Kathleen McAuliffe, OWP 1998
Adolescent Self Esteem
Oregon Writing Project Katy McAuliffe
Paper #4 July 13, 1998
I have always had a love / hate relationship with the adolescent. Since 7th grade I have wanted to be a junior high teacher. Only in a 7th or 8th grade class can you find students who strongly possess the characteristics of ALL grades K-12. On any given day with any given student, you can find the exuberant first grader, the want-to-please third grader, the cockiness of the fifth grade tether ball champ, the ninth grader searching for independence, the sophisticated insight of a near graduate. At what other age does one student still pick his nose, another student have six different colors of push-up bras, another student hate everything and everybody, and a final student who dots every letter "i" with a smiley face? They are intriguing, rude, creative, awful, and delightful all at once. The biggest threat to them today is not AIDS, nor global warming, nor a faltering Social Security system. The biggest threat to teenagers today is a lacking sense of self, or self esteem; it is a disease which encourages them to join gangs, to destroy property, to kill others. When students spend six hours a day in school, teachers have a wonderful opportunity to build in each student a sense of self and a sense of pride which will lead adolescents to become positive, productive members of society. "What?! Not ANOTHER expectation put on teachers!" I hear the educators scream. Through the activities, books, and presentations in the Oregon Writing Project, I feel more strongly than ever that we can teach them and reach them through our discipline, not instead of it.
WRITING PAPERS - Despite being a language arts teacher, I don't do enough creative writing. The assignments we completed in this class helped remind me of some of the frustrations students encounter in writing. I will note the value of having a wide choice of topics when I ask students to write. I also feel that reading aloud to others is very valuable for self esteem. The writer can make the story come out the way they intended, rather than the way it may technically look on paper. At first I was concerned that errors would not be caught because the student would read it as if the proper punctuation were there. That concern was resolved by the editing/response groups. Granted, some training would be necessary for 8th grade responders to learn to start with a positive comment; however, when properly used I think the groups are very affirming. It's nice to get immediate feedback on your writing. I feel it would be important to have paper copies for everyone in the group so that some editing and correction could be made right on the paper and not announced to the whole group. Adolescents (and many adults, like myself) have fragile egos and often find public comment/criticism difficult. However, if the writer could collect the edited copies from the group members and make the corrections in private, they would probably feel more comfortable. Not to say that the group shouldn't discuss some problem aspects of the paper -- that is how each writer learns -- but the overall response should include plenty of positive plugs. I don't know about all schools, but in my current school the ratio of negative to positive comments encountered by a student from the time they wake up at home, through their school day, and throughout the evening is probably 90:1. Additionally, I know that some students simply will be too self-conscious to gain from an editing/response group. Maybe careful group manipulation by the teacher is the way to raise the comfort level.
TECHNOLOGY. The technology aspect of this class was fascinating! Wow -- the ramifications are still reeling in my mind. The ways in which I see technology being most useful in the self esteem of adolescents is in programs which improve skills, and thus build writing confidence, the way it encourages exploration on a never-before-imaginable level, the professional look that typed copy brings to a piece of writing, and the immense publishing capabilities of student work.
BOOKS. The books were the strongest aspect in directing my focus toward self esteem. Each one gave me inspiration for assignments and processes which will help students enjoy writing and improve their abilities while simultaneously tinkering on their self esteem. Strong's Sentence Combining is not only fun, but it will teach students how to sound more developed and sophisticated -- a quest teenagers have in general, if not specifically for their writing. Active Voices III by Moffett moved through a series of assignments starting with personal response (journals, etc.) and moving through reporting or directed response to analysis and editorial writing. The "self" is what adolescents focus on 102% of their day. It's what they know, when everything else seems so confusing and unknowable. Thus, by starting with personal expression, a student can work on skills while writing about a topic which is comfortable for them. Further, they may come to realize the tremendous benefit of writing one's thoughts and feelings -- an exercise which can help put in perspective many devastating adolescent experiences, like breaking up with a boyfriend or not making the basketball team. In addition, the book is filled with examples of young adult writing which would be interesting and educational for student writers. Howgate's book, Building Self Esteem Through the Writing Process, obviously deals with this adolescent issue. The author's numerous ideas for writing included two ingredients I feel are vital to teaching writing to adolescents: choice and fun. She gave specific lessons and many, many examples of actual student work. While some students are ready to look at stories and essays written by professionals, I think it's comforting for most students to see examples by writers of their own age and mentality. As mentioned in my review, one of the neatest ideas in this book was using the letters of one's own name to form a new name, a pen name perhaps. If Maslow Taught Writing, by Hill and Boone, dealt with self esteem by looking at students based on Maslow's hierarchy of development. If assignments are differentiated by students' need levels (basic, safety, belonging, ego, self-actualized), students are more likely to feel comfortable attempting the assignment and more successful in completing it. The final book, The Writer's Workout Book by Art Peterson, again fulfills the need for fun in a writing classroom. This easily accessible, entertaining book, has hundreds of quick ideas to expand a student's scope of thinking. From the silly to the serious, a writer at any level would build confidence with these activities because they are presented in a "do-able" way. Again, confidence is one more part of increasing an adolescent's skills and self esteem.
PRESENTATIONS. Briefly, I want to comment on some of the participants' presentations which naturally connected to self esteem. Jane's picture poems included her personal sand and seashell collection. Not only was this a hands-on activity which included art and music, but it also showed that the teacher (Jane) has enough confidence in her students to let them handle her precious items. I think that would speak volumes for students like mine who often don't come in contact with nice, delicate things with which they have been entrusted. Debbie's art and writing presentation showed how much improvement can be made when students are sometimes allowed to do simply what they can. The one student started the year barely able to put letters on the page, and yet with Debbie's encouragement, developed into a fairly functional 1st grade writer. Terry's Clifford books not only offered choice, but they incorporated creativity in writing, art, and presentation. I'm sure her students felt pretty proud of making a real book! What a boost to their self esteem. Marilyn's word games fell into the category of fun. Not every activity in an English classroom has to be painful. Brian's technology presentation was important because I think we need to include computers in our classrooms as much as possible. Further, it touched on creativity, with its purposeful picture manipulation, and it included fun kinesthetics in the making of the accordion book. Betty's final French project may have been developed based on the need to be understanding of students dealing with a tragic event, but it easily could have been included in the book about Maslow. Students were able to express themselves and their understanding of the content in a way which best met their needs. The first girl worked on the ego level, the pair of students were at the belonging level, and the girl who wrote the very personal essay was most likely at the self-actualization stage. One assignment captured the interest and ability of a variety of students because their teacher allowed choice. Gayla's presentation showed a quality in her that I think every student needs, especially ones from tough, dysfunctional households. It was not Gayla's story so much that caught my attention, it was her insistence upon "feet together, hands at your side, speaking in big, beautiful voices." Yes, she may have to do some serious getting-after of her seven young students, but when they go into the other classrooms to present this bold, professional tale of their adventures, I have no doubt they feel a sense of pride which will stick with them the rest of their lives. What an incredible gift Gayla is to those students!
In a crazy world, we need to give students something of their own to hold onto, something upon which they can rely despite the good or bad circumstances they might encounter. A strong sense of self importance and value as a person is the best I can hope to give them. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to do so as a teacher of writing.