By Brogan Hennesy
A seventh-grade student at Mahomet-Seymour Junior High
May is here. No more April showers.
And as May ends, I am looking forward to a summer vacation packed with swimming, travel, and relaxing having no commitments. I love summer because it means that I have a break, but come August, I get a new start in school.
This year I feel differently, though. For the first time, I am not looking forward to going back school next fall. I have seen a new side of school I haven’t before; seventh grade has been a different school year than I am used to.
In elementary school, my teachers were always telling me that school would be different from junior high onward. And in sixth grade, it was. I was seen as more responsible than I was in elementary school, and the structure of my classrooms had changed.
Mr. Turek, my sixth-grade history teacher, set expectations, communicated with his class, and used multiple resources to teach. He used textbooks, documentaires, and we would take notes on his lectures; and plus, this was an added benefit, he gave us candy.
At the end of the school year, I was very excited to start seventh grade since I had such a captivating sixth-grade year.
But as my seventh-grade year went on, I started to become less and less enthused about school than I ever had been before. I don’t know exactly what feels wrong about this year, I’ve only been in seventh grade once; but I know something is missing.
Seventh grade not only felt boring, it also felt bored. I feel like each day is just going through the motions. I struggled with the monotony of doing worksheets and reading from a textbook. I felt that there was less teacher-to-student communication, and I felt like I am only learning from a textbook.
I do see why schools are using student-based learning. But without a teacher to guide students, kids are at a loss. In class, I have worked with groups, done self-guided worksheets, and had lectures. All of these should be used in a learning environment. I like groups because sharing ideas can help me understand what I am confused on. I also like working by myself so that I can stay on task.
But lectures are where I learn the most, and I think it is the most neglected way to teach. I think that hearing something from a teacher makes that knowledge instantly sound important.
My ideal learning environment involves more than just a textbook. I wish that learning in seventh grade was more than just worksheets and tests, because that is not what learning means to me. Teachers should not just assign math problems, but give lectures about concepts. I think that a teacher should be beyond the resources they use. I want to learn from a teacher, not a Chromebook.
I know that some classes won’t have teachers lecturing and completely guiding students in high school, and even more of that in college, but for now, I’m just a kid; I don’t know everything! In some classes, I feel like I am both the student and the teacher.
Though I might dislike school this year, I have to go back no matter what. I feel that school is not supposed to be like this, and if things changed, I would enjoy school. I like school because I like to learn and interact with other people. My hope is that it isn’t too much to ask to also make learning enjoyable.
