My students' writing abilities have been all over the map, but mostly, they haven't bitched and moaned about the work. And that trait seems to be common to every summer course I've ever taught. One would think they'd complain more, but no, most guys seem to accept that time is crunched in a six-week term and they have to buckle down and do the work or get left behind.
Today, for example, the Comp II'ers had an essay due and a written response to Nine Lives due, and I expected a good deal of them to have ready the former and not the latter. But a cursory glance at each pile suggests that everyone turned in both assignments. On top of all that, I threw two new assignments at them today, and they listened to one of our librarians give them a speedy overview of available research locations in the library. They were mostly polite and didn't show too many signs of strain, even though they're under it.
Whoever said that 90% of life is showing up is right. No excuses--show up.
2 comments:
It never ceases to amaze me how time and time again that saying proves itself to be true.
And clearly I want students to show effort, to go beyond what they've normally done in the past (i.e. the bare minimum)--but experience tells me that 80-85% of my students who show up and don't make excuses stand a much greater chance of passing than those who hem and haw and are erratic. There's a link there, though I don't have a scientific basis for saying that.
I wish I could say that said students have a greater chance of excelling, not just passing, but sadly, it's not always true. But sheer perseverance goes a long way.
Post a Comment