A few of my students complain about “all the work” they have to do, and how they do more work in my class than any other, and then I have the students who say my class is easy, as long as they do their work and study so they make good grades on the quizzes and tests. Well, that’s kind of the idea. I want them to be successful, and my goal is not to make the class hard, or make it impossible to make a good grade. However, I am not just going to hand the kids’ easy grades either; they have to learn how to work. If an extra bonus to my teaching is that I can somehow instill a small piece of a good work ethic, then they can go on to be even more successful in the future. I want to prepare them for college and what it is like because I want them all to go to college; if not right away, then eventually, because it is never too late.
The one constant issue I am running into with a percentage of my students, and in one class in particular it is a much larger percentage, is deadline issues. Many of the students just cannot seem to get their work in on time no matter what I do, how much I remind them, or how many bad grades they receive. My teacher blog has daily postings from me, in which I remind the students of upcoming work assignments, homework, and due dates. Yet they still show up without their work, act surprised when I tell them at the beginning of class to turn it in, and continue to do so even when they receive a penalty point losses for being late. How in the world do I combat the lateness?
Just being one day late will cost them a letter grade, and they lost another letter grade everyday! Unfortunately, this does not seem to have much of an impact, and it is quite aggravating. I probably should not let it aggravate me, but it does when I have to hear the same old tired excuses of why they do not have their work, or I get bombarded at the door with students who want to tell me why they do not have it. All I can do is shake my head and just tell them that they are responsible for their work, not me, and to bring it in late. I truly do not understand the lack of caring, or the lack of responsibility. When you tell the students they are late, there is no guilt. If anything, they feign an apology as if I am the one it is really hurting, except the ones they are hurting are themselves. They are the ones that need to pass this class and graduate. I try so hard to inspire my students to want more, but then realize that they will not even do the simple stuff. They certainly have the right to fail, but it is a sad thing in my opinion when they do. However, I try to stay positive; maybe some kids will be different.
Maybe one day I will be teaching at a school where higher education is more feasible, or looked at by the students as something they want. Maybe at some point I will be teaching an AP or Honors class where the students might have more responsibility. Maybe one day things will be different.
