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (learners, families, other professionals, and the community), and adapts practice to meet the needs of each learner (InTASC, 2013).
Description
During the spring semester of 2017, in my Child and Adolescent Development course, I conducted an action research project on gender neutral bathrooms in schools.
Analysis of What I Learned
I learned the importance of identifying problems in society and schools and that by doing so I am better able to understand the students that I will serve in my classroom. I learned that the expectations I have for students in my classroom do not always match the needs and development of other students.For example, in identifying the issue and creating the questions I expected one set of responses but found a total opposite set was prevalent. I learned that certain groups of individuals in the school systems are very against the use of gender-neutral bathrooms. I have come to realize that adults are foreign to the idea and are concerned. As communities change my classroom will need to as well to fit the needs of all my students and make their educational career as comfortable as possible.
I have demonstrated my competence in Standard #9 by connecting with the community in asking complicated questions that face our society daily, as well as finding ways to adapt to my students' needs by continuing to look in their shifting lifestyles. This research gave me insight into conducting further exploration into being able to figure out the struggles of my students to make positive emotional experiences, which will also positively impact their academic excellence. Students that feel accepted in their environment have been proven to succeed and maintain a higher self-awareness.I gained a deeper understanding of the acceptance a child needs through Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and by continuing on going professional development I am able to being to fill that acceptance of a child and begin to help them become a whole person.
Demonstration of My Competence
