At my school of employ, our current term is soon coming to an end. And like clockwork, students with worried looks on their faces are beginning to darken my classroom door during lunch and after school as they come in to ask me what they can do to bring their grade up or to pass my class before the term ends. The funny thing is that during class time just about every day, I remind students of what they need to do to pass my class, and that is to do their homework and get decent scores on their quizzes and tests. Unfortunately, for too many of my students, homework takes a back seat to hanging with their homies and doing Lord-only-knows-what after school. I tell my students until I am blue in the face that if they don't do their homework, they will fail my class - it is not a threat, it is a mathematical certainty. The point values I give for homework assignments constitute enough of their overall grade that a student who shirks the homework will not have enough points to pass the class. Does this motivate my students to do their homework? I don't know. I think human nature and parental pressure dictate that situation more than anything I can say or do. I have the conscientous students who always do all their homework with glee. Then I have the medium students who do most of their homework, but probably only because their parents have their foot firmly planted on the student's neck; sometimes literally. Then I have the students who wouldn't do their homework if they had a gun barrel shoved in their mouth. The most tragic students are the ones who are constantly pushed, begged to, pleaded with, and cajoled by their parents to do their schoolwork; the student knows that he needs to do his school work; and yet the student just doesn't get it done. Those are the students who come to me in the last two weeks of the term and say, "What can I do to bring up my grade?" And it is their parents who call me and ask, "What can my son/daughter do to bring up his/her grade?" I feel for these parents of these non-responsive offspring, but I'm sorry, your little darling has done nothing for the entire term, and now it is time for the kid to take his lumps and face the consequences his choices have wrought. If those consequences mean attending Saturday or Summer School, then so be it.
I hate to drag out an old cliche', but when it comes to teaching, I can bring the student to the subject matter, but I can't make him learn. I can't follow him home after school and make sure he does his homework; that is the parents' job. When I talk to these parents on the phone or meet with them in person, they often talk tough about the steps they have taken toward attempting to get their child to produce, but somehow, I get the feeling that in reality, a lot of this tough talk is simply a bunch of hot air. I bet these students still get to go out on weekends with their friends, and still get to watch TV in their room and play video games. I just don't believe that many of these parents are truly making their kids face any consequences for not performing to their potential at school.
Just another day in the life of a teacher...
Good Day to You, Sir
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free... it expects what never was, and never will be." --Thomas Jefferson
1 comment:
As a parent of a 10 year old, I can understand how hard it is to motivate your child towards homework. But, as you pointed out, it has to be done. And excuses by parents who have poor students just don't cut it with either my husband or myself. We both work full time jobs but we manage to help in our daughter's schooling. When it comes to something like that, there's always time.
I wonder how many of your students' parents grumble about their children's grades while sitting in their easy chair watching TV themselves. TURN IT OFF AND PAY ATTENTION! You can't expect a child to do it all on their own. What child, at 9 or 10, will come to realize that if they don't do their homework or projects or reports that it will hurt them in the end? I think very few. How hard is it to see that they need guidance? And it’s a parent’s responsibility to give that guidance. Isn’t that in our job description? t
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