Physical and Linguistic Development Reflection

1. How will an understanding of adolescents' physical development impact your teaching?
 As a health teacher my understanding of adolescents' physical development is vital to my teaching. I need to be able to be a resource for them as they develop and have questions about their changing bodies. I also need to be an accurate source of information as I give instruction on maturation and puberty. It will also help me to be a more sensitive teacher if I can understand that the physical changes they are experiencing are going to impact their learning and I can adjust my classroom environment to accommodate their changing bodies. I can make it appropriate to move around during class, to go to the bathroom when needed, to develop safe and appropriate ways to deal with aggression or sadness. Knowing the ins and outs of physical development is going to be so helpful to me in the way I approach student needs.
2. How will an understanding of adolescents' linguistic development and the importance of academic language impact your teaching?
 An understanding of linguistic development and academic language is also going to be very important in my health classes. If I understand where they are linguistically I can know where to accommodate their vocabularies as well as know how to push their boundaries and challenge their minds so they can build a well rounded understanding of language. It will also help me address the needs of ELLs in my classes and how I can best help them breach the language barrier in my classes. Furthermore, in health we address some very sensitive topics. Using accurate academic language is going to cultivate an environment of maturity and education in my class so that students can best understand accurate information and delineate in the future between what is proven science and what is inaccurate information as they go into the world and explore on their own. 

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