So -- I teach the same basic material to two sections of students.
One section actually pays attention when I talk and as such doesn't ask stupid and redundant questions. They get better grades and I don't feel like quitting teaching when I'm done with them.
Then there is the OTHER class. This class can't follow written or verbal directions, they can't seem to pay attention for more than 5 mintues and they certainly don't do their homework.
This class got a quiz back last week and is currently taking an exam. They blew-off exam review last time and now are paying the price.
Frankly, if they all fail it wouldn't really bother me much... as they tend to fall into two categories..
--- Dork Boy: this category includes the earlier stink-eye student, the one who must be high most of the time or else is borderline something and the cocky kid who works for a minor-airline and thinks he's brilliant because some distant relative was an important politician. None of these students listen when I say things to anybody but them, and usually they don't listen when I directly answer their questions. I find myself repeating things several times and telling them stuff right before the exam that they needed to know in order to do classwork in the last month. The core of the problem is that they are so busy running their own mouths and planning the weekend that they can't focus on what I'm saying, or they somehow dismiss what I have to say.
--- Absent Annies: These are the ones who are either here in body only or miss a lot of class. They take the optional days off when they don't understand the material and then expect me to go over it again. The miss quizzes and then don't get that I don't give make-up quizzes etc. This group would do ok in this class if they actually came to class an were ready to learn. Without that, they'll fail.
To be fair, I do have a few in this section that I'd be sad if they failed... in my head they belong to the other section.
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4 comments:
Dorks?
Hey! I resemble that remark!
PF, don't let 'em get ya down. Wish your classes would be like those great dialogues of yore? Puhleeze. Those beautiful fictions were only the Dreams of the most efficient Idealists, Plato and Berkeley.
It ain't so bad slummin' with the C.C. scene. You'll reach a few at a time at least and as a bonus you'll basically avoid the dumbass Name Dropping Jargon Spewers you encounter in 300-400 level and grad classes.
LOVES me some 20-something philosopher. That spectacle is so precious. I mean, that is when Plato, Aristotle and Kant did their best work, right? Gosh, we both know Aristotle was the best at Academy University, and instead of the usual 4 years, he got his BA in 2 and his PHD by the time he was 24! And I'm pretty sure he was tenure track not long after, but hey, he was published in Nous just before graduation, huh?
I don't know about you, but I dig some humor when I'm not quite the ubermensch and too lazy to pick up the hammer to philosophize with. In that vein, if you've never picked it up give Palmer's intro cartoon texts a look. Relevant laughs are always fresh!
PR finale tonite!
bye fer now!
I think the basic problem is
Hopefully that clears it up.
I had a very long, rambling comment that surely would have made you feel better with all its wit and wisdom, but I lost it.
Now, what were you saying about that group of Absent Annies who were there in body only? Sometimes I feel like their kindred spirits :) :o
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