Alas, there were no stunning revelations in the letters yesterday, and the ones that one might interpret as taking "my side" did nothing to balance the ones that straight-up attacked me. Well, the one. One might wonder, "What unthoughtful heathen would turn an extra credit assignment into an accusation of the very teacher awarding extra credit to help his unsightly grade?" And well you might wonder.
Suffice it to say, I made sure he did know that I was not granting first period more Q&A time while third period only played games that apparently do him no good (he predicted still worse failure rates if I don't cut back to one game a week).
Besides games, other factors found at fault included the following:
- talking
- sleeping
- ability levels
- effort
- study time
- apathy
- Spanish I preparation
- bells (4 lunches throughout the period--the kiddos get distracted and ready for lunch, though theirs is last)
So since it looked like we were headed for another one of those days before even going over the homework, I decided to address these concerns with a little discussion in third period. (First period, either because of fewer points or because they knew it wasn't their problem, did not turn in as many--though 2 who checked in after my class and 1 who was at the
DMV all day tried to turn them in a day late. Tough titty, said the kitty.)
I'd say it took about 15 minutes, and students got their voices heard. Furthermore, they offered assistance: to combat the talking, they proposed punitive worksheets. Mind you, all but 6 refused the offer to switch to a more worksheet-oriented class time, but they suggested that I start doling 'em out to those who aren't letting the others learn. Not only that, but they said give them detention when they don't do them!
This might actually work, I think! This way I can have a store for those 6 who need more busy work to make their work make sense AND an instant signal to shut up as I head for the worksheets. Plus if they're in detention with me for not doing them, all I have to do is sit there until they do them! I think it'll be worth building up my store (starting next week).
Several students plead jobs, senior projects, and honors classes. Still other students piped up that time devoted to those was a choice. So we agreed that though we can control effort, we may still choose not to, and thus must accept the consequences. How about that for maturity too?
In the end, I got to point out how we did, in fact, review more or less like their Spanish I teachers, though not with flashcards. Plus one of the ones who complained of the lack of flashcards to her Spanish I teacher backed me up and said my
compañera told her that it was her job to do what she knew worked for her. I agreed to try to make homework closer to the tougher Q&A portions of the quizzes, and then got to point out again that that is why we cannot review exactly like Spanish I: more depth now.
So I think--think--we're in a good place. The irate letter writer came to tutoring and had a break-through on the present progressive. And though most didn't DO the translate-from-English-to-Spanish homework last time I assigned it, they pretty much all took it seriously and learned from it this time I think.
God forgive me, I might have an optimistic bone in me yet.
Comments (3)
Good for you... hang on to the optimism.
You sound like a thoughtful and flexible instructor, what I wouldn't have given for a teacher more concerned with my success in a Spanish class! Much better than derision. "It's in the book, go look it up."
Yeah, four lunch bells in a single period makes Pavlov's dogs a little cagey I'd imagine. Must they broadcast such things through the entire school?