236: When your Students just... Don't Care

<p><!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>We've all been there. You walk into a class, unveil your lesson plan with all the joy and care of a museum curator lifting the veil on a new Van Gogh, and your students just... don't care.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>They've got their own problems. Their own stresses.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>They decided in 4th grade they didn't like reading.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>In 5th grade that they "weren't creative."</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>In 7th grade that they needed to give serious attention to social media if they wanted to stay cool.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>And now they're sitting in your class, eyes not-so-subtly glued to the little glowing screen under their desk or the clock above your MLA poster display.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>So what do you do? In today's podcast, I'll share five different paths you might take to help them tap back into ELA. Choose your favorite, connect the dots on two or three, or try them all.</p> <p><!-- wp:heading --></p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Focus on Connection</h2> <p><!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>One way to chip away at apathy is to focus on connecting with students on a personal level. Maybe you come up with fun nicknames for kids you're trying to gently attract back into the ELA sphere. Maybe you make it to some sports games and get to talking with your student-athletes about the season. Maybe you work on some templates for positive notes home, and you send a slew of them every week. Maybe you do some serious student surveying about their interests, past reading lives, favorite types of projects, favorite EVERYTHING, so you can keep their personalities and histories in mind as you design curriculum.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>When you focus on connection, you help student start to feel more