Maybe your job isn’t to teach the class a mass of information.
Instead, your job may be to show students you believe in them. That they have value. That they are anything but average.
Analyze a great piece of writing they submitted with the rest of the class.
Have them teach a math solution to a concept they’ve grasped.
Give them the opportunity, as my middle school teacher did, to stand up and lecture on a great moment in history on which they have become self-motivated experts.
Do your best to get them the information, but more importantly, help them understand their worth as human beings.
After that, the learning will take care of itself.
Nathan's Blog 