Teachers’ Influence in Student Learning in Middle School

Abstract

Today’s generation of students are dealing with a complexity during school. They are so accustomed to receiving instant results, multitasking and constant entertainment that I fear there may be a gap between their ideal classroom environment and what teachers and administrators create. In order to observe this assumption/fear I created a qualitative project by observing classrooms at a middle school for six months, speaking with students, teachers and administrators, interviewing teachers and administrators and administering the students questionnaires. My results showed that students want school to be entertaining and fun. They want to be surrounded with friends and learn new ideas. The teachers’ main goals are for the students to learn the content and to perform well on the assessments. The administrator puts relationships and students’ personal development as the number one priority. Since all of these essential factors are not always present in the typical classroom I believe there is room for improvement. I came to the conclusion that it is important for teachers to adjust their methods of conveying information to their students based on the following study. When interactive lessons are an option the students are more likely to be attentive. After the teacher gains the students attention it gives them an opportunity to absorb the content and perform better on assessments. It also creates the potential for building relationships due to high frequency of interaction.