How do teachers deal with students who just refuse to learn and participate in class? (counselor, demand)

[Oregon Transplant]

A fiend of mine who is a middle school teacher was telling me that a good percentage of students in her class have absolutely no interest in the class she teaches and go to school kicking and screaming. They are just counting down the days until they turn 16 and can drop out and get a job.

You can force a kid legally to attend class but you can not force them to do their homework, participate in class or have interest in what is being spoken about.

I understand that many middle school students just sit there and stare into space, do not do the homework and will not even participate in testing. They are basically on strike.

What is done about kids like this?

[ARC]

I think if the teacher tries to reach the student in some way (finding something that they are interested in and working that into the lessons/assignments) then the student can sometimes come around. Also, teacher/parent communication is important (but doesn't always work). I think teachers should try and make lessons contextual or related to things the students would do in their "real" lives (ex: using math to balance a check book, etc.) so that they see the value of school work, even if they still want to drop out and get a job. Different students also have different learning styles - some are visual, some auditory, some kinesthetic. The teacher can plan the lesson so that each student can use their learning style/strength. A teacher nowdays (esp. middle and high school) has to use technology & flash in lessons (think power point presentations) and move things along quickly. This generation is used to lots of information and quick transitions. The era of the teacher standing in front of the class and lecturing is over. It's tough being a teacher today.

[J Arp]

One big detail missing is the subject of the class.
When I was in school we did the same thing with certain teachers. Depending on the subject, the perceived level of competence of the teacher, what the students ate before class, what class they had before the current class, what type of work the teacher assigns(is it a handout where you are supposed to regurgitate the teacher's lecture verbatim onto the paper).
Some teachers just don't have that ability to captivate their audience. They know their stuff, but they lack the charisma.

Also, kids can smell fear and they will eat the teacher alive when they catch wind of it.

[jdr1243]

In order to change student behavior we have to change our behavior first! We have to change the way we are teaching...in order for this to happen the school systems have to change first.

[Dirk Bonner]

Without the support of parents, there really isn't a whole that can be done. After encouraging, counseling, referring, and hard teaching, if the kid doesn't want to learn, he/she has a right to fail.

Parents are the keys to their kids' successes, and they are also the fuel for their failures. Teachers, counselors, and administrators can only do so much. At some point the professionals in a school realize there are students who do want to learn, and the teachers need to devote their time and energy more to the learners than to warm bodies filling seats until they are 16.

[Humanoid]

The problem is that like the kids many teachers are just there because they have to be in order to collect their pay check. I was such a kid in middle school (well Jr high back then), I gave my teachers hell. The worse the teacher was the worse I (and others) were.

[Dirk Bonner]

Many teachers? You paint with a wide brush. My experience with school teachers is that the majority of them work very hard.

[Humanoid]

My experience with school teachers is that the majority of them work very hard.

That isn't my experience.

[Dirk Bonner]

How much experience do you have with teachers? How old are you.

[artsyguy]

because the teacher isn't any good...doesn't inspire....doesn't encourage....is too strict...is too demanding...is too boring...is too sweet and doesn't set boundaries....doesn't have a rewards system...hello, many reasons to have a bad attitude in school...