I had the pleasure of spending an entire week as a substitute for Middle School students, something I hadnt done for several years, but unlike lots of things, these students havent changed a bit in the nearly 10 years since last spending considerable time with them. Wanted to share some observations - Jonathan Catherman, you might find some of this interesting based on a discussion we had last year. First, I heard a comment from a colleague last week that was very appropriate to my observations. He is a former middle school principal, and he said he loved the job because his student body changed every couple days depending on where the hormones were! Here we go: I have had experience teaching this age group, 6-8th graders about 10 years ago, and I was pretty sure I knew what to expect, and I wasnt disappointed. First, as a substitute, ALL of the kids are testing to see what they can get away with. They are actually quite wise in that regard. Here is how I see things: The boys and girls are distinctively divided into 2 groups; boys are either jocks and goof-offs, or they are quiet and studious. There definitely seem to be fewer of the quiet and studious boys. Girls are either social butterflies or quiet and studious, and this splits more closely at 50/50. Watching middle school children is like watching something from National Geographic, a perpetual primal ritual taking place every day. The boys who I described as jocks and goof-offs are basically walking around every day, knuckles dragging on the ground, and occasionally they will puff out their chest and begin pounding their chests (figuratively). The quiet and studious tend to sit and act normal (or is it?), or they follow these jocks and goof-offs, like lost puppies, eager to please - there seems to be a much smaller group of boys caught somewhere between the two groups I mentioned before, not quite sure where they fit in on any given day. On the girls side, the social butterflies are constantly in a state of chatter, and self-primping, sending subtle, and perhaps unaware gestures to the chest thumpers. These girls are not as interested in academics, but more so than their male counterparts. Here is the kicker - the girls, for the most part, are much more openly attracted to the jocks and goof-offs than the quiet and studious boys. The girls most definitely hover around the boys who seem very uninterested in school, and more interested in fulfilling their primal instinct of impressing the female of the species in hope of some future reward. Having taught high school, it is no wonder that so many students, boys more than girls, come to high school with these lost years holding them back; like they were in some sort of coma. Anyway, I thought it quite interesting, and something to ponder on a bit more.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 22:38:25 +0000
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