Everyone has that one class, where everyone seems to be a little wilder. But what may surprise you, is that there might be a reason for all of the mischief, that has nothing to do with the teacher or the time of day.

“When a bunch of 8th grade boys get together, they can do very silly things,” Mrs. Friesenhahn said.

Silly doesn’t necessarily mean disruptive, and can often mean fun and can help keep students ready to engage.

Some 8th grade teachers may find their 2nd or 8th period classes as being loud or difficult, and the most likely reason is distribution of genders. In 2nd period, there is girls’ athletics, and in 8th period, boys’ athletics. This means that 8th grade classes in 2nd or 8th period likely have very uneven gender distributions, and this can cause mayhem in the classroom.

“I think my 2nd period class is a little crazy, but mostly just fun,” Jack Leuschen said.

Again, a valid point is that a little craziness or silliness in the classroom isn’t always the worst thing, especially if students are disengaged and need some motivation to focus.

Having a class of mostly boys or mostly girls can cause a lot of trouble for teachers, because a lot of the time, a friend group develops with one gender, and another friend group develops with another gender. This means that a class of mostly boys or mostly girls may include a friend group or part of one, and this can cause a lot of trouble for the teacher, as talking with friends is naturally something we want to do.

“The boys are ‘different’ in 8th period,” Asher Montgomery mentioned.

Often the classes in class periods of boys or girls athletics include students whose friend groups are limited or split up. This can lead to a perception of them being “different”.

While it’s not really anybody’s fault the classes are like this, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to think about how the teachers feel in these moments. Trying to teach a chatty or loud group of friends seems like a pretty daunting task, and the teachers could always use a little help.