I gave my students full instructions on what to do for homework over this long weekend. I told them I'd quiz them today, and that they should look up all the vocabulary they didn't know in Chapter 2 of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets.
And so what did they do? They came in today, shocked and dismayed that I would give them a quiz with vocabulary that I hadn't spoonfed to them last week. They kept asking if I would give them make-up work to balance what will surely be a rotten score on today's quiz.
I am disappointed with them but I also wonder (of course, as always) what I did wrong. I mean I really thought I warned them thoroughly. But there are times when verbal instructions seem to land nowhere inside a middle schooler's brain.
Sometimes I think I take all this way too seriously. Like if I don't make sure every little thing is seared into their minds then they won't be able to defend themselves in the coming revolution. And that's silly because when the revolution comes it's not going to make any difference if they know what a euphemism is or if they remember one lousy detail from Maggie. What they'll need to know is maybe anything they learned in Girl Scouts, like how to make a fire without a butane lighter or how to build shelter without an Eddy Bauer camper tent.
How will they live without their electronics, their iPods and cell phones and tv and computer games?
I need some Amaretto.
The view of the backyard from my mom's house
That light fixture is now gone, sadly.
1 comment:
no, they don't NEED it. but yes, they should follow directions. what if, in the revolution, their leader wants them to follow some complex instruction to achieve victory? what then!??! see? you provide an important learning experience.
and besides, being blown off by students is just damn annoying. you need to develop some attitude that makes them feel terrible if they disappoint you. guilt is always good, a viable teacher's trick.
(thanks for reading my blog, too!)
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