Yeah

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Yeah
By Getting There

I know what you mean. I SWORE I would not be that "in your face all the time" teacher who thinks EVERYTHING has to be a fun game for the kids to learn. I think most teachers would agree with me. There's a time for fun
and hands-on, and there's a time to learn and understand that not everything is a party. But sometimes I feel like I have to totally bend over backwards to get one of my classes (low fifth-grade track) to be interested in what I'm saying. This isn't so much true for language arts, but it is for the content areas such as social studies, science, and health.
I'm pleased that I seem to

be learning more and more each day about how to keep these kids engaged. For one thing, I learned (with consultation from veteran teachers) that you should not even attempt to teach all the social studies in the book, not even to a gifted class. Basic concepts are enough. For example, right now we're on the Native Americans chapter. The book, following some state standards, wants you to learn 10 different tribes, where they lived, all their significant historical events, and like ten vocabulary words related to each. I watered it down to, "Understand that Native Americans came here first. Have some basic concept of their general way of life and beliefs." We took "notes" on some basic facts, then made a map of where the tribes were. I figure they got the main idea that Native Americans lived here and that there were a lot of different tribes. Then we read a Native American story. At least some of them got the gist of the Native American legend genre. We're going to do some crafts and eat some Native American foods, but I have no intention of getting them to understand what tribe lived where and when and how. At least they have some basic idea of what went on, since the sixth grade teachers say many of them don't even come with that from fifth grade.

Point is, I often find myself in the situation of feeling like they don't care what I'm saying. I can almost literally feel my words bouncing off them. It's horrible. But I'm pleased that sometimes, if only occasionally, I can at least plan for this situation and try to stop it.