Tuesday, October 25, 2016

A 7th Grade Teachers Journey into 6th Grade

I am a 7th grade teacher. I have taught 8th grade but really, 7th grade is my passion. I love the age, the eagerness to learn and still respectful nature of 12 year-old's. I also am the mentor for many different science competitions varying from Future City to Quiz Bowl both of which I have opened up to 6th graders. I was eager to include all three grade levels because many competitions exclude sixth graders due to their age. So I ventured into the deep.

Let me preface by saying I am very happy that I have included 6th graders because they need an outlet for their creativity and drive. They are smart and funny and offer a lot to any team. But what I discovered very early on is that they are very different from 7th and 8th graders. In subtle and not so subtle ways. They are a lot smaller on average. They are louder then most 7th and 8th graders. They are more emotional than their older counter-parts. Most obviously they are a lot more hyper and easily distracted than 7th and 8th graders, on a whole of course. There are very hyper and distracted 7th and 8th graders as well.

Two weeks ago was my first 6th grade only meeting for Quiz Bowl. Wow. It was like herding a group of cats. I tried very hard not to raise my voice or discipline. But, I in a kind way I had to, to simply get them seated and quiet. They squirmed and fidgeted.  They giggled and poked each other. They were very hard to get focused. But eventually I did. Then they were separated into smaller groups and met one on one with a mentor. They squirmed and fidgeted. It was adorable but frustrating to try and get them to focus on the questions and not giggle or cry when they got the questions wrong.

This has been a growth experience for me in patience and faith. I believe in every one of my 6th graders. It has taken a lot of work and we are not nearly where we need to be yet, but I have faith that we will be. A lot of nurturing, reassurance, encouragement and smiles and slowly but surely they are becoming more focused. They are all motivated and they truly want to win.With a little patience, motivation and luck I can get these 6th graders qualified for nationals. Fingers crossed.


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