Finals Week

As it turns out, no one really wants to be at school during finals week.

If we're being honest, students don't want to be at school during ANY week, but finals weeks is even more bleak than the rest.

I was in the library yesterday hanging out during my plan period, and I watched a teacher muttering to herself, and then all of a sudden she picked up a stack of papers and threw them into the book stacks.

It's not just the students who suffer here.

Most of my students are conscientious people who want good grades.  An even higher percentage of them are students who want to the smallest amount of work possible but they'd still like to receive a high grade.  And there is always a small percentage of students who ride the D/F all semester, and then want to turn in all of their assignments (some from like five months ago) on the day before the semester ends, because if they don't pass, they have to retake the class.

Even though I used to be one of those students, I still want to slap them across the face.

I offer EVERY possible opportunity for them to pass - starting with just showing up to class and staying awake, in some cases - and they still don't understand why they don't get a passing grade for simply breathing air within school hours.  You have to turn in assignments, else I cannot give you a grade!!

I can't care on behalf of other people - believe me, I've tried.  High school has become just like every other shitty institution in America:  some people care too much, and some care not at all.  And EVERYONE bitches about having to show up to simply do their job every day.

Here's a thought:  maybe American schools are becoming obsolete.  Maybe school ought to be a PRIVILEGE and not a RIGHT.  Maybe we ought to challenge young people in America to show up and THINK and not just phone it in every day.  (Shocking, I know.)

No matter how many cliched mottos a school generates, putting posters on the wall that say how great of a school you might be does NOT change the climate and culture of student engagement.  (Also, having a school twitter account doesn't do much when the school sends out a tweet about how teams can only practice on the fields if the "wether" is good.  If the school administrator in charge of the twitter account can't spell ... we're fucked anyway.)

So, yeah.  I've got to grade like 100 quizzes and dive into all the late work that got turned in today.  I'll do what I can.

At least I have the Glass Castle to look forward to in my retirement years ...  (unless it turns into a trash dump).