Lately life on the Teaching Front has been frustrating for yours truly. There has been a severe spike in failure rates in my classes. I'm used to a very slow, steady decline over the last three years which I ascribe to a number of different things: poor quality of public education, poor study skills, so forth.
This spike, on the other hand, is a bit distressing. Oh, I won't lose my job over something like this. If anything, my superiors will see it as a sign that I am running a tight ship. That said, I'm not happy about the poor performance. I know I'm not supposed to take it personally, but I do. I see some of these poor grades as a personal failure, mainly the students who I see putting forth exceptional amounts of effort in the hopes of improving their situation.
I've been talking to some of these students over the last few days. Federal law prevents me from discussing these contacts in detail and even if it didn't, I'd be reluctant to provide any specific details. That said, the standard issue comments are pretty much as follows:
1. I don't like history.
2. I don't like the wars.
3. My high school history teacher didn't push me very hard.
4. I just need this credit for X, Y, or Z.
The later is usually just a plea to grade a student based upon effort expended alone. I, personally, might be inclined to bend to this but my superiors won't stand for it.
The second one, I don't like the wars, is a bit harder to get a grip on. Having been to one, I have to say that I don't like wars per se either. Sure, I've argued in favor of wars, and I've argued against wars. I also know the cost of these damned things. That said, the thing that many students do not seem to understand is that "like" or "understand" does not mean "condone" or "agree."
Other problems include things I witnessed when I was in High School years ago (which is why I do not have much patience for the No Child Left Behind Catch All "It is All Bush's fault" argument). This includes showing videos instead of teaching (videos have to be used carefully not just tossed in as babysitting tools) and busy work in the form of simplistic dittos for turn in.
Thing is, I'm not just trying to teach these students history. Yes, that is my primary mission, but I have some secondary objectives.
1. Creating a proactive student. I'm trying to teach students to be proactive, come talk to me, ask me questions, follow up on their grades and the like. So many of them simply want to sit there and take no action at all.
2. Model efficient note taking skills. I've lost track of the number of students who seem to think it is vital, absolutely imperative, that they write down EVERY FUCKING WORD I say. I simply do not understand this beyond the fact that it is a case of anxiety coupled with perfectionism. Part of why I write on the board while refusing to use powerpoint is so I can force these students to take short hand notes. I move at my pace and they must keep up.
3. Improve their writing skills. I give out essay questions designed to make them think about their writing. So many of them just vomit something onto the page and assume that if they put enough lead/ink onto the page, something will stick.
So it has been pretty frustrating lately because what I hear, more often than not is, "I hate history," followed by, "You move too fast," coupled with, "I just need this class so I can graduate."
That is before you get to these favorite things which they are no longer allowed to ask.
1. Will this be on the test?
2. Should I write this down?
3. Did I miss anything important?
Having said all of that, it wasn't all bad this week. I ran into one of my former students who lamented that they missed the multiple choice portion of my exams. Apparently they are thick in the middle of a couple of writing intensive courses.
I asked, "Did my essay questions help prep you for those classes?"
The student replied that they did, indeed, help a great deal.
So some of my students get it.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
3 hours ago