To All Pissivity
Have you ever experienced something so annoying all you wanted was for it to be over. This is the way I feel about this semester; two classes in particular. It's annoyed me so much that I made sure to stock my refrigerator with enough turn up materials to ease the stress of things I don't understand. I know that last line could make me look like I try to drink my stress away, which is highly not the case but I'm so over this group of students that it doesn't make sense.
I really want to identify what it is that is upsetting me so I'll use this post to bring you up to speed on the life and times of Professor Curry. Buddy buddy buddy boi. Education is a double edge sword. The students blame the teachers. The teachers blame the students. Society blames everybody but we fail to understand that personalities clash and when they do, especially in an educational setting the very environment to foster ideas, understanding, can go haywire. Let me speak from a teacher's perspective.
For some reason these last 8 weeks of the semester have introduced me to students that may be good people but have some horrible educational etiquette. I don't know what it is but I have an overabundance of students that just all out don't do the work, show up late, and cause disruptions. I teach a public speaking class, which is not difficult at all. It's important that students be thorough with their assignments but all and all if you read the assignment directions and keep up with the course schedule, you will know what to do.
I've had to be more in your face about people getting to class on time than before and not playing on their cellphones. Call me anal but if I can't be on a phone while these mugs are speaking then they can't be when I'm speaking. So little by little I've had to enforce my point deduction policy on them. I got student effing up on stupid stuff like stapling your paper, reading all the directions on an assignment, doing the right assignment, all the things that make me say, " you honestly can't be that moronic when I just told you and showed you what to do with a visual, a simulation, and an explanation and 20 other students followed the assignment correctly...but something must be wrong with me." Sad to say but I have a handful of students in one class that are honestly just taking up oxygen in the room. Sad to say but I have students that know they need certain grades to transfer to the 4 year institution that aren't going to make it. Shoulder shrugs.
Another class makes me hang my head in shame. Due to a teaching conflict in scheduling I have to start the class at 5:15 when on the books it is supposed to start at 4:30. I ended up taking over a class because the original instructor bailed after he/she got hired. I have a class that doesn't end until 4:50 so it is impossible for me to be in class at 4:30. I decided to officially start lecture at 5:15 and post an in-class assignment for students to work on. This was supposed to create a system of accountability because students would be responsible for completing the in-class activity before I begin lecture at 5:15. About 21 of the students have caught onto that system of accountability and the other 5 have not.
My class has an explicit late policy. A policy in which 100% of the students spelled out as they completed the syllabus exam first week of class. That policy states that if you arrive more than 15 minutes late this is an absence and you forfeit participation points. Participation is roughly about 20% of the grade. So check this. On the record the class starts at 4:30. The class that they signed up for starts at 4:30. I had to relax that rule and start at 5:15 because of the time conflict between classes. Well even with a 5:15 start time, I have 5 students who can knock the ball out the park when it comes to showing up late. These mugs have done a spectacular job at showing up over an hour late. They already have a 45 minute window but they push it to the limit beyond that. The thing is, when you miss those in-class assignments you forfeit points towards your final grade. When you come in late, you are confused about what is going because you missed the opportunity to prepare because you came in late.
The part that makes me feel some kind of way is that each of these students are black. I barely have black students in any of my classes on this campus so it is a privilege for me, but I don't get this group.
One student, I admired a bit in the beginning. The student told me that they were new to college and really wanted to be in my class even though they weren't enrolled. I promise you that this student e-mailed me until someone was able to drop attempting to get in my class. Two weeks into the semester, I hardly see the student and when I do the students is always arriving after 5:30. SMDH. On top of that assignments aren't even getting turned in--even the asinine ones where you got points just for doing it. Two weeks left and unfortunately even if the student does the last major assignment it is not going to help the student pass the class.
Another student is actually very bright. The test scores show the student has been paying attention or at least knows where the material in the books is. Too bad the tests are the only thing this student is actually doing in the class. The student barely comes, the student actually left during the class to take the online test causing the student to miss the in-class assignment, and when the student comes to class, the student is an hour late. In my mind, I say why bother. If I were this student, I would know I was failing. I mean come on. You come to class chronically late and you haven't done any work. This student is well spoken, articulate, but I don't get what's going on. In my defense I have addressed the student's lateness twice. After that I sincerely don't want to waste my energy and breath. This is another case where I have a student taking up oxygen and space in a classroom. There is NO possible way that this student can reasonably say "I'm doing well, or I'm going to pass this class." You've got to be sincerely delusional to even draw that conclusion.
One is an A student that is just effing up with stupid stuff largely related to lateness. I don't know what it is. This one could probably pull a B, which isn't bad. My major beef is that this student started out strong and on top of things but declined and is now taking on some behaviors that are setting this student back, largely coming in over an hour late and not turning in work. #Kanyeshrugsanddropsthemic. Let me point out that this student has come in late consistently like it was a paid gig. Now each time this student sees me or we cross paths, I'll hear this person say "Sorry I came in late." After the second time, I translate this to just mean "I'm a sorry student." Hate to say it.
I have two more student. Both like the previous. I just don't get it. There is a lesson in all of this. One day I'll figure it out. Maybe I won't. I feel like what is happening to me is a sick and twisted joke cuz these students are a joke.
Is it because that I'm black that my black students think that anything goes. I don't want to internalize it anymore than I already have. The differences are stark. 21 other students seem to get it. Within that 21 left about 3 of which are black as well. The 5 I'm taking about just makes me shake my head in annoyance, disgust. Not because I think I'm better but because I know they can do better or maybe they can't who is to say. My girlfriend told me to not focus on the 5 that are effing up but to focus on the 21 that are pulling their weight. This is going to be a piece of work.
I had one piece of consultation as I walked out of lecture. An older student came up to me and just grinned. He said that if he could he would nominate me for an award. He said that my composure has made him want to change his degree to Communication just because of how I deal with the pressure. I tried not to vent, because holding all that stress in you can cause you to spill out on the first person that sees what you see. I told me that I appreciated that and the sad thing for those students is that it is all going to come back around in their grade. Without trying they are failing, which is what failing is. You don't have to try to fail. #shrugs. This brief conversation helped me see that I was not crazy and bugging out. Now as I reflect on what that student said, I even receive his encouragement more. This is a story that I'm working to find a moral in.
Another class makes me hang my head in shame. Due to a teaching conflict in scheduling I have to start the class at 5:15 when on the books it is supposed to start at 4:30. I ended up taking over a class because the original instructor bailed after he/she got hired. I have a class that doesn't end until 4:50 so it is impossible for me to be in class at 4:30. I decided to officially start lecture at 5:15 and post an in-class assignment for students to work on. This was supposed to create a system of accountability because students would be responsible for completing the in-class activity before I begin lecture at 5:15. About 21 of the students have caught onto that system of accountability and the other 5 have not.
My class has an explicit late policy. A policy in which 100% of the students spelled out as they completed the syllabus exam first week of class. That policy states that if you arrive more than 15 minutes late this is an absence and you forfeit participation points. Participation is roughly about 20% of the grade. So check this. On the record the class starts at 4:30. The class that they signed up for starts at 4:30. I had to relax that rule and start at 5:15 because of the time conflict between classes. Well even with a 5:15 start time, I have 5 students who can knock the ball out the park when it comes to showing up late. These mugs have done a spectacular job at showing up over an hour late. They already have a 45 minute window but they push it to the limit beyond that. The thing is, when you miss those in-class assignments you forfeit points towards your final grade. When you come in late, you are confused about what is going because you missed the opportunity to prepare because you came in late.
The part that makes me feel some kind of way is that each of these students are black. I barely have black students in any of my classes on this campus so it is a privilege for me, but I don't get this group.
One student, I admired a bit in the beginning. The student told me that they were new to college and really wanted to be in my class even though they weren't enrolled. I promise you that this student e-mailed me until someone was able to drop attempting to get in my class. Two weeks into the semester, I hardly see the student and when I do the students is always arriving after 5:30. SMDH. On top of that assignments aren't even getting turned in--even the asinine ones where you got points just for doing it. Two weeks left and unfortunately even if the student does the last major assignment it is not going to help the student pass the class.
Another student is actually very bright. The test scores show the student has been paying attention or at least knows where the material in the books is. Too bad the tests are the only thing this student is actually doing in the class. The student barely comes, the student actually left during the class to take the online test causing the student to miss the in-class assignment, and when the student comes to class, the student is an hour late. In my mind, I say why bother. If I were this student, I would know I was failing. I mean come on. You come to class chronically late and you haven't done any work. This student is well spoken, articulate, but I don't get what's going on. In my defense I have addressed the student's lateness twice. After that I sincerely don't want to waste my energy and breath. This is another case where I have a student taking up oxygen and space in a classroom. There is NO possible way that this student can reasonably say "I'm doing well, or I'm going to pass this class." You've got to be sincerely delusional to even draw that conclusion.
One is an A student that is just effing up with stupid stuff largely related to lateness. I don't know what it is. This one could probably pull a B, which isn't bad. My major beef is that this student started out strong and on top of things but declined and is now taking on some behaviors that are setting this student back, largely coming in over an hour late and not turning in work. #Kanyeshrugsanddropsthemic. Let me point out that this student has come in late consistently like it was a paid gig. Now each time this student sees me or we cross paths, I'll hear this person say "Sorry I came in late." After the second time, I translate this to just mean "I'm a sorry student." Hate to say it.
I have two more student. Both like the previous. I just don't get it. There is a lesson in all of this. One day I'll figure it out. Maybe I won't. I feel like what is happening to me is a sick and twisted joke cuz these students are a joke.
Is it because that I'm black that my black students think that anything goes. I don't want to internalize it anymore than I already have. The differences are stark. 21 other students seem to get it. Within that 21 left about 3 of which are black as well. The 5 I'm taking about just makes me shake my head in annoyance, disgust. Not because I think I'm better but because I know they can do better or maybe they can't who is to say. My girlfriend told me to not focus on the 5 that are effing up but to focus on the 21 that are pulling their weight. This is going to be a piece of work.
I had one piece of consultation as I walked out of lecture. An older student came up to me and just grinned. He said that if he could he would nominate me for an award. He said that my composure has made him want to change his degree to Communication just because of how I deal with the pressure. I tried not to vent, because holding all that stress in you can cause you to spill out on the first person that sees what you see. I told me that I appreciated that and the sad thing for those students is that it is all going to come back around in their grade. Without trying they are failing, which is what failing is. You don't have to try to fail. #shrugs. This brief conversation helped me see that I was not crazy and bugging out. Now as I reflect on what that student said, I even receive his encouragement more. This is a story that I'm working to find a moral in.
Comments