I saw something yesterday in all three classes that I think students need to know about. It's about how teachers know when you are trying your hardest or not.
Many students worked VERY hard yesterday, after I was absent for 2 days in a row. But when I checked the work they had completed in those two days, many students seemed like they had done very little work. And this is confusing because I know how fast some of them work. Here's how most teachers think:
We see how fast or slow you work. It doesn't take us that long of watching you to know your speed at certain types of assignments. If it's reading, writing, completing a worksheet, researching - whatever it is, we slowly get to know you and how hard you work. So if on Thursday, I saw a student finish a CRAP test in 30 minutes, but then I come back from being absent for 2 days and they have only completed 2 more CRAP tests, it makes me wonder, "Damn, on Thursday, it took them 30 minutes to complete one CRAP test, but on Monday and Tuesday, over 3 and a half hours, they only completed 2 more? That means that it took them 1 hour and 45 minutes to finish their second CRAP test and another hour and 45 minutes to finish their third? That's confusing."
And that makes us notice you more. And then students often don't like when they are being watched more closely, because they feel like they aren't being trusted, or they feel like they are being singled out and targeted. But really, the teacher is just trying to see if they are really confused or if they are wasting time. Because it is our job to make you the best you can be. And if you're slacking, we need to know why - if you're confused, we need to help you fix your confusion. If you're wasting time, we need to teach you why that's going to hurt later on. Because let's face it - I was a teenager too, and I slacked off big time in certain classes. That's why I can't speak Spanish. I took Spanish for 5 years in high school and never practices it, cheated on the HW, cheated on the quizzes and tests, and now I am living in a city full of people who speak Spanish, teaching students who speak Spanish, and I can't. And I really regret that. But at the time, I was all like, "Why do I need to know Spanish? This is stupid."
So students, we're never trying to hurt you, we are never trying to come at you, we're never targeting you and not other people - we are trying to make you the best you can be. That's why we are on top of you about getting work done quickly, so you can prove to yourself that you can work fast and work well.
Many students worked VERY hard yesterday, after I was absent for 2 days in a row. But when I checked the work they had completed in those two days, many students seemed like they had done very little work. And this is confusing because I know how fast some of them work. Here's how most teachers think:
We see how fast or slow you work. It doesn't take us that long of watching you to know your speed at certain types of assignments. If it's reading, writing, completing a worksheet, researching - whatever it is, we slowly get to know you and how hard you work. So if on Thursday, I saw a student finish a CRAP test in 30 minutes, but then I come back from being absent for 2 days and they have only completed 2 more CRAP tests, it makes me wonder, "Damn, on Thursday, it took them 30 minutes to complete one CRAP test, but on Monday and Tuesday, over 3 and a half hours, they only completed 2 more? That means that it took them 1 hour and 45 minutes to finish their second CRAP test and another hour and 45 minutes to finish their third? That's confusing."
And that makes us notice you more. And then students often don't like when they are being watched more closely, because they feel like they aren't being trusted, or they feel like they are being singled out and targeted. But really, the teacher is just trying to see if they are really confused or if they are wasting time. Because it is our job to make you the best you can be. And if you're slacking, we need to know why - if you're confused, we need to help you fix your confusion. If you're wasting time, we need to teach you why that's going to hurt later on. Because let's face it - I was a teenager too, and I slacked off big time in certain classes. That's why I can't speak Spanish. I took Spanish for 5 years in high school and never practices it, cheated on the HW, cheated on the quizzes and tests, and now I am living in a city full of people who speak Spanish, teaching students who speak Spanish, and I can't. And I really regret that. But at the time, I was all like, "Why do I need to know Spanish? This is stupid."
So students, we're never trying to hurt you, we are never trying to come at you, we're never targeting you and not other people - we are trying to make you the best you can be. That's why we are on top of you about getting work done quickly, so you can prove to yourself that you can work fast and work well.