Whew -- teaching is hard
Well, I think I'm a teacher again. Just when I start to think that I'm a hard ass and that I must expect too much from the students, I talk to another teacher who tells me that this is how they (the students) all are now.
I'm having a hard time believing the state of the our children. I'm amazed by how many whining students come to me wanting me to let them slip by the guidelines, how many have their mommies send notes (I'm not kidding) telling me that my policy that students can't turn in late papers is unreasonable, and how many students think that becoming defensive and obnoxious will actually make me take them more seriously rather than making me want to fail them immediately.
Other teachers say that this is where students are. More and more parents take their children off to college and spend a full week in the college town helping them adjust to their new (presumably harder) lives. Remember driving away from home with the car packed? What a great feeling; I didn't want any parental transition period. I must be the last of my breed. My friend that just sent off her daughter to Athens says her daughter is the only one in her dorm that knows how to do laundry. She's holding training sessions in the laundry room with all the girls who never had to wash clothes before. At what point to we harm our children by coddling them?
This week I almost told a parent that she was ruining her daughter's chances for success in life. I held my tongue. I don't want to parent the parents.
All of this is to say that I hope that I am finding some rhythm in teaching again, and that I will be able to post more often. Don't hold your breath.
Even when I'm not posting, though, I'm seething about something. :)
posted by perrykat at
2:40 PM
2 Comments:
I am with comet here. ;-)
Oh where to start...
This is one of these, I need to bring a bottle of wine over, discussions. Brief aside to say that it stinks that I can't... okay, moving on.
My ethics teacher at Auburn was, I think, probably the most influential teacher I ever had. One thing I remember was his policy about people being late for class (much less late with papers).
Someone came in late one time, excusing it saying that they got caught in traffic.
The question coming back: did you think there would not be traffic? Did you allow time for traffic? Why did you think there would not be traffic? Or did you think there might be traffic, but you chose to risk it?
Point being, he taught us to think responsibly. Even that may be an overstatement... or missing the point...
We already knew how to think responsibly. We knew that, and he knew that. But we didn't know that he knew that. He established early that not only did he know that we were smart, but that we were expected to use our intelligence.
He taught me in particular that there is no refuge for irresponsibility. Just like a little child can ask "why?" over and over again, an adult can ask "why" and eventually force you to admit that the reason you didn't do something is, essentially, that you didn't want to (or didn't want to enough).
When I first applied for the job I have now, I asked what trait the company found hardest to get. My interviewer said, someone who takes responsibility for getting something done.
To me, primary and secondary school teach you information and social/basic skills. Extracurricular programs etc. may often teach an important form of group responsibility, but I really think it is University where people really learn to take responsibility for their work. I think it is the single most important thing that people learn at University.
How I'd love to be doing this:
Did you not understand the due date for this? Was there anything that led you to believe that you are not expected to turn your paper in on the due date? Do you think you planned your time wisely in preparing for this assignment? Did you think you had enough time to complete the work when it was assigned? When did you first realize that you might not complete the work in time?
And more generally, something that I think was communicated in my ethics class was that, while in many situations it may seem easier to get forgiveness than permission, this class was not one of those situations.
At the end of the day, each student is learning to be a responsible adult. To be responsible for their work. If they are not able to complete their work, they are nevertheless responsible for it. They can approach the teacher if they do not understand something, if they feel they are falling behind, if special circumstances make it unlikely that they will be able to complete the work they're responsible for.
But if a deadline comes, and no arrangements have been made to the contrary, and the work is not complete, and the grade must reflect this.
I guess this is the main thing to communicate: that students, like all other adults in the real world, will ultimately be graded by the quality of their work. That every student should learn to ask (without having to have someone else ask them) "Am I capable of doing this work/showing up on time/etc?" If so, then do it. If not, either learn to or go home.
What I see way too much of is a sense in many people that very little is expected of them. That if they meant well, had good intentions, made plans, had something unexpected come up, etc., then that's good enough.
Something unexpected came up? Has something unexpected ever come up before? Did you allow time in case something unexpected came up? If not, why not? If it took longer than you thought it would, how did you estimate the time it would take? Did anything prevent you from completing your work, that you could not have reasonably been expected to foresee? Will you be able to better plan your time in the future, to ensure that your work is completed as assigned? Is it fair to hold you accountable for your planning?
Etc.
Thanks, ya'll. I'm glad to know that later in life this girl will appreciate me. She is currently writing a paper on personal responsibility. I'll let you know what it says.
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