What a Way to Start the Week, Part Deux
My morning did not start out well at well, and while I am very hesitant to write about my students or my job on this blog, I feel like I have no choice.
I fear for the state of education and the policies that some colleges have started to adopt wherein the only qualification to gain entry is a check that clears the bank.
I fear that college classrooms are becoming second stages of high school classrooms wherein student apathy and antipathy is so high that the notion of education has slipped away in the night.
I fear that those hallowed halls we all hear about are become the sallowed halls of mediocrity.
The fact that I had to tell one student four times to get off the computer and do his work - and he STILL would not get off of it - is nothing less than ludicrous.
The fact that I had less than 40% of the class in attendance and only 5 people brought in rough drafts with the others not caring about it is nothing less than shocking.
I felt bad about their first essay grades, even though they earned what they got, but I'll be damned if I feel bad about this next round of essays. They have dug their own graves.
I am no longer a teacher. I am a disciplinarian and a babysitter.
I used to think that teaching was 100% inspiration and that you were the reason why they excelled. I quickly grew out of that. It is 50% what you give them and 50% what they decided to do with it themselves.
COLLEGES ARE NOT CORPORATIONS!
COLLEGES ARE NOT PLACES OF CONSUMERISM!
Why are we commodity-fetishizing colleges? I am not a product. You are not a consumer. Why are my grades being changed without my knowledge? Since when does a student complaint mean they are automatically right?
And since when did increasing your funds matter more than educating a student and defending the rights of your teachers.
What a sad mockery, yet what a fitting evolution, all things considered.
Now...this is not the case everywhere I teach. I still do have some faith left. Some. And those students make me feel like it is always worthwhile.
I should mention that this is not about being "smart" or "dumb." This is about work ethic, about the desire to grow and improve, about the need to know SOMETHING about SOMETHING.
My morning did not start out well at well, and while I am very hesitant to write about my students or my job on this blog, I feel like I have no choice.
I fear for the state of education and the policies that some colleges have started to adopt wherein the only qualification to gain entry is a check that clears the bank.
I fear that college classrooms are becoming second stages of high school classrooms wherein student apathy and antipathy is so high that the notion of education has slipped away in the night.
I fear that those hallowed halls we all hear about are become the sallowed halls of mediocrity.
The fact that I had to tell one student four times to get off the computer and do his work - and he STILL would not get off of it - is nothing less than ludicrous.
The fact that I had less than 40% of the class in attendance and only 5 people brought in rough drafts with the others not caring about it is nothing less than shocking.
I felt bad about their first essay grades, even though they earned what they got, but I'll be damned if I feel bad about this next round of essays. They have dug their own graves.
I am no longer a teacher. I am a disciplinarian and a babysitter.
I used to think that teaching was 100% inspiration and that you were the reason why they excelled. I quickly grew out of that. It is 50% what you give them and 50% what they decided to do with it themselves.
COLLEGES ARE NOT CORPORATIONS!
COLLEGES ARE NOT PLACES OF CONSUMERISM!
Why are we commodity-fetishizing colleges? I am not a product. You are not a consumer. Why are my grades being changed without my knowledge? Since when does a student complaint mean they are automatically right?
And since when did increasing your funds matter more than educating a student and defending the rights of your teachers.
What a sad mockery, yet what a fitting evolution, all things considered.
Now...this is not the case everywhere I teach. I still do have some faith left. Some. And those students make me feel like it is always worthwhile.
I should mention that this is not about being "smart" or "dumb." This is about work ethic, about the desire to grow and improve, about the need to know SOMETHING about SOMETHING.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home