Katie's Portfolio Blog

“Troublemakers is in many ways an exploration of the ways in which schools are too often institutions of separation, erasure, and exclusion, not love and freedom.” Throughout  Troublemakers  we are introduced to the lives of students who are often labeled as a "troublemaker" by their teachers and peers. The first time a student is labeled as a troublemaker is when the separation from their peers begins to happen. Usually when a student acts out in class the teacher disciplines them by sending them to "take a break". By doing so the student is already being separated from their peers physically and there is an unsaid label being placed on them that can cause separation socially. Teachers are in a difficult place when it comes to discipline because they have to adhere to the schools' rules even if they know that it is not the most beneficial approach. There can be classroom rules, however in most schools the classroom rules are based off of the school.

http://rollinsps.vic.edu.au/?page_id=28 It is no secret that students in middle school are developing in many different ways; physically, cognitively, and emotionally. While trying to find who they are as an individual, students in middle school have a tendency to push against their families. During this time families are also beginning to distance themselves from their children and their children’s lives at school. In elementary school there seems to be more family involvement, middle school there is less, and in high school there is barely any. Why is middle school where the shift seems to start? Middle school is the first time in a student’s schooling that their teacher has more than one class of about twenty-two students their are accountable for. In middle school teachers can have up to three times as many. It can be difficult for teachers to create relationships with over seventy different families, and continue to effectively communicate with each family throughout the schoo...