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FINAL BLOG POST - OUR "DAILY TRIPLE" (DUE 12/1).
This week I would like you to use your imagination. You have just won the lottery and will leave your teaching post immediately to travel around the world. As you leave your keys you meet your replacement. You are asked to give this new teacher just ONE piece of advice. What would that be, and why? Enjoy your world expedition!

Blog Post - Week 7
This past week in my own teaching I felt a little disconnected which prompts my question to you, "What was the moment (or moments) when I felt most disconnected or disengaged as a teacher - the moment(s) I said to myself, I'm just going through the motions here?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 6
For the past couple of weeks you have experienced asynchronous online learning (doing modules by yourself). Previously this semester you have experienced synchronous online learning (all together in the Collaborate room). Which do you think is more effective and why do you think that? Which do you like better, and why?

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 5
This week we have what we call "open mic." You can write a post about anything related to your teaching that you would like responses from your classmates.

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 4
Here is this week's question: "What was the event that most took me surprise this week - and event that shook me up, caught me off guard, gave me a jolt, or made me unexpectedly happy?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 3
Please write a post about the following question, "In thinking about my past week teaching what is one thing I would do differently, and why?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 2
Please write a post about the following question, " In thinking about my teaching activities this past week, of what do I feel most proud? Why?"

Fall Semester 2016 Blog Post - Week 1
Describe something you used in your program in the first weeks of school that you learned in the summer NTI program. How did it work? Did it get you off to a stronger start than last year?

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Lesson Learned

The most important thing I've learned about my students in the past term/year is not to let my emotions get in the way of my job. Last year, it pained me to “give” a failing grade to a student. I cared so much for my students that I felt like I was failing them as a teacher when they didn’t pass my class. Then I came to realize that I was not “giving” the grade, they were actually “earning” it. For example, I had one of our baseball players fail my class for the 3rd nine weeks. He came to me Thursday and asked if there was anything he could do to pull up his grade. I told him to put more effort into the class for the 4th nine weeks and it would all balance out. That was a big lesson for me to learn, I am not giving the grades, they are earning them.

7 comments:

Dr. M said...

Hi, Kevin - that really is a big lesson for you as well as a big 'life lesson' for your students, as job termination for performance failure is something we can teach them to avoid. With experience you will begin, if not already, to identify those students in danger of failing, and provide effective interventions to prevent that occurance. Very good post.

Grummer said...

I agree. I still have a hard time sticking to my guns when I have a student begging for a second chance. I hope that I'll harden up as I get older! It will pay off for the students if they learn that they can't procrastinate in life.

Ken Blackwell said...

I agree, I begged for work, called parents and begged for work, did intervention and then they wanted to turn in work. I had a parent teacher conference last week where a father blamed us for his sons performance! He stated we were too soft, allowed too many chances and he felt his son thought there would always be another day! What a revelation, someone gets it! Without consequenses they will not respect us, or worse themselves.

bernardo said...

Hi Kevin J,

I enjoyed reading your post and I can understand what you a feeling when it come to certain students. I had a similar situation with a student who plays for the school’s basketball team. He was constantly coming to class late and not doing any class work. Even though I liked this student and I wanted him to succeed I had to fail him for that semester and he ended up not playing in the school championship game. He asked me plenty of times to change his grade but I had to explain to him there are consequences for your action and in this case it caused him to miss the biggest game of his school career.

Bernardo

Leonard said...

I have had some of the same problems as you with feeling bad about a student failing your class. But, like you, I realized fast that they indeed earned the grade. They would come to me and say why I gave them this grade, and I would feel bad for them and try to fix it. That's not what will happen in the real world. They will have to answer for themselves. Now when they come to me, they know not to ask me why I gave them this, instead they ask what can I do to fix it myself.

Josh Dempsey said...

As the great Hulk Hogan would say, "Right on brother." It is difficult for me to "fail" my students too, but I have come to the realization that if they can't put in the minimal effort to pass my class, I am not feeling sorry for them.

Joe Westbrook said...

I have become harder as I have gained more experience. I have also learned parents do not want failure. They want to blame you for everything! You are right, we "pay" our students for work by giving appropriate grades. I tell my students that a lot of them would be unemployed in the real world outside high school because they do not do their work.