12:38: What was I Thinking?
No one will probably contact me today.
What was I thinking?
I pre-empted the class with an email last night that
told them the grades were low b/c yadda yadda
& that before they email me, they need to pick
up their papers
to review yadda yadda . . .
that I would be out of town until the 20th.
No one will do that much work--yet.
Instead, they will wait until they go home and
their parents see the final grade . . . exploding
into tiny bits.
So even though this is the quarter that will probably never end,
I won't hear from them right away--oh no.
It'll hit when I least expect it.
Do other teacher fear for their lives
when they feel forced to hand out bad grades???
Well--enjoy your Thursday, I'm cutting the PC string.
And off to pack.
posted by SquirrleyMojo @ 12:38 PM
5 Comments:
It's odd, but I never pictured teachers feeling bad about giving low marks.
I mean, the student earned what they received, right?
I flunked a geometry class once - It was 50% my fault, the rest were other factors, none of which were the teacher, she was good.
But it did not occur to me that she might feel bad about it.
Mike, I was once a teacher and worried myself sick over my students' grades. You can't imagine the nearly overwhelming sense of failure a teacher feels when students fail a class.
Yes, teachers do feel badly for putting the "F" next to a student's name--because in most cases, the student is capable of better work than an "F."
Squirrley, I had lower grades this semester than ever before. Even if it may not be true (or may be), I feel as if the low grades are somehow my fault. And what about the girl who had mono all semester, was sick every weekend, but still kept up with her work? And then she dropped the ball at the end, and didn't turn in a final portfolio? She still got a D in the class, but then it was an F because of absences. And then her taking advantage of my helping her. And then me not knowing whether she was telling the truth. It was horrible.
And then there's the kid who wants to talk about his portfolio, to which I told him he could come in next fall and we can talk about it, but what kind of person was I to say that? And the other kid who plagiarized? I haven't had student response like this before (and I hope you don't), and it's hard to brush it off under the rug. Because it sticks.
And to top it off, I'm wondering if my significant other is the type of person who "Doesn't want to learn," and I feel guilty about writing that, but it's the honest truth. I am at a place in my relationship and I don't know if we'll get past it--because I conflate him with my students who say, "Hamlet doesn't tell us anything about today," which isn't fair to him, but is hard for me not to do.
Wow. That was a lot of my history.
Teaching has such growing pains. And right now I'm having to rely on others telling me I do a good job, because I don't quite believe it myself. But hopefully by next semester I will.
On a lighter note, have a great trip SQMojo -- you have earned your vacation.
Who knows, perhaps we will pass on the highway once you get to NC. I will be headed down to Wilmington sometime next week -- maybe I'll pop over to Emerald Isle on my way down and see if I can pick you out on the beach ;)
My wife's a teacher. I feel for the lot of you. It's sad to see the work these kids hand in. No child is stupid and they could all pass if they tried, but sadly they don't. I don't know if it's too much TV or fast food or parents not giving a damn (My theory is the parents). I'm always amazed at teh fact that a kid can do great work, take it home and the parents don't care. If the same kids bring home a bad grade because they didn't pu tin the effort the same parents suddenly care enough to berate the teacher since they gave the mark!!
Sad what people are like, but that's education these days. You lot are a bunch of troopers, and while it is draining, I see what happens when you get that one kid in th class that clicks and makes it all worthwhile. Here's hoping you always get at least one every year!!
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