Task 9 - What I Like and What I Do Not Like about Working With Teenagers

There are many positive and negative aspects about teaching teenagers. Either of them will make us grow as teachers, no matter if we don’t like them or if we do. Apparently, working with teenagers should be easier than working with little children because you can be understood easier, students can catch the ideas faster and so forth. That is the idealism we all have crated but in fact, working with teens is quite more challenging, complicated and stressing but at the same time rewarding and satisfactory. The bigger the problems or barriers we face, the bigger the victory will be.

There are some positive things we can list:

Teenagers are curious. Teenagers are always trying and looking for new things to do, or looking for things to experience or try out, but sometimes this curiosity can go too further and therefore it can create some problems in the classroom.

Teens are energetic. They do not like to be still, sometimes it can be taken as a negative characteristic but in fact we, teachers, just need to know how to canalize and take advantage of that energy.

Teenagers can make their own decisions. Teenagers do not need much help to make decisions as children need it. That makes the job of the teacher easy.

Teens are very creative. They can make up an activity or an answer very fast, interesting ideas that can be applied in the classroom.

But there are also negative things:

Teens think they are the last Coca-Cola in the desert. They want to do many things just according to their judgment, and sometimes they do not like to be corrected.

Teenagers are quite more irresponsible. Sometimes they do not do activities or homework just for being doing something else.

Teens get distracted easily by any simple thing around them.

To sum up, working with teenagers has as many positives aspects as negatives but if we really like teaching and we know how to teach we can turn all those negative aspects into positive aspects and take advantage of them. Personally, I like to work with teenagers better rather than with children because it is a much more challenging experience and as a consequence a more rewarding one!