I guess the term these days would be lab rats. Maybe Guinea pigs were too cute. Seventh graders make for good experimental subjects too. Kids think we do the exact same thing every year. And being seventh graders, they are of several minds. They think that would make things so easy for us (which is a huge plus), but also be “boring” (which is practically a cuss word for them). But when former students come back to visit, and ask what we’re doing, and I tell them about something new, I get the inevitable, “That’s not fair. We never _______.” (Insert: made web pages, read The Giver, had open mouth quizzes, used clickers, had discussion boards on Moodle, saw that video, made wikis, used the laptops, had homework be optional, etc. ) Open mouth quizzing is a regular feature in my class now, but just a couple of years ago, it was a fairly radical experiment for me. I even told them at the time that it was an experiment, and they were the Guinea pigs for future classes. “Can we vote on it?” “This is not a democracy. It is a benevolent dictatorship.” That experiment has worked out beautifully.
Middle school teaching: Five shows a day, 180 days a year.
