tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post4364366368432953371..comments2024-03-08T14:23:31.503-05:00Comments on A Puff of Absurdity: On Expectations and Time LimitsMarie Snyderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-51823778702725919092016-02-07T13:20:48.473-05:002016-02-07T13:20:48.473-05:00Absolutely! I love hearing your stories. I also ha...Absolutely! I love hearing your stories. I also hated high school: I dropped out three times and went back twice. And then, after three years of soul-sucking work in a massive insurance corporation, I found my way into university where I thrived. <br /><br />I'm happy to have students drop in or let me know this is their "throw away course" or just sit and listen without doing any of the work. I even tell them they don't <i>have</i> to do anything in the course - unless they want to pass. Radical freedom and all that jazz. The problem I have is when students don't do the work, and then they get upset with me for having boundaries around the workload. Marie Snyderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-30038613001185092112016-02-07T13:11:43.449-05:002016-02-07T13:11:43.449-05:00My admin has been great. But we get to have a disc...My admin has been great. But we get to have a discussion whenever a student or parent has an issue.Marie Snyderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-7163201600163686022016-02-07T13:10:59.909-05:002016-02-07T13:10:59.909-05:00Yup - I offer lots of process work opportunities a...Yup - I offer lots of process work opportunities at every stage, but we can't assign a grade to any formative work. The problem is that some don't take that opportunity, and that others completely ignore my feedback until they get a number at the top of the page - and <i>then</i> they want to re-do it. I'm going to qualify this by saying a good 60% of the class does everything and on time. <br /><br />It's interesting, but now, as far as possible, we're not allowed to have the mark reflect effort. It has to be solely a reflection of ability. Curious, eh?Marie Snyderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13872774009526266579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-17324462125175818942016-02-07T12:20:03.860-05:002016-02-07T12:20:03.860-05:00I was going to write the usual supportive pap abou...I was going to write the usual supportive pap about how obvious your points were and how dismayed I was that you should even have to defend them. Everything you've written is true, entirely logical, self-explanatory.<br /><br />Then the Guilt Bomb struck. I spent my final year of high school as close to the stature of a professional truant as one could possibly aspire. Missing assignments, missing me - same, same.<br /><br />I despised high school. It just wasn't the right place to be, not for me, not at that time. Underage, I threw myself into the RCAF aircrew selection programme and somehow sailed right through. I was told I might have to wait a year to commence training but, no matter, it still felt like I had been plucked out of the ocean. All I wanted to do was fly fast jets.<br /><br />The thing is, Marie, I really liked my teachers and most of them seemed to really like me in that way that teachers can sometimes indulge chronic underachievers.<br /><br />The fact is that I didn't understand education until years later when I got around to university. I loved it and excelled almost effortlessly. Then I plunged into journalism because that seemed an excellent place to earn a salary without really working very hard. And then on to law although I still have trouble being honest with myself about that decision.<br /><br />I know it's your solemn and high duty to bring these kids to a certain place within a limited time but there are some incredibly talented, potentially capable students who simply are not ready and there's nothing anyone can do to change that. It's not a failure on their part or yours. They're just not in the right place at a time of someone else's choosing. There are some who need to run wild, find their own challenges. I wish I'd never stopped.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-26188631203253253982016-02-07T11:32:16.036-05:002016-02-07T11:32:16.036-05:00Your expectations seem realistic, responsible and ...Your expectations seem realistic, responsible and professional, Marie. Your reference to numerous meetings with admin suggests, however, that the latter's concern resides more with optics and parental placation than quality of education. You have my admiration and my sympathies.Lornehttp://www.politicsanditsdiscontents.blogspot.canoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939915290794973654.post-16965533976106642262016-02-07T10:35:10.906-05:002016-02-07T10:35:10.906-05:00Just a thought, Marie. When I taught, students cou...Just a thought, Marie. When I taught, students could write an essay twice -- a first draft, which I marked and a second draft, which I also marked.<br /><br />I believed it was easier to teach kids to re-write than to write. The dates were firm on both assignments. If they missed one draft, they got marked for one draft and the mark was half of what it could be. If they did both drafts the overall marked tended to improve.<br /><br />The downside: I always had a pile of marking. But, generally, it motivated kids to do the work. And, if they didn't do the work, there was a clear penalty.<br /><br />Most importantly, their success was clearly related to the effort they put into the assignment.<br /><br />By, the way, lots of my colleagues thought I was a glutton for punishment -- and they were (perhaps) eight.<br />Owen Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06464860078574618579noreply@blogger.com