5 Yrs. Teaching & Learning

2-6-10 I am a certified cathechist and teaching 6th graders about what we believe and why we believe as Catholic Christians is not an easy job. Sixth graders today are not at all like those of "yesteryear"! Today they are techno savvy and sophisticated far beyond their 11 or 12 years. My class meets in the evening @ 7 pm, these kids have already had a full day @ school & whatever extra curriculum they are involved in. So when I get them, the last thing they want to do is listen to someone tell them about things they really don't understand [for the most part]. Sixth graders are not babies anymore nor are they all grown up, they are not even tweens yet but they are in middle school and observe the tweens and teens. In some instances they start emulating the *teen behavior* testing the waters, so to speak. This can make for a difficult hour. I am hoping that other religious ed teachers might read my blog and maybe offer some of their experiences and shed some light on keeping the 6th grade mind in a learning mode at such a late hour.