Week 13
Last week, I worked with my students to review material in preparation for an upcoming test that covers our first unit, linear functions. Many students decided not to complete any work. As this is already one-third of the way through the school year, I am tired of asking students to simply give effort to try problems. After asking students anywhere from 3-5 times, I simply wrote down their names and started writing referrals because I find it unbelievable to have students not doing work. I understand that my students are freshman and still maturing, but asking them to simply work on problems and review in a fun atmosphere with the prize of candy and bragging rights in class should not be that difficult. I wrote 4 referrals for one class with 30 students in it. I am frustrated and saddened by the students who do no work. I feel that this grading policy is very liberal and allows students to be lazy and complete the bare minimum amount of work and "skate" by from class to class with a D average and push students through high school.
The "high school" diploma that these students are receiving is a joke. These students are de-valuing their high school degree because they are doing no work and not trying to learn. This is leading to employers not having enough highly qualified workers, which forces them to require applicants to have a college degree now and students want to complain that they cannot get a job without a high school degree. It all starts with the high schools and students actually working towards their futures. When students complete no work, schools simply do whatever they must to push students through so they can get their federal funding. This is why I feel the grading policy has changed and I do not like these changes in respect to my standard level students because they see the "Lowest Score" when they do no work and get a 50% as them doing alright. So if a student simply does a little bit of work, they can sneak by from class to class with a D or C average having learned very little.
These students then get into college and fail out in their first or second semester and cannot graduate because they did not learn what they were suppose to in high school. As a new teacher, the lack of effort from many of my students is disheartening because my students have no idea how lucky they are to live in a state like Maryland with a great education system and be born in the United States, compared to people in other countries who cannot get a free education or even get 2 or 3 meals a day, fighting just to stay alive. Meanwhile my students sit on their iPhone and complete no work, having no idea what it is going to do to their opportunities in the future.
Reid, your feelings are genuine and hard to read from any seat that you sit in. We know that you will keep working to find what will motivate the students in your classroom. Our goal, as teachers, is to not give up on our students and we know you can make it happen - we believe in you.
ReplyDeleteKeep talking to your mentor teacher in the school, to Mary Carol, and us. A couple of suggestions we can think of is: ask the students what they would work for in your classroom within reason, of course! In front of them while they do their top 3 ideas - write yours. Maybe you can find something that you all can agree on; for example, they will do their hw if they can listen to music when doing the practice problems during class time, listening to music you control during class time, developing a choice board (menu board) for doing some hw assignments during the unit, create teams and play jeopardy, survivor, numbered heads, etc.
Lastly, try finding the "leader(s)" of the classroom and find time to talk to them. They may have the solution you are looking for. Keep us posted. You are not alone in this problem; so many are having this issue and we are all in this together.