Reaching the End of the Year (a.k.a. Ashley's Venting)
I realize that it getting to the end of the school year. I know that for some reason people just want to check out when it gets sunny and nice outside. I admit, I didn’t want Spring Break to end, and that I felt ready to be done with school, but I am now over that. What I really want is to still be learning something!!!
This is the worst time of the year, in my opinion. Not only do the students want to be done, the teachers have also given up teaching (sorry, Mr. Thompson. I’m sure that you’re wonderful and make your students continue to use their brains, but certain other members of the faculty at FFJH are not really trying any more.). I’m really anxious to be taught something new. Make me have to think. Don’t give me anymore mindless worksheets to a) fill up time or b) help me “better understand” something that was so simple that it’s pathetic if you haven’t gotten it by now (now being the sixth worksheet on it). CHALLENGE ME! Shouldn’t this be the time that I should have to use my most creative thinking to show that I’ve learned something during the past months?
Maybe the reason for this is many kids don’t care, at this point. Perhaps they can’t concentrate and will just waste their time anyways, so a teacher is really being kind by not making them do anything. Their logic may be: if they pick something up from this video, that’ll be lucky. I don’t really care if they do, though. There are still some of us, though, who wish to be doing something productive with our time!!
Everyone is suffering from this, even our Honors English class. I imagine that if you’re reading this blog, you aren’t one of those people. There are many, though, who haven’t written a new blog in weeks, some even months!! Then, if they do actually write a blog, they write one a few words over 500 so it looks like they’re making up for the stuff they haven’t been doing. Any time I bug someone about this, they always make similar comments. “I’m just so busy!”, “I keep forgetting.”, and “Oh yeah! I must’ve posted it as a draft.” are just a few examples of responses I’ve gotten. Do they honestly think that I’m falling for these lines? Then if they aren’t tricking me, do they think Mr. T’s believing them too? Sorry, I shouldn’t be judgmental because I know people really do have these problems, but I’ve got to finally write this blog because our class is starting to get pathetic. There are very few that have posted a blog and a discussion board answer every week. I understand that it’s human nature to forget a few times, but it’s wrong for them to not be doing any work and still be getting the credit. Some people are very diligent on getting things done on time. I imagine that at regular school, everyone in this class is excellent. That’s why they even bothered to sign up for an extra, honors class. If these students, enrolled in the online course, were giving this same level of performance in a regular class, many of them would be failing. Then, if they weren’t failing, their grade wouldn’t be up to their usual standard. There are many people in this class who would die to get a B, yet if this class was formally graded, they might be getting that, if they were lucky.
I just want the students to stop and think about how easy this class is. Stop abusing how this! All the requirements are to respond to a question and write 500 words (ONLY ONCE A WEEK!!). Then, there are other occasional assignments, such as study guides, but besides that, it takes very little time. I think that many more students should be appreciative and do what they are supposed to, so that those of us who have been completing everything won’t feel gypped that you are getting the same credit as us, for half of the work.
This is the worst time of the year, in my opinion. Not only do the students want to be done, the teachers have also given up teaching (sorry, Mr. Thompson. I’m sure that you’re wonderful and make your students continue to use their brains, but certain other members of the faculty at FFJH are not really trying any more.). I’m really anxious to be taught something new. Make me have to think. Don’t give me anymore mindless worksheets to a) fill up time or b) help me “better understand” something that was so simple that it’s pathetic if you haven’t gotten it by now (now being the sixth worksheet on it). CHALLENGE ME! Shouldn’t this be the time that I should have to use my most creative thinking to show that I’ve learned something during the past months?
Maybe the reason for this is many kids don’t care, at this point. Perhaps they can’t concentrate and will just waste their time anyways, so a teacher is really being kind by not making them do anything. Their logic may be: if they pick something up from this video, that’ll be lucky. I don’t really care if they do, though. There are still some of us, though, who wish to be doing something productive with our time!!
Everyone is suffering from this, even our Honors English class. I imagine that if you’re reading this blog, you aren’t one of those people. There are many, though, who haven’t written a new blog in weeks, some even months!! Then, if they do actually write a blog, they write one a few words over 500 so it looks like they’re making up for the stuff they haven’t been doing. Any time I bug someone about this, they always make similar comments. “I’m just so busy!”, “I keep forgetting.”, and “Oh yeah! I must’ve posted it as a draft.” are just a few examples of responses I’ve gotten. Do they honestly think that I’m falling for these lines? Then if they aren’t tricking me, do they think Mr. T’s believing them too? Sorry, I shouldn’t be judgmental because I know people really do have these problems, but I’ve got to finally write this blog because our class is starting to get pathetic. There are very few that have posted a blog and a discussion board answer every week. I understand that it’s human nature to forget a few times, but it’s wrong for them to not be doing any work and still be getting the credit. Some people are very diligent on getting things done on time. I imagine that at regular school, everyone in this class is excellent. That’s why they even bothered to sign up for an extra, honors class. If these students, enrolled in the online course, were giving this same level of performance in a regular class, many of them would be failing. Then, if they weren’t failing, their grade wouldn’t be up to their usual standard. There are many people in this class who would die to get a B, yet if this class was formally graded, they might be getting that, if they were lucky.
I just want the students to stop and think about how easy this class is. Stop abusing how this! All the requirements are to respond to a question and write 500 words (ONLY ONCE A WEEK!!). Then, there are other occasional assignments, such as study guides, but besides that, it takes very little time. I think that many more students should be appreciative and do what they are supposed to, so that those of us who have been completing everything won’t feel gypped that you are getting the same credit as us, for half of the work.
posted by Ashley @ 2:40 PM
1 Comments:
At 6:18 PM,
MRT said…
You've discovered for yourself the issue I battle every year, and what it boils down to is this: the honorable students (like yourself) are always ready to be challenged, and in the absence of assignments that do so, they will challenge themselves...even though most others give up. I'm watching, and I know who's who. So, keep up the good work even if you are the only one doing it.
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