Spring Fever and Senioritis: Combatting Seasonal Apathy
Whether you have freshman, seniors, or the grades in
between, you know that it’s that time of year. The temperatures are rising – comparatively–
and the days are flying by. Summer is drawing nearer and your kids, our kids,
are over it (we might be just a little “over it” some days too). So how do we
deal with it?
My seniors (yes, I claim them) already have one foot out the
door, well beyond ready to leave high school behind and my sophomores (I claim
them too) are longing for the days of all-night Netflix binge watching and sleeping well into the late afternoon.
However, we as teachers need to find the energy to kick it
into high gear. Hopefully the routine has already been well established and our
kids know what is expected of them. Now is the time to tap into those resources
you’ve been pinning for months that you forgot about; it is the time to pull
out new ideas and try new things. We need to do our best to keep our kids engaged
until that very last day. Who said rigor had to be routine? Now is the time to
take that chance and try that Socratic Seminar with your regular level
sophomores (note to self) or maybe it’s just time to shake up a routine a bit,
throw a new activity their way.
I know that if you’re anything like me, you’re almost
rushing to get your kids through the unit that should have been completed a
week ago, but that doesn’t mean every day has to be filled with the same
activities every day has to be filled with the same activities every day has to
filled with the same activities (you get my point).
I have been thinking about this for a while but between the
reading for last week and the level of engagement this week, I figured it was
finally time to do something about it. So for my action research, I want to
tackle engagement, specifically regarding discussion. First I’d like to pose a
question, then I’ll tell you a story.
How are you combatting this seasonal apathy? What new things
have you tried to keep your kids engaged or what do you want to try?
Today, my seniors fell asleep watching Hamlet (*gasp* I know, it hurt me a little too. It was even the
Branagh version). Not every single student, but over half of my class. I
thought that maybe when we stopped for discussion they’d perk up because they
were just sitting comfortably but when I paused for discussion, not a single
sleepy, hooded head moved. Frustrated but empathetic, I made a split second
decision and pulled in an activity I had experienced in one of my college classes.
I had them each pick a line from Hamlet’s soliloquy then each student had to
share it. My students were confused but complied. Some students had the same line but I asked
them to share it anyway which, after three students in a row had the same line,
made them giggle. I explained that, though they had only taken a few minutes to
find a line, they had discovered some of the most important lines of the
soliloquy which was reflected in the repetition of the same lines. This activity
was no show stopper but it was different from the regular routine of pausing
for discussion and my students were awake and engaged for the rest of the class
period.
I’ve found that even in higher level discussion with
advanced students, accountability is still an issue. Each student still needs a
part.
My goal for myself is to find different strategies and
activities for discussion: some more complicated and involved for my seniors,
and some more structured but just as rigorous for my sophomores.
Keep going strong out there!
Best,
Ms. Dawson
