Disengaged Students

I have been really torn lately over the inspiration that some of our readings have brought to me and the actual realities of these ideas actually working with students. In one way or another many of our readings seem to touch on creating a classroom environment that is geared towards what issues and topics students will find most engaging and then designing lesson plans that then fit into the standards we are supposed to teach. By getting our students involved in activities and projects that interest them and keep them moving and engaged in critical thinking, they are more likely to learn and retain information than if they sit at their desks, reading and filling out worksheets.

While I don't disagree with this approach by any means, I do feel that even this approach often leads to disengaged students. I volunteer at a middle school in a classroom that teaches 8th grade science. The students sit at a large table in groups of four and are often encouraged to discuss questions with their table group. There are various activities and projects that the teacher has incorrporated into her lessons. They make posters, perform lab experiments, get to work with computers and ipads, and yet I still see a number of students who are not involved and are often downright bored. Why? They have a wonderful classroom environment that encourages discussion and problem solving through a variety of ways.

I would love to hear thoughts from other people as this is an issue that has always frustrated me. What have been some of your experiences with disengaged students and how did you, or the teacher you were working with, deal with it?

school experiences

As I begin this quarter in the teacher education program, I find myself reflecting on my own school experiences. Who were my favorite teachers and why? Who were my least favorite teachers and why? What were some of the challenges, both academic and non-academic, that I faced in school? What are some of the challenges in today's classrooms that might not have been a factor while I was going to school? So, since this is my very first blog, I would like to share some of my school experiences with you, not only so that you might gain some insight into my background as I continue to post, but so that I myself may be able to reflect on some of things I liked and didn't like as a student.

I must admit that I don't really remember much before 5th grade. The summer before 5th grade my family and I moved from the very large Phoenix Arizona to tiny Burlington Washington. My mom now shares with me that she thought she had scarred me for life by moving my brother and me away from our school and friends, but we were pretty lucky in that we fit in quickly. Looking back, I am surprised that it was so easy since L.U. was a pretty small school with kids who had been friends since kindergarten. I don't remember a lot of teasing or bullying going on, for which I am very grateful for now. To see how kids treat others who are different than them today horrifies me and is one thing that I intend to fight against in any school that I work in.


I felt, and still do feel, that I had some really great teachers in late elementary and middle school. I remember dissecting owl pellets and reading as a class the BFG (Big Friendly Giant for those of you not acquainted with Rahl Dahl) with Mr. Mitchell in 5th grade. Mr. Hansen was everyone's favorite teacher in 6th grade. He loved to joke with us and always had a stash of jelly beans that he was willing to share with students. Then came 7th and 8th grade. I attended a school that went K-8th so we didn't have an actual middle school, which I was slightly disappointed about at the time. However, the more I read about the pressures and stresses that occur when one is thrown into a new school with new people, at the height of all these physical and emotional things happening to your body, the more I am thankful that I remained at the same school for my middle school years.


In 7th and 8th grade you had one group of people who you moved from class to class with. We had different teachers for different subjects, some of whom were great and others who were not so great. My least favorite teacher was my science teacher and I wasn't too thrilled about science as a subject either. ( Ironic, since I am now pursuing a teaching certificate with an endorsement in science!) He made science very uninteresting. I don't remember doing a single lab or experiment in that class. Mostly we read out of our textbooks and answered questions on a worksheet. Boring! My math teacher, Mr. Kamps was one of my favorite teachers of all time. (That says a lot, because I really didn't like math too well either.) I remember building an exact replica of my house in that class as well as designing and creating a bridge out of toothpicks. Mr. Kamps was a lot of fun too. He was very active and came into the gym before class every day to play a basketball game called "bump" with us. He also designated Friday afternoons for a soccer match between the two 8th grade classes.

Another interesting thing about our school was that we had no cafeteria. We had what was called a lunch cart that went around to each classroom when it was time for lunch. I loved this way of eating lunch, both as a student at the time and looking back on it now. Cafeterias are complete chaos and whenever I sub at a school, I dread Cafeteria duty. With lunch cart we were able to eat at our own desks or go out into the hall to mingle and eat with kids from the other class next door. In this way there was no "popular table" or "nerd table". Everyone pretty much talked and chatted with everybody else.

I know that I am extremely lucky in having such a comparatively easy time throughout my elementary and middle school years. I am well aware that this is not the case for most people, both back then and still today. Please feel free to post any school experiences that you remember, both good and bad. I think we can all benefit from sharing what we loved about school and our favorite teachers as well as what we did not like or what we would change. I look forward to exchanging ideas and growing as a cohort together!

Here I go......

So here is my first blog! I can officially state that I am a blogger now to all my friends and family and say things like, "Today I posted on my blog......" and cool things like that :) For someone who just got texting on her phone a few months ago this is a big deal!