In the internet article titled "Trying to Find Solutions in Chaotic Middle Schools," I found it disheartening that so many schools are having difficulty reaching their middle school students, but also englightening that the problem is being recognized, and attempts are being made to try to ameliorate the issues.
Many of the students at the middle level just do not seem to care about the role that school plays in their lives. They are much more concerned about their personal lives. For example, girls want to keep up with the latest clothing and accessory fashion, while boys want to listen to music on their ipod.
I think one of the ways to hook the students is to find some way to appeal to them; connect the curriculum to their lives. Every ounce of school curriculum, especially in English, can be applied to their lives and current concerns.
Want to improve writing skills? Have students apply for jobs.
Want to learn critical reading skills? Read books such as Speak and other YA lit that address similar concerns.
There are certainly ways to hook the students. In ENG307 and other courses I have taken (AED441, AED408, AED341, AED308), we have discussed how to make English Language Arts meaningful to students. The context of the topics needs to relate to the students. I am not huge for technology, but certain modes can be used (PowerPoint, imovie, website design, iTunes, etc).
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4 comments:
Staci-
I completely agree with you and wrote very similar things in my post. I want to teach high school, but I wouldn't be surprised if I were to end up teaching middle school at some point in my career. I feel that we have to work even harder to engage this special group of kids because so much is going on in their lives. But they are a group of kids that need our attention because they are at a very delicate time in their lives - a time where the guidance of a teacher would be truly needed.
This is the exact problem I am seeing as I am observing in a middle school. Students are not engaged and uninterested in school material. They are much more concerned with maintaining their reputations and social status than finishing The Outsiders or sharing their opinions on class-related topics. Middle school seems to be a challenge to teach, but we have enough ideads generated from our classes to give us some idea of how to tackle this big issue.
I can see where the three of you are coming from. But seeing that I havn't the teaching background that you have, what struck me about the article was the building of emotional ties with students while making the learning fun. I'm a neophtye in this realm, but I think that addressing those needs at that age is as important what needs to be accomplished on a cerebral level,
Hey, you left out 374....a critical piece in this puzzle...I'll never get over it!! KES
P.S. While I think ALL teachers at ALL levels need to attend to the emotional needs kids present whether 6 or 16, I'm going to once again come out on the side of the cerebral! As teachers our primary responsibility is kids' intellectual development...whatever we have to do to keep that focus front and center--we need to do it.
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