Blog

Lessons Learned from Middle Schoolers
By Dr. Kerri Miner, Head of School

Any parent or teacher will tell you that middle schoolers are simultaneously difficult and wonderful. I experienced this firsthand not only when my own four children were middle school-aged, but also when I taught sixth grade at CCAC.
One class was particularly cranky one day and seemed to grumble and complain about every activity. Finally, I’d had enough. I said to the students, “Look, kids. I work hard to try to make learning fun for you all. But I get paid the same if I just make you read the textbook and take notes all day. Which would you prefer?”
The most notable response was from a student who said, “Wait, you get PAID?”
I was taken aback. Of course educators get paid. Not much, but we get paid. The point was, there was no stipulation in my contract stating I had to work extra hours to make the activities fun and enjoyable for students. But that wasn’t the lesson they learned that day.
Isn’t it just like a middle schooler to assume a teacher is there as a volunteer, working with students out of the goodness of her heart, but for the middle schooler to grumble and complain anyway?
For that matter, doesn’t this sound an awful lot like all of us? We tend to forget that behind many of life’s greatest blessings is a person who is doing more than is required of him or her. The Bible addresses this type of attitude directly:
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky” (Philippians 2:14–15).
Grumbling is easy. Gratitude requires effort and intention.
That day in my classroom, I could have shifted to textbook reading and note-taking. But the real lesson wasn’t about instructional methods. It was about attitudes.
What if, instead of asking, “Why can’t this be easier?” or “Why can’t I have my way?” we began asking, “What can I find to be grateful for today?”
Middle schoolers often reveal something that holds true for the rest of us. Maybe that’s the gift in teaching them: not just shaping their hearts, but allowing the Lord to refine our own hearts through them.
When we trade grumbling for positivity, everything changes; not the circumstances, but the way we perceive them. After all, none of our circumstances compare to those of the blameless Jesus on the cross.
Facing the worst misery any of us could imagine, did He argue or complain? No. Instead, Jesus forgave and saved the thief next to him, asked God to forgive those who were tormenting Him, and affirmed His spirit was committed into God’s hands. What an example to follow.
I am very grateful for the years I got to teach middle schoolers. Those few years were a highlight of my career. I loved my students (and they sometimes loved me back). More than that, though, I learned a lot in those years about my own attitude and how I am perceived by others. I learned that grumbling and arguing reveal more about our own hearts than about our circumstances. Having a positive attitude, on the other hand, can reshape both.