South Junior High School students are becoming bloggers thanks to the coaching of Sarah Good, language arts teacher at South. Students are sharing their thoughts and feelings with their peers and community, giving an insider’s view of life in middle school.
The blog is called “In the Middle.” The idea originated in Good’s previous teaching position where her students were writing columns for their local newspaper.
“It was such a great [writing] experience for those students. I wanted to do something similar here in St. Cloud,” says Good.
Some students eagerly volunteer while others need a little coaxing. In the end, every writer agrees it is a good experience.
Osman Ali, a sixth-grader, recently shared his mother’s personal story of living in a refugee camp.
“I started with a list of questions,” explains Ali. “Ms. Good helped me expand those questions and I wrote the story from those questions. It was hard to share what my mom went through. I was really sad that she had to go through it.”
Ali hopes that by reading his story other students have a better understanding of what life is really like living in a refugee camp.
Other students share their personal experiences.
Fyzeen Ahmad, an eighth-grade student, wrote about his experience attending Tech High School for advanced math classes. He thought other junior high students may want to know what it is like to attend high school while still in junior high and how much the District supports its students.
“They [District 742] really care about you,” says Ahmad. “They’ll do anything in their power to make it [advanced learning] happen.”
Learn about atlatl (a stick used to propel a spear or dart) from sixth-grader Addie Jordan. She had no idea what they were when they were first introduced in her social studies class. She thought others wouldn’t know what they were either. She researched its use by early Minnesotans and described how the tool impacted their lives.
Eliza Putnam shares her experiences of being behind the scenes for South’s rendition of “The Music Man.” Eighth-grader, Maddie Prescott, describes We Act (a social responsibility club) and how students raised funds for clean water for Puerto Rico.
Each student dedicates a lot of effort to their stories.
“These stories are work done outside of class,” says Good. “They work on them when they can. It’s like an extracurricular without it being an extracurricular activity. It’s a lot of extra time for these students.”
The blog is also an activity for students to expand their creativity and perspective.
Ahmad adds, “It’s really great District 742 is spreading the word to know the students. There’s only so much to gather from class titles and such. You get a better perspective of these classes.”
Some students want to continue writing. Ali enjoys writing and thinks his next story will be fiction, more along the lines of a school with headmasters and students who aren’t human – like Harry Potter.
All middle-level students have their own experiences to share, and “In the Middle” gives them the opportunity to do just that.
Cool