Published: 2015-12-10 11:28 |
Category: Reflection | Tags: teaching, engagement
The end of the semester is bittersweet. It’s exciting to think of the long break coming up. At the same time, the burden of work to be completed feels futile for many. I’ve been fighting significantly lower effort patterns and I don’t really have a good way to bridge the gap. Part of the issue this year is that I missed an entire week to stay home with the new baby.
Not that I regret that time at all. By any means.
The theme for this week seems to be, “Why should I try? I can’t do anything about my grade now.” In some cases, this is true, and it’s a result of systematic, deliberate choices to not engage at any point along the way.
But.
I’m still responsible for helping my students learn. I’m constantly reminding myself that I cannot do the learning for them. There has to be an inkling of effort to engage with the tasks.
“No, we can’t take a day off.”
“Yes, we do have things to do today.”
“Yes, this will be on the test.”
(that last one kills me.)
I need to take each class as they come and make the most of it.