I had the sad task this week of attending the funeral of one of the men who had a significant influence on my life during (and since) my middle school years. While he wasn't an educator (he was the leader of a youth organization to which I belonged), he taught me to be a leader and he taught me to take my responsibilities seriously.
-- Gary Ackerman, Ph.D.
When my children reached the same age, I made a conscious decision to make sure they had a similar opportunity to work with leaders who expected the same. All middle school students need the experience of caring deeply about something.
If our students do not care about our curriculum, we have two options: blame the students and use the "thus will be important next year" argument to motivate them, or we seek to create engaging and relevant projects for them.
Actually, there is another option: support, encourage, and facilitate their participation in music, arts, athletics, drama, and all other varieties of activities.
I saw my departed friend's approach to life and leadership this week also. My son, who is coaching middle school soccer athletes, replied to the email from a parent indicating that days her son would miss practice for drama rehearsal. He wrote, "thanks for the update, I look forward to [your son] being on the team, and tell him to 'break a leg.'"
-- Gary Ackerman, Ph.D.
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