Exam time

It's that time of the semester for my students, exams. Why is it that they don't seem to care? I've been pondering some thoughts with my collegues and we've decided that they just don't have any motivation to do well. No matter what we say or do, they don't seem to care. One co-worker stated that she heard a speaker say that we now live in an "it's good enough" society. I have been thinking about that a lot lately and truly believe it. My students will only do what they must just to pass, not what they can to achieve a higher score. It amazes me how many students won't turn in a large piece, half, of the exam, the essay. It bothers me and I tell them how easy it can be and that their grade is depending on this. Still, no essay. I know that I can't make the writing process any easier for them and yet nothing. It's no one kid in particular and I know that this is true across the board in schools everywhere. Why do our young adults feel that it's OK to be just average? As a policy, I do not accept late work for credit. I never have and I don't plan to. However, I get these kids every day asking me to take late work. It's making me wonder if I am speaking in a mute tone that their ipod ears can't hear. What is confusing? NO LATE WORK FOR CREDIT! They can really be so irresponsible and it drives me crazy. If I don't do my job on time, I could potentially lose my job. If they can't meet a small deadline in my class, how will they succeed in the real world? Aren't we, as educators, supposed to prepare them for reality? There can be some outsiders that don't understand this. How I say? Do they not have deadlines to meet in their professions and homes? That's life. Don't pay the bills on time and just see what happens. No power, phone, gas, heat, cable, internet, and on and on and on. They would really be suffering if they couldn't download their songs and videos onto their ipods.

I have a theory regarding all of this, but we'll save that for another time or an in person discussion. Little pitchers have big ears, right?

Whew, I feel better getting that off my chest. I mean no offense to anyone, but I really believe that there are too many people who believe that teachers have it easy. I would like for them to put on my shoes for one week and just see how "easy" we have it. I'm not saying that there aren't harder jobs, but people don't understand the amount of time we put in and how much we value what happens to our future leaders. Plus all of the requirements that are put on us outside of the schools we work for. There aren't many professions like ours where continued education is required not just recommended. It's constantly changing and ongoing.

Anyway, I could go on forever, but I won't. I want to express some happy thoughts to my friends D and G who have their little girl. She is beautiful and we can't wait to meet her.

LOL
CDR