Hello Again

Got a nice, cold glass of OJ (pulp free, of course) and finally sitting down after a long day. One of those days where everything was so up and down it's impossible to tell if it was a good one or a bad one. Just for the heck of it, might as well round up and call it a good one :-) I got my new DMB CD, anywho, and it's got a darn good version of Sweet Up and Down with rockin' alternate lyrics. Plus other fine tunes, of course.

Still pretty beat, with all my lesson plans and a test to write tonight.

I had some of those moments today when I felt like everything was going great, until I realized all I'd really done was epic fail. Kind of like when you think you ace a test, then get it back the next day with a big, fat F on the front. But we're over half way done with the week, so celebration is in order!

There was a sort of...eureka! moment today in teaching. Though maybe not with QUITE as much vigor, haha. I was grading tests, and it was killing me. I REALLY want these kids to succeed. I want them to do well, I want them to be proud of themselves and their work...and I'm doing my best to help them be successful. During our review yesterday, I basically told them EXACTLY what was going to be on the test. And still, I'm getting RIDICULOUS answers to questions that we answered EVERY SINGLE DAY in class for the last week. I can't understand it. I don't know if it's ME or if it's them. Mostly I lean towards me. And so I try to give as many points as I can when I grade. If they're at ALL close, I give them at least half credit. Or if they answered incorrectly, but if I think about it I understand how they misinterpreted the question I give them the benefit of the doubt.

Then it hit me.

How is that helping them? I'm not saying I should be a hard a**...but...why not demand that they study? If they had studied, they would have gotten at least a B. MAYBE a high C. They just had matching and fill in the blanks. That's doable. Then maybe...if they worked hard and actually did well because of their own efforts...then they'd feel pride in themselves. Maybe that's better for them than letting them half a** their way through the course. Just thinking out loud...jury's still out on most of my teaching philosophies. And I don't yet know how to push kids the right way...we'll see. Time will provide some answers. It all seems to be a pretty delicate balance.

Anywho...there's work to be done.



I guess all we can really do is to do the best we can.