Helping Students Find Their Voice In A World That Really Needs Them

By Gary Armida

As an English Teacher, I believe that the single most important thing we can do for our students is to arm them with the skills to use their voice to make a difference in the world. It is difficult in today’s world where kids are constantly being told that they are too addicted to their technology, they are lazy, and they aren’t as good as the kids from previous generations. Of course, that’s a lie because every previous generation was told the same thing.

And, truthfully, the world needs them to not only believe in their voice, but to use it now.

All year, I have struggled to get my freshmen to believe that they are more than those stereotypes. They truly don’t believe they can make a difference. And, I feel that they are probably symbolic of the majority of kids their age.

January 6, 2020. This might have been the date all of that changed for our class. 

My plan was to launch another argument writing unit. We had previously gone through the basics, but this time I wanted them to realize the importance and why we’ve spent so much time going through argument writing techniques, why we stressed narrative writing as a way to argue, and why their words matter.

So, I decided to launch the unit without any tricks. I decided to do what I feel I do best and something that was impressed upon me by a former student, Phoenix Dalto, during his Tedx Talk; I decided I would start this one by just talking with them.

I didn’t know where this would lead, but I knew that if I could get them talking, we could tap into their passions.

“What are some things you wish you could change about school?”

That wasn’t the greatest opening and it showed. A couple of kids responded with the usual homework, start time, and “teachers who don’t care” answers. I did spend a couple of minutes talking those through, but I could tell we weren’t locked in yet.

After a couple of more tepid questions, I finally hit one, “What are some things that scare you?”

30 students, almost in unison, responded. 

“World War Three”

And, there it was. 30 kids, either speaking or nodding along with that fact that they are scared about what a war would mean for their world. After hearing what they knew–they actually knew quite a bit–and how they felt about the key players involved, I asked them where they got their information from.

“Twitter.”

“Instagram.”

“Snapchat.”

“Tik Tok.”

Truthfully, their news sources are a lot like mine. I get my news, leads to articles, and leads to news videos from Twitter. Most of their information comes from Instagram and Snapchat, but I was surprised about how many Freshmen have a Twitter account.

We had common ground. We find our news on social media. They didn’t believe that they were consuming news, but they knew quite a bit.

The next day, I asked them to take out their phones. We were going to take 20 minutes to go on our social media accounts. Their task was to find news items that interested them, scared them, made them angry. It could be in any area of interest. If they were into sports, find an issue in sports. The few students who didn’t have a phone were given a chromebook so they could go through their feeds. And, the couple of students who didn’t have social media were tasked with searching the web for their issues.

There was a lot of World War Three talk, but some interesting topics about equality, the Australia fires, global warming, the impeachment hearings, drug abuse, technology tracking, overuse of medication, sleep time and school performance, and poverty were being discussed as they scrolled through their accounts.

My point to them was that they were more aware of things than they are given credit for. Sure, their “dances” on Tik Tok take up a lot of time, but they are now, hopefully, aware that they are consumers of news.

Now, I have two other important tasks. First, I have to get them to see that they can make a difference in these issues. Second, I have to get them to see that they must consume news with a critical mind.

I decided to take on the first one right away. Again, it was a simple conversation, no gimmicks.

“You all realize that you can make an impact on these issues? Each one of you can add your voice to the fight. Each one of you can make a change. Writers are the ones who inspire change. Look at history. People are moved by words. Change happens with great words.”

One young lady responded. “Armida, nobody listens to us. We are just 9th graders.”

I was hoping to hear that.

“Ok, go on your social media account. Find some information about Emma Gonzalez and Greta Thunberg.”

Some of them had heard of Greta Thunberg, but most haven’t. After a few minutes, they were talking to each other.

“Trump is making fun of her.”

“Damn, she spoke in front of that many people.”

I heard Emma Gonzalez’s speech being played. 

“These are just two examples of people your age making an impact. Age doesn’t matter. It’s the message. It’s the belief that you can make a difference and have to make that difference. Do you really think their voices aren’t being heard? Politicians are talking about them, some good, some bad. But, they know who they are. Why can’t you do the same?”

The bell rang. They left the room, thinking about that.

For the next couple of days, we examined how arguments are made, specifically discussing the three appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos. It’s important for them to realize that writers and news organizations employ these techniques to move people or to get them to agree. One group activity crystallized it for them.

I divided the class into three. Each group had an appeal. Their task was to argue against me reversing my “no homework” policy and giving them homework every single night. They were given 20 minutes to come up with their argument and could use any resources they wanted. The logos group started doing research. The ethos group, to their credit, found the studies by Stanford University and Yale University. Each of those groups presented some compelling facts. The Pathos group did a skit. It was dramatic; kids were pretending to cry about how they had no life, no friends. It was all because of homework. The audience was hysterical. I was hysterical. The pathos group “won” best argument by a class vote.

Teachable moment time.

“So, the last group won even though they had no facts, no evidence? What’s that say to us as writers?”

“That we have to get people to listen to us before we give them the facts.”

Ok, maybe that wasn’t what I was truly hoping for, but they are in the right ballpark.

Another student.

“People like the drama. We didn’t even listen to the facts.”

Better.

“Ok, so how do we, as citizens of the world, use this?”

“We have to cut through the B.S. so we know what the issue really is.”

Microphone drop.

So, now we are ready to move forward. It won’t be easy to undo the stereotypes that are forced upon them. There will be days when the lesson falls flat or they aren’t as passionate. But, it is too important to not keep going. Our job is to give them those tools, the writing skills, and the confidence to go out in the world and make a difference.

In the coming weeks, we’ll continue to examine the news, to dissect it not only for content, but for how it’s constructed. We’ll find an issue we are passionate about. We are going to start a class blog so they can publish their words after going through all of our revision processes.

We are also going to learn that argument comes in many different forms, so they will use their social media to take their words and transform them to fit their social media feeds. And, most importantly, this group of freshmen will learn that their voice matters. Truthfully, the world needs them to realize it.

I believe they will.

Gary ArmidaEnglish Department CoordinatorFieldstone Middle School

Follow Gary on Twitter @GaryArmida

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