I Make Little Girls Cry
Sep. 29th, 2009 05:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Today I had another disconcerting experience at school today.
I gave out progress reports today, and a lot of kids were surprised. Some of them pleasantly ("Mr. Simmons, what do you mean, I got a B? I've never gotten a B in science in my life!" "What did you get last year?" "Oh, I got a D.") and some of them less so. One girl in particular came to me with a brave and angry face on, saying "Mr. Simmons, I'm furious with you!"
"Oh? Why are you furious with me?"
"It's my progress report. I shouldn't get a D!"
So, I took her aside after class and I showed her her grade. I showed her her test scores - which she has seen already. I showed her her marked lack of Exit Slips and Do Now sheets. I showed her her unexceptional behavior grade. By the end of my showing, she was in tears.
I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it looks like she took responsibility for her grade. She saw what I was showing her and went from angry at my unfairness to sadness at her own lack of performance. She stopped being mad because she saw that she gave her a D, not me. On the other hand, I made an adorable 12 year old cry!
Man, this life is hard.
Anyway, I have her the talk. I told her that I believed in her, that she could still get a C or even a B by the time the actual report cards come out and that she could still earn an A overall by the end of the year. We'll see how it works out.
I gave out progress reports today, and a lot of kids were surprised. Some of them pleasantly ("Mr. Simmons, what do you mean, I got a B? I've never gotten a B in science in my life!" "What did you get last year?" "Oh, I got a D.") and some of them less so. One girl in particular came to me with a brave and angry face on, saying "Mr. Simmons, I'm furious with you!"
"Oh? Why are you furious with me?"
"It's my progress report. I shouldn't get a D!"
So, I took her aside after class and I showed her her grade. I showed her her test scores - which she has seen already. I showed her her marked lack of Exit Slips and Do Now sheets. I showed her her unexceptional behavior grade. By the end of my showing, she was in tears.
I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, it looks like she took responsibility for her grade. She saw what I was showing her and went from angry at my unfairness to sadness at her own lack of performance. She stopped being mad because she saw that she gave her a D, not me. On the other hand, I made an adorable 12 year old cry!
Man, this life is hard.
Anyway, I have her the talk. I told her that I believed in her, that she could still get a C or even a B by the time the actual report cards come out and that she could still earn an A overall by the end of the year. We'll see how it works out.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 01:13 am (UTC)But you did the right thing by showing her that she can still improve. Now you get to help her do it. :)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 03:05 am (UTC)and don't feel bad, I've made grown men cry.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-30 04:24 am (UTC)The hard thing about teaching, I think, is that we try so hard to reward hard work and effort, but that message sometimes doesn't register with students. Then again some kids just need to grow up. I was a screw up student, and got a darn good education despite my best efforts!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-08 11:13 am (UTC)