Change Starts With Youth

Damage Control: Higher Education Higher education is an education beyond high school. It is often seen as a necessity to advance in the job market, however this is hard to do when university tuition continues to become more and more unaffordable. Today a student came up to me, frustrated and confused. She recently got accepted into University of the Pacific and told me she received her financial aid package. "Why the f*** do they want me to pay $27,000 to go to this school? I told them my parental contribution would be $0 and they told me that I can do monthly payments. What was the point of them accepting me if I can't even afford it? F*** UOP, man." Meanwhile, another student today told me all excited that she got into Sac State. "I'm gonna have to live at home, but yo, check me out! I'm going to be all college educated!" Lack of Affordability for Students  For a while now, students in high school are expected to achieve a college degree fro...

This week I started my fieldwork at a middle school in Stockton. There is a requirement for my education program at University of the Pacific that I must put in so many hours observing a classroom, and this semester I will eventually have to record my own lesson. I did something similar to this last semester, but it was for English CP 12 at a high school. Very different settings. I chose to observe a middle school classroom because I have decided last semester that I want that to be my focus when I get my credential. Working with my team of middle schoolers at Changeist, I have decided THIS is my age group to work with.  My Cooperating Teacher (CT) is in her mid-twenties. She is spunky, has a bunch of strings of lights hanging around her classroom, and there are a lot of posters on the walls- some to help her students with their writing, and others that are political and low-key callout the education system. On the second day I was in her class, a student said that they lef...

Howdy, Do you feel yourself falling behind with the different LGBTQ+ identities? Are you wondering why different gender identities and sexualities matter? Do you ever find yourself saying "Kids are too young to know about that LGBTQ+ stuff?" Then in that case, the San Joaquin County Pride Center has just the thing for you!  From February to early June, the San Joaquin Pride Center will be hosting workshops for parents to help them navigate their children who are in the LGBTQ+ community. This workshop can also apply to educators who's students are in the community. If you don't know, or think you will ever know (unlikely) a young person in the LGBTQ+ community, then this serves as a good learning opportunity to become a strong ally.  Since people, especially in California, are becoming more comfortable with identifying and/or exploring different identities, more and more people are being more adamant about letting people know who they are. Especially...

A colleague once shared on Facebook a graphic that said, "Students have to Maslow before the can Bloom." This is in reference to the Bloom's Taxonomy of Verbs learning model and the theory of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. If you are unfamiliar with these two terms, Bloom's Taxonomy is a hierarchal model used to create learning objectives for students. Maslow's Hierarchy is also a hierarchal model, but is used to build up a child's worth and confidence within the classroom. This graphic resonated with me strongly because it is something that I believed in before I had the vocabulary to describe my approach to educating youth. From my experience with children, and even with people in a work setting, people need to feel secure and supported before they can be properly challenged. If a student is having struggles at home, they are more likely to be less in tune with the lesson, as well as act out. It is our goal as educators, and leaders of youth, tha...

Hello readers! I am Liz Malone and I am a third year student at University of the Pacific.  I am majoring in English and minoring in Ethnic Studies and Teaching Professions, meaning I will be graduating with my teaching credential and will soon be on my way to teaching my own class soon.  I started this blog as a resource for educators, future educators, and people who work with youth in general for different programs.  While I may not be an expert on youth development, I plan on using my experience in the classrooms I have volunteered in, as well as my experience with the non-profit Changeist, to use as content for my posts.  I will also be using articles and books, as well as interviewing local influential people who work with youth. My focuses when it comes to youth development is student-centeredness, social issues, and community engagement.  In order for our youth to make a change in the world, they need to feel like they matter, a...