Today is the last day of classes, and yesterday a student asked if s/he could meet to talk with me about something. S/he had to leave right away, so we agreed to an online "chat" today . . . which we are in the middle of right now as I'm typing this blog post. [*Edit: we ended the conversation right as I typed up the last paragraphs below.*]
S/he wants to know if s/he can change the term paper topic because of "issues" with the first topic chosen. (Note: this essay was supposed to be turned in at midterm time, when I comment heavily on it so that students can revise for a better score. Our class is "writing intensive," so the students MUST get writing instruction and MUST revise.)
Whoa. A change on the last day of the semester. An assignment that was supposed to be done over the entire term.
Turns out that the student never turned in the assignment at midterm time. S/he is also missing another course essay (gave it to me yesterday with a bunch of other things, but it was due April 4). S/he's also missing another major assignment, although done relatively well on the "reading journal" and the course participation.
You've probably figured out the inevitable question posed on the chat 10 minutes ago: "Do you think I'll pass your class?" Hmmm. My guess is that it'll be really, really tough The final exam is next week, so there's a possibility of earning points there (the midterm exam was poor, so students can replace a poor exam score with a higher one).
But what's especially curious to me is the pronoun use in the question: "Do you think I'll pass your class." These indicate that the student hasn't gotten one of the things I hope to instill: that a class is a community of learners, that students should "claim their education" (we ever read Rich's essay this semester!).
The pronouns indicate I've failed in that goal. Dang.
Evacuation roots
5 hours ago
1 comment:
I don't think you've failed -- she failed herself by not participating in the process.
It seems to me that we're hired because we have area knowledge. We develop teaching knowledge and the combination leads us to construct opportunities for learning. If the student declines to take advantage of those opportunities, then s/he has failed themselves. You can't teach them if they don't make the effort.
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