[MOSAIC] New problem....

[William Roberts]

Hope everyone is getting rest and relaxation this holiday season, but I've
got a problem:  I'm not getting any thinking from my 8th graders.....at
least not anything I want.  I know I'm not expecting too much from them
since other years have not been so....so....mere words can't describe them.
Let me show you:

I gave a writing prompt to tell me about a favorite movie, TV show, book,
video game, or CD album.  Many tried, but a few MADE UP SHOWS!  Once wrote
about a movie that had "over 200 movie stars!"  Others wrote about movies
that hadn't even seen, but they had heard of them or had seen a trailer
about them.  A few told me that they had no favorite for any of the
suggested items!  I asked, "What do you do for fun?" and got the response,
"I sleep."  I continued with, "What do you do when you wake up?"  Answer:
"I eat."  I knew better, but continued, "So what do you do when you aren't
sleeping or eating?" and was told, "Sometimes I stare at my ceiling fan."

I was finishing a movie unit which included using the strategies on art,
music, movies, as well as books, and the students were supposed to select a
movie from the top 250 movies (foreign and American), and write an essay
about the film.  One child wrote, "I didn't do the assignment.  It was a
stupid assignment.  You wanted us to write about a movie we hadn't seen.  If
we hadn't seen it, how did you expect us to write about it?" and he was
totally sincere!  One wrote about ROCKY and regaled about the "bloody,
awesome fights" but not one thing about the acting or music or direction.
When I asked if he had actually seen it, he said "no, but I did see part of
one of the fights."

In a class discussion about music, we all made connections when I talked
about a favorite song coming on the radio ("Everyone turns up the volume!"),
but when I mentioned a song you didn't like, this class said, "you listen to
it."  I asked if you changed the station (which most classes admitted), but
this one class insisted you just listen to the song whether you hate it or
not.  I asked why they wouldn't change the station, and they said "if you
wait, a better song will come on."  I asked (you'd think I'd learn to stop
asking) why they didn't turn the station and was told, "It's too much
trouble to change the knob back."

They do not infer.  They do not think for themselves or have educated
opinions.  Is this laziness?  The results of too much state tests?  Is this
group a mutation?  Or did they miss the cognitive boat?  With state tests
only a few months away, I'm losing my mind.  Any ideas?

Bill