Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Inside Four Walls: A Glimpse into my class

I have talked about the struggles with my Algebra B class this year. I have had some bright spots, but mainly it has been a challenging year for me. Usually I average about 60% or higher advanced/proficient on the standards test, but this year I will be lucky if I get 20%.

I have had a ton of complaints as to how I run my class. One such complaint was that I collect homework at the end of a chapter, not everyday. I had a bunch of students say, "If you collected the homework daily I would do it, but since you wait til the end of the chapter I don't do it." So that whole being responsible didn't work. So I decided to start collecting the homework daily. I have copied my gradebook and took a picture of it. Now before anyone freaks out, the order is random, the names & grades are chopped off. And you can't even see the assignment points. And it isn't even the entire gradebook, just the last couple of weeks.I told one teacher it looked like a battlefield with all that red. And yet...it's my fault they aren't passing? I don't get it. I had a parent ask for the class average. It is low, but I felt like they were trying to justify their child's grade. I felt like just showing them this picture and saying "this is why the average is low." I think it says a lot that there are only 4 students on there that haven't missed an assignment.

This isn't the norm for me. This is definitely one of those weird years. I can't explain it, but the lack of motivation is staggering to me. I got nothing.

2 comments:

- said...

Students actually said that it's your fault that they don't do their homework? How are they going to make it through college when the professor isn't going to hold their hand?

Mr. W said...

shhhh you can't say that. It might hurt their feelings. I have found more and more that most students just want to be told something that makes them feel good, the truth usually isn't one of those things.