Why Try?
What is hardest for teachers is that so many students see no purpose in trying to succeed in academics. The rewards are apparently too far off, and the frustration of trying to master the material too great. Besides, they know they can’t compete with “rich kids.”
Knowing this, I try to put the students at ease: open note tests, bonus assignments, etc., yet to no avail. And if there is a critical mass of students who see no point in trying, or who make only minimal attempts to succeed, the class can become poisoned. I’m reduced to encouraging the students to do anything I think they can manage that is any way related to the material. This only confirms my students’ assessment of themselves: we’re dumb.
On one level, I simply want to shrug my shoulders and admit they’re lazy. Certainly some are. And often even the ones who are willing to […]
Original post by urbansocrates