Variations between High School and Middle School: Misbehavior

In another installment of my series focusing on the similarities and differences between middle school and high school, I bring you my thoughts on misbehavior.  Many misbehavior problems can be solved by engaging students in interesting content.  I talk about motivation in my post titled, "Need for Motivation."  However, I see a many difference in the main off-task behaviors of students in middle school versus students in high school.

In middle school the off-task behaviors seem to be much more active than their high school counterparts.  When off-task, middle school students are apt to get up and move around the classroom.  They are more likely to physically pester their classmates.  In middle school, the trend seems to be more active, physical disturbances.  The work for a teacher of middle school students hoping to correct misbehavior seems to be redirection; taking all the energy and excitement students have and focusing it more on the content.

In high school, the students' off-task behaviors seem to be much more passive and related more towards apathy and inattention.  They are much more likely to sleep in class, much more likely to stare off, or quietly draw or write something unrelated to the content.  The high school students, when off task, seem so disconnected from the work.  For teachers of high school students, the corrective work seems to be in motivation and creating personal connections to the work.

I spoke about motivation here.  If you have any suggestions for redirecting middle school students, helping to motivate high school students, or general thoughts on the subject, please post them below.