Yes, I have more to say on the blonde.
We see her in the cafeteria with a couple of her chums stating (without fear?), "I haven't studied for that test. I haven't even read the chapter." We cut to the classroom and the teacher mocks his own test and his own grading procedures. (Obviously, this could be just to set the students at ease and lower the affective filter. Equally obviously, it could be that this particular teacher is telling the truth. )
I have a confession. I hear such statements as those uttered by our future brain surgeon as I wander this very campus. I am sure that, especially as we are in our infamous Moby Dick unit, many of my own dear students arrive with but a cursory reading at best. Only a few look fearful.
Have I made the class too easy? Do I cover too much in class and leave too little for my students themselves to ferret out? Should I eliminate study and reading guides? If so, how should I present the difficult literature I must present?
I NEVER showed up for a test unprepared. NEVER. I don't understand the mindset that would. I don't want to understand the mindset. I just want to eliminate it.
How can we?
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5 comments:
Mel, I think part of the problem is that we, as teachers, tended to be the studious sort when we were in school. I, too, do not fathom the mindset of coming to a test unprepared.
I gave a take-home test a couple weeks ago to both my honors and my prep Chem classes. On the take-home test, they were allowed to: 1) use their books; 2) use their notes; and 3) come in and ask me questions.
I'm sure no one will be surprised that it was only students in the honors class who actually came in to ask some questions. But what would shock me if I haven't been seeing it for 11 years now was the number of students in the prep class who turned the take-home test in with questions left blank. I mean, a couple of students left MOST of the test blank. One student even moaned when I gave the take-home test, saying, "I hate take-home tests, because I don't do them."
This mentality is so alien to me that I almost don't know what to do with it, except be sternly disapproving (which I was). This is not an issue of low standards; this is an issue of those students simply not caring, or at least not caring enough to actually do something.
On the other hand...in high school, I couldn't fit AP US History into my schedule, so I had to take the college prep class. I had a different teacher each semester. The second semester was a tiny bit more rigorous. But the first semester, our final exam was to watch "Gone With the Wind." The tests were fill-in-the-blank, T/F and multiple choice. All I ever did in that class was answer the end-of-section questions as homework, and read the chapter summary right before the test, and I aced every one. Even though I did obscenely little work, I was always prepared for those tests, because the expectations were so low.
Sometimes I think, like you allude to, that we should all just ratchet our classes up to the absolute highest level of difficulty we can and let whoever fails...just fail.
And not worry about their self-esteem. Failure is bad, and if you fail, let's be honest: that's bad.
I suppose it's fortunate that I have a heart to balance these sometimes brutally indifferent thoughts my mind entertains.
Noah and Mel,
I have never seen any of our teachers show "Gone With The Wind" as the final exam and most teachers have a suitable level of difficulty (we have tried to weed out those who didn't). However, as both of you have noted, I have seen many students who don't care enough to study or do any work...until it is too late.
The question is, how do we motivate more (some will and should fail) of our students to care...as most are capable but, as stated in other comments, do not want to work and expect to be entertained in class. We have tossed this question around for many years at ECHS and have never come to a workable solution.
One final thought, the documentary only focuses on the high-end students...what about the large majority of "other" students?
Dick
P.S. I concur...the blond would not be my choice for doctor...although I don't believe she would understand that concept.
It seems that the only possibility of changing this sort of mindset (which I believe is part of human nature) is to keep the standards high enough so that this sort of attitude simply does not succeed. I have some more thoughts on this topic that I will probably post separately.
Many of the questions you ask yourself are the ones that I continually struggle with. I am always worrying that I am not challenging my students enough.
When I grade my tests and they all did well I wonder is it because: a) the test was too easy; b) they really studied a lot and were prepared; or c) I am just a really good teacher and explain everything so well.
It's hard to know if you are explaining too much. When do you just back away and say, ok teach yourself? I ask myself should I be giving them study guides to help them prepare for the final or should I say the final is on everything we covered, good luck? I want them to be successful, but am I spoon-feeding them too much?
I smile when I hear my students say that my class is hard, because I want them to be challenged. But just today I passed back a quiz and a student who received a B said, “Wow I didn’t even think I would pass; I don’t know anything about this chapter.” Did she say that because: she doesn’t want to be thought of as a nerd, because it is considered cool to get good grades without trying, or because I was not challenging her enough?
Hi Erin, welcome to the blog!
I sometimes experience the other end of the spectrum. I think, "this test should be easy." And then students think it's hard.
In my opinion, the goal should not be to make tests either easy or hard; but to make them as accurate a measure as possible of what students have learned. When I write a test, my objective isn't to let them skate by or to trip them up. The point is to find out whether they've learned what you taught, and at what level they have learned it.
And then, of course, the real trick is to figure out how to keep upping the level; something I've been thinking about a lot this year in my classes.
In any case, my main purpose in replying to your comment was to tell you that I hear students saying good things about your classes. The offhand comment your student made was probably that--an offhand comment. I have students who insist they are going to fail every test, and then they never get below a 90%. (Although, to some of those students, that means they almost failed, anyway.)
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