Today grades were due. I love my job most days, but this was not one of those days. My students make some really poor decisions sometimes. It is amazing how they are unable to see the longterm effects of things. Each term, students are allowed 3 absences. If they miss more than 3 days, they may come to the opposite school session ANY day (AM students can come PM, PM to an AM) or they can make up classes after school, and the last few weeks they can even make up days on a Saturday. It takes 2 hours to make up a 4 hour absence. It is really not that hard to do. Twenty four of my students FAILED because they did not make up the days. Twenty four students will lose credit this term and need to repeat ALL 4 classes. Almost all of these students would have passed otherwise.
Seventeen students failed my class this term because they did not turn in the pages that they ALREADY FINISHED coloring all term long. They needed to glue the pages to a sheet of paper and turn it in to me by Friday. They had TWO days to GLUE! They will be repeating the entire term because they had a borderline low grade and didn't turn in their coloring. How sad!
Today, as we started term 4 classes, I was confronted by at least 5 students who were confused about their schedules. They were sure they had already studied Romeo and Juliet. Why yes, they did. And yes, they did understand it and do almost all the work. However, because poor attendance choices or one major assignment not turned in, they now need to do it ALL again. They are completely crushed, but they knew this back in Term 2 when they made the choice. It is amazing how the consequences suddenly set in. They felt no disappointment when they saw the failing grade on their Term 2 report card, but suddenly they realize what it means. For those students, today is the first of many boring days sitting in the same 4 classes for the second time around. And for some discouraged souls, its the fourth and fifth time around. I like Romeo and Juliet as much as the next person, but can you imagine learning it four times or more?
Each time this happens, I am not sure how to feel. Part of me has pity and wants to bump them up to passing this time around. I want them to have at least the hope of passing. But part of me knows that they need to learn to make good choices. I really don't have any deep spiritual thoughts when it comes to my students. I struggle between being the compassionate teacher giving hope or the disciplined educator producing students who excel. No matter how I feel, all 8 of my current classes have at least one person in each for whom it is the second time around.
1 comment:
ah...different rules at your school and my former school...but similar situations.
it's always a bummer b/c you know what you're asking is not THAT hard.
when it came down to it...it wasn't a conflict though in my mind. it wasn't a matter of compassion or exceling. it wasn't even about academics.
it was about learning the important lesson that "you have to learn to play the game."
they may think the rules are stupid, but if they don't learn to figure out the rules they'll fail in life (think paying bills, moving into an apartment, getting good credit scores, etc.)
it doesn't matter if we think the rules are good or not...but you teach them that you figure out the rules so you can get what you want...even if the rules are dumb.
Post a Comment