Context
My 9th grade English students can read. Their test scores say that 75% of them read below grade level (Duval County Public Schools). Some way below. But, they can read. Their eyes can move from left to right, follow each line, and they can hear the words in their heads as they read. My students hate to read. Who wouldn't when you can move your eyes from left to right, follow each line, hear the words in your head but after two paragraphs you have no idea what you just read? The metacognitive reasons are many not the least of which is that while their eyes are moving from left to right, following each line, hearing the words in their heads, they are also hearing every other thought that pops into their heads like a two year old pulling on their mental pants leg begging and pleading, "Look at me! Look at me!" And my students like many parents, look. They hope in vain to placate the noisy youngster. But it doesn't and my students are defeated. There are a wealth of reasons for this travesty; the socio-economic factor, family factor or lack thereof, the undiagnosed disability, the boredom, and a host of other factors make reading painful, frustrating, and tortuous at the very least.
The demographics of my school are interesting. It is situated in the Northeast section of Jacksonville. I-95 cuts the area just about exactly in half, 46% black urban and 54% white rural. Less than one percent of our students are Asian or Hispanic. This rural section of the school's reach is in the midst of tremendous growth. Indeed, the growth crosses the highway where new sub-divisions, Super Wal-Marts, movie theatres, and malls are changing the landscape of north Florida on a daily basis. The demographics are changing, the school is bursting at the seams, and the students are reacting to the tension that change inevitably brings. It is as if the faculty and staff are trying to run up the down escalator just make it through the day. We ultimately succumbed to that futile effort this year and our precarious "C" to which we had been barely holding onto slipped below the water's choppy surface to a "D." Motivating unmotivated students who, as much as they say they don't care, are secretly ashamed of their school. Building community and making our curriculum relevant to them right now is our only hope.
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