Reach your students by knowing them

By Briana Nussbaum

College of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
September , 2010

Today in class we discussed the different characteristics of students of different ages. Professor Boyanton separated us into different groups based on the age level that we are planning to work with in our futures. There was a group for elementary school girls, elementary school boys, middle/high school girls, and two groups for middle/high school boys. I was placed in the group that was in charge of writing about the characteristics of elementary school boys. This was convenient for me, because I worked at a camp with five year old boys this past summer, and recently worked with a couple of six year old boys during my observation this past Tuesday. Through my personal experience I was able to contribute a lot of characteristics to this activity. The qualities that we decided stand out most about elementary school boys are that they are energetic, loud and like attention.

The class found similar qualities in elementary school girls, with the addition of them being very talkative. This is because children of this age are seeking acceptance and like to feel important. Since children of this age have so much energy, it is important for teachers to let these students have some free time and provide them with activities that they can put all of their energy into. This is something valuable that I learned today, and I will definitely use this idea in my future teaching. Since I am going to be an art teacher, it will be fun for me to come up with different ways for my students to put their creative energy into various types of art projects and crafts. This is something that I am really looking forward to. I truly feel like I am learning a lot in this class, and I become even more excited to become a teacher each day.