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This really resonated with me. I taught computer science to middle/high school aged kids for several years, and had similar dilemmas on how to keep everyone eng

This really resonated with me. I taught computer science to middle/high school aged kids for several years, and had similar dilemmas on how to keep everyone engaged. There would always be a wide range of student aptitude, and it was always a bit discouraging to see how many students aren't ready to learn. But it's pretty awesome nowadays to get messages out of the blue from my former students entering the workforce and thanking me for the course. I am sure one of your students will build something amazing with Rust some day, because they worked on a practical application and had the resources to "level up" on this very useful skill. Hopefully they send you a message about it :)

dmvdoug 3y ago
Engagement is also very environmental, I think, when you’re teaching in middle/high school. Like, is there a schoolwide culture of students engaging in work? Is there an expectation that when you walk into the building you are a student, or is it just a place that you have to be because everybody says so? (Note: kids pick up lightning-quickly on whether teachers themselves give a shit. If half your teachers don’t, you have a problem in your building.) Kids that age are still trying to figure out how to be their own selves. It’s very new. I mean we all try to figure that out throughout our lives, but middle school and high school are when you first start to emerge as your own person. And a lot of figuring that out is done in response to your environment.