on teaching teenagers.

Two nights ago,  I found myself watching YouTube videos of the late Chris Cornell over and over again.  I don’t know if it was his voice, his wide-opened soul, or the combination of both with his recent death that gutted me, but it did.  

Nostalgia is a funny thing.  

Why is it that when a musician we loved in our teen years dies, and dies especially young… it cuts so deep?  It evokes feelings of nostalgia that we can’t quite articulate.  Even though you were never "real friends," you feel like you lost a part of you.  

Well, in a way, you did.  Adolescence is a time of vulnerability, insecurity, and internal growth.  You get this slight taste of pure freedom, but not enough to escape the limitations of your parents and teachers.  You want to rebel, and maybe you do, but there are consequences.  This is the phase where you’re not a child, you’re not an adult -you’re somewhere in between.  At the time, you think it’s purgatory but you learn in retrospect that it was the best learning curve of your life.  

As teens, we hang on to anything or anyone that we connect with.

Humans are emotional beings, and as we grow into our own as teenagers, we begin to think for ourselves for the first time. These emotions can drive our everyday existence, taking us into the future before we even know it.  

As a sixth grade teacher, I’m privy to the social and emotional challenges 12 and 13 year old’s face. My compare and contrast essay is the last thing on their minds.  Knowing this and reflecting on my sentimental reaction to Chris Cornell's death, I remind myself that middle school is all about emotions.

I get mad at myself for being so focused on the academic “end game”  and forgetting that (as they say)  it's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

Green Day, Biggie Smalls, TLC, the Chili Peppers and Nirvana were pretty much life changers for me.  All discovered in a time where I needed them the most.  A boy rejects you?  Your parents divorce?  Best friend betrays you? Escape in the music.

You start to realize the power of music, and that you’re not alone.  People go through stuff in life and survive.  

Kids have to feel their learning. They have to connect. They have to talk about it with their friends and remember the experience long after they've left middle school.

Finding that sweet spot of academic rigor mixed with emotional connection just might be the key. It’s all about giving teenagers what they want and what they need, even if they don't know what’s good for them yet.

Both educator and awkward teen a heart, I sometimes transport my “teacher-self”  to my Soundgarden days and ask..Would I give a **** about this lesson if I were 13?

If the answer is no, I wouldn’t give a ****, then I move on to the next idea.

Getting kids to care and connect to your lesson is not an easy feat, but it is a goal that I hold onto for dear life.  

Teenagers just want to feel like their learning means something, that it’s real and (without sounding too dramatic) apart of who they are.  

In the words of the late Kurt Cobain, “Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be.”   In the age where you’re just trying to figure out who you are, kids are lucky to have teachers that know what it’s like to be that pimply-faced teen with a whole lot else on their mind than algebraic equations.  

If we can find a way to help them connect and see our lessons as an experience, we might be one step closer to making an impression that lasts a lifetime.  

Power to the teacher.