Empathizing With Student Apathy

I am writing this post as I procrastinate about getting ready for a workshop I really don't want to attend, on a topic I do not believe in, having not finished a unit plan in a format I have no desire to follow...

So let's talk about student apathy.

There has been much discussion as of late (ok... the last 100+ years) about how to motivate and/or engage (they go hand-in-hand, don't they?) students in the American Educational System (or the Ukrainian, British, or Djiboutian, for that matter...). There are many in education--particularly at the secondary level--who feel that students should walk into class on the first day, Athena-like: sprung forth fully formed from their previous learning environment, "knowing what to do" to be students. The amount of time spent finger pointing these days (and usually in a downward direction) is ridiculous, insulting, and completely counterproductive. Educators have plenty of battles to fight without fighting each other.

To quote an unattributable quote, students won't care what you know until they know that you care. To paraphrase that, students won't care what you're saying until you've demonstrated that you're worth listening to/respecting, etc., etc., etc... Maybe your students "aren't demonstrating the skills that they should already have mastered at this level" because you are lame. To be less harsh, maybe you haven't gone through the necessary process of clearly stating and--yes--reviewing the expectations that you so boldly claim to be prerequisite. Sit in a faculty meeting some time. Could there be a more fully-prepared group of people in terms of "demonstrating the necessary skills at this level"? How many are engaged in off-topic side conversations? How many are correcting papers? How many are feigning attention but are really thinking about the luscious cup of coffee (or whatever) they're going to savor on the ride home? [note: I'm not even talking about a lame faculty meeting, but rather one that actually does have value!]

Sound like your classroom?