Winding down

It's been awhile since my last post. I have been wanting to blog for awhile now. Seeing as though my students are taking a quiz right now, I have some time to do so. The main thing happening is that the year is starting to wind down. Some students are starting to tune out for the year. A lot of them, however are seeing this as their last chance to do what they can to make up their grades. It's interesting to see this change in...[thinks about the right word]...effort.

All year, we (teachers) have been trying hard to get our students to do their work. Despite all the warnings, making ourselves available after school, parent conferences, second chances, our students wait until the last minute. Now it is clear that these students have had this compassion. I have seen a couple of students turn their grade around in my class last week. I'm still trying what I can to help the others pass.

I'm also concerned with their level of thinking. Right now, they are in survival-mode. They are doing what the can to get at least a C so they do not have to take summer school or repeat Algebra next year. They are not actively engaged in learning. In the long run, this will not help their academics. I guess that is why it is so hard to teach 9th grade, or be a 9th grader.

I hope these students that I speak of can use this as a learning experience. If they had been putting in that much effort all year long, they would not be in this situation. They would be passing and actually learning something. Next year, I hope they can say "I don't want pull a 'freshman-year'" or "I don't want to repeat Algebra again".