Ahhhhhh . . . . . the joy of progress reports. It is amazing how students have no idea they are doing poorly until they see the grade. Then there is a sudden change for a few days (at least). Ours went out on Monday. Today, there were several students who went through the motions of showing that they care a little. By Monday of next week, they will be back to the same old students.

Will they ever learn?

Also, high school registration has begun. Now there is a wake-up call. Students suddenly give a damn about grades. After all, they want to play sports, and take more challenging classes. Of course, they do so against my advice, but what does that matter. At least my AIG kids will choose the correct level for math. Most are not even asking what they should take.

I am doing my annual fear tactic to get the forms in. "If you don't turn in a form, then I get to choose your classes." This puts some fear into the kids - they know I will select the most difficult classes for them!

The Wall of Fame

We have started a team "Wall of Fame". Originally, it was just for Language Arts, but we decided to expand it. In Language Arts, students have to make a 100% on tests to earn a spot on the Wall. For math, I decided to be a little different. My criteria are that students must have shown "Outstanding Improvement." Today, 5 of my students went up on the Wall. They had shown a tremendous amount of improvement - some as much as 50 points - from the last test. None of the students had any idea that the Wall was being expanded to include other subjects for the Wall of Fame.

Hopefully, seeing their names on the Wall of Fame will be the motivation that some students need for the year . . . . especially since progress reports go out next week!

Knuckle Heads and Goofballs (Part 2)

OK, so the other day was not the last straw. THe last straw was today. We started a new unit on Probability. Lots of fun activities and hands on lessons. We started yesterday, and the discussion centered around the lottery and whether or not you ave a good chance of winning. THis lead to today's lesson. We first read an article about the PowerBall lottery, where lots of people had the exact same combination of winning numbers (They missed the PowerBall). THen there were some questions to answer.

That part wasn't bad. THe next part involved some thinking - probabilities when you roll one or 2 dice. I got so tired of "What do we do?" THe directions said "List all combinations of rolling 2 dice. Remember, there are 36 combinations" THis is straight forward, and they are working in their groups . . . . . . . . . . . so of course there are a million questions of "what do we do?" Third Period was the worst (Imagine that; this is home to the knuckle heads and goofballs!)

All I can say is "Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knuckle heads and Goofballs

Today was the last straw with the knuckle heads and goofballs. The students had 22 problems over the weekend. In my classes, 40-50% of students did not have the assignment. I am tired of students not doing what they are supposed to!

Frustration

Frustration really began today. First of all, the conferences. Will they ever end? And why is it that parents don't care, until their kid gets a bad report card? Shouldn't parents be more proactive, and less reactive?

Second, the general lack of trying. Math students were working on percent problems (sales tax, commission, discount). All I heard was "I don't know what to do!" Since they are all word problems, you first have to read the problem!! Why students won't read I will never understand. This was a group assignment, and most students used their notes and books, as well as spoke to their groups. But there is always one group . . . . . . "T cubed" as I call call them. One was absent yesterday, so immediately said he didn't know what to do. When that failed, it was, "But my group is also failing." It went downhill from there . . . .

It never seems to end. Talk about an exhausting day!!!!!!!!

Report Cards

Report Cards went home on Wednesday. Of the 20 students in my homeroom, 13 received letters that they are not meeting local promotion standards at this time. Basically, that means they are failing at least 2 core classes.

Since the report cards went home, there has been some parent contact. The letter hit home with some students. So far, we have 5 parent conferences scheduled, and have already had one conference. Maybe the reality is setting in for some students. It helped that registration for high school is around the corner, and the guidance counselor has been talking with students about high school. Maybe the wake up call is what was needed. As I said to a parent yesterday, "Should we hit him over the head with a 2 by 4?" I really think that is what is needed for some kids.

Interestingly enough, I only had 5 report cards returned by students on Friday. I guess the fact that Thursday was a snow day did not help. The last thing kids thought about was their report cards. Those that are truly concerned brought theirs back. Those who don't care, didn't.

On a bright spot, I handed back a quiz that was taken. Students who have never passed did well. One student, who is ESL, scored a 95! For him, that was the best he had done all year. Another, who has made no effort, made a 60. For him, this was like making an A - he has never done that well. Of course, then there was the student who scored a 9; he got 2 questions right. Even while doing a group activity, his attitude was one of "I don't know this stuff and I'm going to fail anyway, so why try?" I HATE that attitude!