So we had a lot of reading to do for my middle level class this week and I took a lot of notes because, well, I was fired up! Below is a reaction to an excerpt from an Answers.com article. I loved the article as a whole in that it was a great history of the middle level movement. It made me think a lot about how the middle level movement is seen by many in my own school and by the public in general. It also made me reflect a lot about my own grades 6-8 experience.
Answers.com Middle School
"Research also indicated that students perceived their middle-grades teachers as more remote and impersonal than their elementary teachers, and that they were less certain that their middle-grades teachers cared about them or knew them well. Furthermore, student work completed in the first year of the middle grades was often less demanding than in the last year of elementary school, academic expectations in middle-grades schools were generally low, and students had few opportunities to learn important new concepts and apply them to real-world problems."
At first I didn't really believe this statement, but then I thought back to my own junior high experience. Socially, junior high was OK for me. But academically, I have always struggled to remember learning much of anything during those two years. Those were also the years where I stopped really being an involved and motivated student. My reputation as a good student was all I needed to get good grades. My teachers were wonderful people but, never engaged me and never caught on to my slow spiral into laziness and apathy about school. Every time I am working with a traditionally high achieving student in my class, and I start to see signs of cutting corners or trying to get away with the bare minimum, I think about how I was allowed to get away with sooo much and how that really impacted me as a student well into my college years. These types of kids need just as much from us as our struggling learners and sometimes, these are the very kids that by not helping at this level, we are risking losing them as students forever.
This is just a small piece of what I thought about throughout this reading but, I really think it says a lot about the importance of those years in shaping the adult . . .
You hit the nail on the head, Sarah. Your experience in the middle grades parallels exactly what happens to many students when they are allowed to slide without doing much. A fine line here between expecting too much that is not important and actually challenging each kiddo so she can work to her fullest. Because you were a "good kid" your teachers expected you to get good grades, regardless if you exerted yourself or not.
ReplyDeleteFor kids on the opposite end, no one expected much of them from the start and for most, that is exactly what they showed.
Research clearly indicates that the middle school is when formerly hard working and engaged kids do start dropping off (not out) and not engaging in their work.
A question...is that because they are not challenged and don't see school as real or meaningful or relevant to them? See the section in TWB on what the curriculum should be...you'll see some of these terms used.
And from my experience...it is relatively easy to get kids involved in their learning if we are motivated and excited about what we are doing. (Almost sounds too easy!)
Your posting struck a chord with me as well. I get frustrated when I see a student of mine who can think "out of the box" do the bare minimum on an open ended assignment. What can we do about it? Especially if they did meet the standard requirements on the rubric. I think that is why I have thrown myself into differentiating and trying to find quality extensions that are not more work but different work. I am not there yet and realize ideally, if I were teaching more integratively, students may naturally extend themselves. Finding the time to really talk with our GT coordinator has helped some and trying to learn more about the students' interests has helped too but not with the results I want to see. Something we should definitely talk and think more about with students at all parts of the spectrum. Engagement is huge!
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