“I hate reading.”

“School sucks.”

“Are we gonna do anything today?”

Unfortunately, these are all statements heard from middle-school students in today’s classrooms.  My classroom is not exempt from it either.  In the early adolescent years, students struggle to find their purpose in life and, often, do not find any relevance to that purpose in our school buildings.  With little support at home, many of the students I have taught in my 23 years feel strongly that school is a place that only benefits certain students:  those with background experiences, places to do homework, support at home, and no learning difficulties.  Furthermore, if a student enters middle school speaking a language other than English, his or her frustration level quickly leads him or her to believe that school holds no relevance to life.

As a teacher of fellow human beings who inhabit the same space I live in, I feel compelled to offer all students a sense of purpose and belonging when they enter school.  Therefore, this coming year, I want to examine the impact that service-learning paired with technology, specifically Web 2.0 tools, has on our disenfranchised students.  My challenge will be to offer the support that the staff needs to see that our students may need more than what is currently offered in our school.  I expect pockets of resistance, but I believe that, when the teachers see the excitement in previously disengaged students, they will be willing to try one or both of these ideologies in their classrooms.