Technology and Younger High School Students

For the past few days I've been thinking about my British literature class.  I love teaching this class.  I have these students first period, and every day they come to class ready to learn something new.  I haven't seen a head on a desk since the start of the year, and the students behave more like a family than a classroom full of students.  So I've been asking myself a few questions:  Did I create this environment?  Are they simply used to working this way because they've had classes together for so many years?  Maybe both parties contributed to creating such a collaborative atmosphere.  Are these students unique in some way?  What am I doing differently this year that has made this course so much more fun?

I am noticing that the students this year seem to enjoy discussion; however, they are not necessarily apt to discuss their ideas in a traditional classroom environment.  They prefer to discuss topics online.  I mentioned in an earlier post that these students blogged The Canterbury Tales, and the project was very successful.  I felt as though my students had a greater understanding of the characters than students in the past.  Now we are reading The Taming of the Shrew.  I posted some discussion topics on Moodle and told the students that I will assess their posts.  Students are reading ahead and then posting comments in the forum.  Some of them are chomping at the bit to read more of the play.

My challenge this year and next is to motivate my ninth graders in the same way.  There are huge differences between ninth and eleventh graders, but there must be some simple ways for me to motivate them.  I find that many of the activities I use with my eleventh graders do not have the same effect with my ninth graders.  For instance, they are less apt to participate in online discussions and seem more comfortable with traditional approaches.  Why?  All the research I've read contradicts the experiences I'm having.  They seem so afraid and self-conscious.  I want them to have more fun and be less inhibited.  I wish I could pair them with my eleventh graders for a day.  I wonder what the interactions would look like.  I wonder what they would learn from each other.