Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Quote of the Day

Basketball Coach: D_?!? Why are you failing Mr. Buell's class?
D_: Mr. Buell's class is hecka hard! He doesn't let me copy like everyone else.
To my dearest D_. While you may drive me insane all sixth period, you have warmed my heart today. However I'd like to make a small correction. I do let you copy. You can copy all you want. Spend all class copying if you like. Go to Kinko's and copy an entire science notebook. Copy pages from the book. I've taught two of your sisters. Copy from them. For some people, copying is the best way to get started if they're really lost. If copying helps you learn, go for it. Just remember, you don't get points in my class. No points for homework. No points for notes. No points for worksheets. They're there to help you learn. Do you get points in the game for practicing your free throws?

What's that? You want to improve your grade so you can play basketball? Well then you'll need to change your focus from just completing your work, to learning from it.


PS: The "like everyone else" part at the end disturbs me so much. I know the teachers that allow copying, either directly from other students or the old trick,"We'll go over the homework in class and then you turn it in." In these teachers cases I'm pretty sure this is a classroom management issue. The teachers and students have entered into an implicit agreement. You be quiet for a few minutes and I'll help you out on your grades. In case you're curious, with the right (wrong?) scheduling, a student of mine could have 50% of his or her classes graded this way.

1 comment:

  1. I completely agree. Every word. The most common argument to this approach is that "some kids don't test well." This statement represents a gross misunderstanding of how assessment should be done. Which, from your blogs title, is preaching to choir here. Similar Notes:
    http://www.shawncornally.com/?p=168

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