If you ask for a volunteer in a 6th grade classroom, before you even finish your sentence, often you’ll have a handful of students, foaming at the mouth,

Ask for a volunteer in an 8th grade classroom and after a few moments of silence, you say:

I loved teaching 6th graders and 8th graders for their own reasons and want to share a few of the differences I noticed in these age groups.

This is a 2-part email series.

In part 1, I’m sharing what I learned was different about the grades.

1️⃣ Enthusiasm levels:

6th graders often come in with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. If you were to tell your 6th graders you were doing a Minecraft lesson, prepare for them to fall out their seats with excitement.

On the other hand, 8th graders tend to be more reserved. They’re figuring out their identity and often gauge their enthusiasm based on peer reactions. You can still get 8th graders enthusiastic about what you’re doing if you’re able to connect the content to things they’re interested in. In order to really know what they’re interested, you’ve got to develop relationships with them. Asking them:

And sure, when you incorporate these things into your lesson, they may roll their eyes at your attempts to be ‘relevant’ but just embrace the cringe. They quietly appreciate the opportunity you’re providing them to explore their interests.

2️⃣ Humor:

Humor evolves significantly between these grades. You'll that your sarcastic humor lands a little more in the 8th grade classroom where 6th graders may still take your sarcasm literally. 8th graders have generally developed their own sense of humor as well. I found myself laughing more at their well timed jokes.

6th graders, while still developing their sense of humor, often provide unintentional comedy with their innocence and candidness.

I remember I was walking outside with a 6th grader on a windy day. I heard him quietly say to himself:

…man, if I had a squirrel suit, I’d be out of here.

It was very matter of fact and I thought it was one of the funniest things a student had said that year.

3️⃣ Academic support:

I saw this contrast most in my robotics class. It was an elective that often had a mix of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

With 6th graders, I found that breaking down tasks into smaller, more manageable steps was necessary, otherwise they’d begin to feel a little bit overwhelmed and unsure of where to start.

My 8th graders on the other hand were able to handle it whenever I gave them a task and told them what to Google if they got stuck. They just got to work and were able to figure out what needed to happen first, where they could get the resources they needed, etc.

4️⃣ Building relationships:

6th graders often still view their teacher as the authority in the classroom and want to please their teacher. In my experience, they didn’t push back as often. I still ran into misbehavior of course but I didn’t get as much of the do we have to do this? attitude as I did with the 8th graders.

By contrast, 8th graders are more interested in the approval of their peers. And in some contexts, if an 8th grader gets the DISAPPROVAL of their teacher, that translates into more APPROVAL from their peers, which isn’t great for classroom culture. But you can still make a connection with your 8th graders.

I used to give a high-5 to students at the door on Fridays as a fun way to connect with every student as they came in to class. 6th graders were all about it as you can imagine. Some 8th graders would cringe and say things like:

I would play along and say:

And if they walked by without giving a high-5 I’d say something like:

It was my way of playfully working to build that relationship, and the 8th graders see that, even when they’re rolling their eyes. Find a way to do that with your students that’s in line with your personality.

Remember, these are general observations and might not apply to every student.

I’m curious to hear about your experiences.

How do you navigate the differences between grades? Any tips or stories you’d like to share?

Reply to this email and let me know!

THOM GIBSON Educator | Creator ​thomgibson.com​ ​​

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113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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