Mt. Pleasant Session 3

The lesson plan for this weeks explore session was "Myths About College". We started by agreeing or disagreeing with common myths about college: You have to party every night to have fun. You can skip classes and still do well. You have to be best friends with your roommate. The food is horrible. And more questions that present common college myths. Students then went around the room trying to discuss why they agreed or disagreed with these myths, and then the leaders attempted to explain their own experiences with those questions to give the students more relevant insight into those myths. I think it was a good exercise, but it can be difficult to implement an important lesson why some students don't want to participate. I have found that a handful of the young boys can be rather challenging to work with. They speak out, interrupt, and try to disagree with every thing the leaders say. I understand that it is after school, they want to let loose a little from the school day, and they feel as though they must be witty or cool in front of their college leaders, but it can be frustrating to see how they can be so disruptive for those students who are taking the program seriously. I started thinking about how some people might automatically assume they act this way because they don't care, or they don't want to be there, but as we have read in previous chapters of our books I do not think this is the case. The students are still showing up to an after school program, they come there willingly for an hour, and for the most part participate in the activities we do. So the problem is not that they do not want to be there. I can't say that I have figured out the problem entirely. I mean for starters they are 15 year old boys. I can't say this for everyone, but I think that 15 year old boys can be pretty difficult to handle in any location, urban, suburban, rich, poor, white, black. A 15 year old boy has a lot of other things on their minds than behaving themselves properly. That being said, I do think they are old enough to conduct themselves in a respectful manner, and I am still trying to figure out how that message can be conveyed to them. I think that the lesson plans make a great difference in their behavior as well. When we break down into small groups the boys seem to respond to this very effectively. They listen, sit still, and participate with their leaders. When we are doing a group activity is when we seem to lose control over them. I think that shows how much personal attention can go. Some students just need that more individualized attention. 15 year old boys might need that individual attention more than girls, or more than 17 year old boys. These are questions educators need to ask themselves. Is the approach I am taking working? Am I effectively grasping their attention? Or are they checked out, do they not care? Us leaders need to figure out the best way to grasp the students attention. Let them know it is okay to be themselves, to be outspoken and 15 years old, but that it is also okay to be quiet, to be serious, and to want to learn. Hopefully as the weeks go by I will find more answers or observations to my questions.