What is the World Coming to?

Now, I'm going to sound like my dad here, whom I love, I just never thought I would see this perspective.... I am worried about our future for America. Every great empire falls right? Well, I am wondering if our crash is not right around the corner! I don't mean to sound dramatic but I lost a lot of sleep last night thinking about all this. School has started off great, I think I mentioned that in an earlier post, but as time rolls on, I am worried about the attitudes and work ethic of my students.
They're writing editorials right now and I told them they could write about whatever suites their fancy, something they have deep passion for or really feel enraged about. Yesterday I went around to get their topics and probably half of my students were planning to write an editorial on shortening the school day, five months for summer, or banning homework. I know, I know, I'm not thirteen anymore and I'm sure at that age I would not be writing about how people should appreciate educators, or how privileged Americans are, or some other more noble and honest topic. I get that it's "uncool" to think school is a great and gracious privilege, paid for by they tax payers of America.
I wish my students could see a glimpse of what it's like for other thirteen year olds around the world. If they knew that school was not some inconvenience that "adults forced on children" in many other less developed countries. If they knew that kids in Africa couldn't afford to go to school because they had to make sure their family had water and their little siblings were looked after, or their parents couldn't scrounge up the money to buy them the supplies they needed, perhaps my students would view compulsory education as more of a gift.
For now though they groan when I assign them something to read as homework. Half will not even bother to do it so I'm not sure why they feel the need to put up a stink. Many tell me they want to play more games, have more rewards, take field trips. Perhaps these would be helpful solutions if I was trying to run a daycare, but I'm not, I'm attempting to prepare a reluctant group for the real world, to see themselves as empowered and to give a damn about something.
I looked online last night for articles, strategies, anything I could find to help me rid my room of the stink that is apathy. Not many solutions, just a few articles with teachers telling me what I already know, kids don't seem to care too much these days. One article did say that student apathy leads to teacher apathy and I refuse to let that happen. I will not rest until I can find a way to wake my students up from this dream I call entitlement and help them enter into the competitive and demanding world.
On a side note I did find some pretty hilarious posters about student apathy. They read:
"My gang will protect me."
"I won't need school when I'm a drug dealer."
"No worries, I'll just go on welfare."
Cynical I know, but funny to me at the time.
My current thought is that while my students draft their "anti-work, down with school" editorials I will draft an editorial of my own. Some topics I've been throwing around are: student entitlement, teachers have feelings too, and America, consistently outranked.

Love,
Disgruntled in Trailer B

An Important Reminder

So, I know I'm guilty of it, but I forget that my students have lives outside my classroom. Today was a great reminder that I am one small piece of their full and sometimes complicated lives. I sent a student out to the buddy room for shouting out and arguing with another student during class. She's secretly a favorite of mine, the kind who totally fights any kind of praise or recognition but later, privately shows you that she cares. Well, anyway, I send her out and she tells me she's glad to go and later I see her in ac lab. She mutters a "sorry I acted up, I didn't really want to leave class today," and throws a note on my desk. I open it and read:

"I got sent to the safe seat and then another student was laughing at me so I said shut up and was sent to the buddy room. I will just ignore that student next time. Also, I think I'm slipping because my dad and step mom are getting a divorce and I'm really upset about it. I'll try when I come to school to leave that behind and focus on my work. Sorry. I really am. "

Just wanted to hug her. One, for letting herself be vulnerable, and two, because divorce sucks and I can't imagine dealing with it while also balancing life when your hormones are off the charts. I guess my class is not always the biggest thing on my students' minds. It's good to remember that they have all kinds of baggage they bring in each day. Maybe some of them need a little slack every once in a while.

Seventh grade = so nice

Can I just tell you what a difference an extra year makes? You know as last year came to a close, I wondered if looping (the term for teaching the same set of students two years in a row) was all that great of an idea. I was at my wits end and the kids were bouncing off the walls in anticipation of summer. Then summer came and did what summers are supposed to do for the heart of a teacher, it healed me. It soothed the frustration, refreshed the vision, and gave me the energy and perspective I needed to keep going. I came back more alive than when I'd left.
My students, now seventh graders have grown up. They remember things from last year that I taught them. They can execute a seamless warm-up routine, they have progressed!!!
In addition to performing better, my students seem more interested in the curriculum, the world, me. I get student e-mails frequently with questions and comments and those chain mail forwards. When I told kids about the tap project they perked up with excitement. 50 kids signed up to be a part of this project. 50- that's half my students! I am excited to see what this year holds, I am eager to see the progression of the tap project at Smithton and hopefully Columbia. I am loving my seventh graders!