Whoa..a reset button for the brain!

For our Monday seminar we were given the opportunity to hear a presentation on adolescent brain development and teen alcohol usage. The presentation focused for the majority devleopment during the two peak times, in the first six years and between the ages of 14 and 15. The presenter brought up an interesting point about the idea of a reset button that "occurs" during adolescence. Children are literally rewired during this time and need supervision once again.
After explaining how the brain develops from childhood through adulthood (age 25+), the presenter talked about how the alcohol usage affects the brain particularly during times of rapid development. I expected the age old speech about drinking during college, but the presenter suprised me by focusing more on the effects of drinking during the teen years. From her presentation and the information she gave us, it seems that by the time college comes the brain development has slowed, and the effects of alcohol are not as bad.
Overall, I thought the information given was good, and the presentation itself was worthwhile. I thought that the presenter would have been really good presenting in the way she did to middle school students, but it was a bit much for college students (in my opinion).

The Parents of Low Achieving Students vs. The School

In this weeks seminar, we did a role play activity centered around a proposal for a High Stakes school. We were put into groups and given a various role to play in the "town meeting" where this proposal was going to be introduced and discussed. My group was given the role of the parents of low achieving students. Based on our role we then set to the task of coming up with questions and argues against this new proposal (my group did not support the proposal). At seminar, all groups were given a chance to speak their side and the superintendent and curriculum director answered questions and responded to arguements.
In my opinion, I felt that this activity was very beneficial and engaged us as students. It was beneficial because it forced us to see different viewpoints on school policy. As future educators, we already narrow our vision to look at policy in terms of how it effects us as teachers, and may not take into account how it effects other educators, or high-achieving students (in the case of the proposal used here). It was effective at engaging us because we had to put ourselves in shoes of someone else and see their side, as well as teach us to look critically at the proposal. Everyone was engaged and as the class went on became very involved in their role and how this proposal would effect them and any students they may work with.

Vietnamese families

The speaker last Monday was very interesting. He was a professor from the University in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. He came and spoke to us about research he had done with regards to family expectations and ideals of Vietnamese college students. The questions his survey asked gave good insight into the different views on marriage and education expectations in Vietnam, as opposed to here in the United States. I really enjoyed listening to him talk about the differences in how ideas about families had changed from the 1930's to present day. Many of his questions dealt with this topic, such as whether women should have jobs outside the home and how many children should a normal family have.
It was especially interesting to hear about how marriages were selected in Vietnam. Although, he made it clear that young adults in Vietnam may pick their spouse, they are not completely free to do so. Parallels were drawn to marriages in the United States, in particular how many young adults also are influenced by external factors (parents, friends) when picking a marriage partner. The professor gave a nice presentation and was knowledgable in the subject matter. The presentation was very well done!