15 January 2002

Today, I am going to vent.

Two students from my College Prep class came to see me after school.
They told me that I am expecting too much from them and that I should give them time in class to get their work done!! (ha! How college like is that? :)

We are reading Macbeth. I have created fairly good sized study guides to make them look at each scene in detail. So far, this semester, we have finished ONE ACT of Macbeth. Basically, I assign about 4-5 pages from the textbook, then they have about 15-20 questions to answer from the study guide (Some students have already completed act 1 study guide and have asked for 2 and 3). Okay, so there are a lot of questions, but the class only meets every other day!!! AND many of the questions are personal opinion types, like “How do you think Macbeth spoke these lines” or something corny like that. Just something to help draw them into the story.

*I* don’t think I am expecting too much from them, but then, I’ve been to college, and I know what it is like. I don’t want them to get there and come back later and tell me how easy my class was and how it didn’t prepare them for anything… *sigh*

Last Tuesday, many students were absent. They went on a field trip with another class. (to the new Topeka Library! :)
SO, with so many gone, I didn’t want to discuss Macbeth, and have so many miss out on important aspects and questions, so I went ahead and started a assignment leading up to their portfolio’s and research papers. Basically, some busy work, but still important. (We are going to go back to the library tomorrow so that they can work on the research of careers some more.) Their resumes are due tomorrow. I told them if they needed an example, they could look in their writer’s ink books, among other places, including online for examples. I may extend it now, after these kids came in and complained. We’ll see.

Anyway, for a break and another effort to understand Macbeth, we “listened” to it Monday, (Just the first act) while they followed along in the book. (It was one of the older movies, anyway, so nothing to really distract them from reading along.)

So, since school started Friday, Jan 4, we have completed ONE ACT of Macbeth. That is all.

Okay, now for the other complaint. These two students do not want to discuss Macbeth (or any other stories) in class. They want me to “teach” it … Lecture? are they serious? Sheesh. What planet are these children from!??!?! They say that they are not learning anything from the discussions, and that we always get off topic. I wouldn’t say off topic, I would say we are relating it to today’s society and today’s issues. BUT, that is just me, and who am I? THE TEACHER dammit!!!

Their final complaint is that some students are not paying attention and are distracting, BUT giving pop quizzes when students aren’t settling into the discussion is counter-productive. WHAT? It works, doesn’t it? JEEZ!!!!

Tomorrow, I am going to talk to the vice-principal (if she is there, I seem to remember her saying something about being gone later this week.) She used to be an English teacher. I want to get input from people on this, before I continue.

Tomorrow, the class will go to the library, and Friday is book day. This will give them a break until I figure out if I am being too hard on these students, these students who are 17-18 years old and planning on going to college. These kids who really need to learn time management… Hmm, there is an idea. Maybe I can find my old time management worksheets and assign them tomorrow too. (oh no, more work. damn!!)

Thanks for letting me vent.

Blessed Be!!!