Girlfights, volleyball, and Katniss Everdeen—here’s what you might have missed in news and thoughts related to student engagement, school climate, and the world that affects them.
“The boys’ conflicts tended to be refreshingly straightforward--Juan punched Bobby in the stomach, so Bobby kicked him in the head. The girls’ conflicts could be downright diabolical, an intricate web of alliances and betrayals.”
—Teacher Justin Minkel, on bringing peace to warring students
“I became pop-aware and an avid media consumer in the mid-'70s, which is about the time the Baby Boomers seized control of the Hollywood dream factory and began stocking the entertainment marketplace with stories of their nightmarish childhood.”
—Entertainment Weekly‘s Jeff Jensen, on how President Kennedy’s assassination, and the tumultuous period thereafter, scarred a whole generation of children in a way that would eventually steer the entirety of pop culture
“The opposing team laughs. Heather turns to them and demands they give us one of their players. It’s not fair that her side is saddled with me. Not only do I not count as a regular player, I am actually a liability. Everyone agrees that this seems reasonable.”
—XOJane contributor Lesley, on being the girl who’s bad at sports and the torment that went with it
“Every teacher I have ever worked with can name off their unmotivated students and all the things they have tried in their classroom. We have all faced that student that seems to defy all logic and rationale through a complete refusal to do any work.”
—Teacher and 2012 Illinois Computing Educator of the Year Josh Stumpenhorst, on how to motivate students
“She’s a hunter-defender that takes on the roll of patriarch of her family after her father dies. But she also exudes femininity and uses her sex appeal and guile to win her fans for the games. She nurtures, and she kills.”
—Time‘s Eliana Dockterman, explaining what adolescents can learn from Katniss Everdeen, the main character in the book/movie “Catching Fire,” which you might have heard about this week