It's been so nice to be on spring break this week! The weather's been absolutely gorgeous the past few days - it was even supposed to hit 84 today! The only downside that I can think of is that it'll make it even harder to go back to school next week. I heard someone at the park mention that they only had 38 days of school left, though, so it hopefully won't be too bad!
I've had 2 students e-mail me while we've been out, both basically begging for grades ("Is there anything I can do? I've worked so hard."). Blah blah blah. That drives me crazy! I feel bad for saying "No, it's over. Deal with it." But then again, I give an extra credit problem every week and both students did 1. Yes, that's one problem out of 8 or 9 possible at two points each. Now I'm not feeling so bad about being the curmudgeonly old math teacher. There are definitely times when I feel like I need to get a little more of Kate Nowak in me! I can't imagine her having trouble saying no.
I have gotten some work done while I've been home (amazingly!). As this is our first year with the Algebra 2 book, I've been working hard just to stay a section ahead of them prep-wise. But on Tuesday and Wednesday I sat for a while and wrote up notes for the whole next chapter! All ready to print and copy. Woo hoo! Last year towards the end of the year I did powerpoints and typed up notes for the kids - I think I'll hit those topics after we get through our rational exponent stuff. So in all likelihood I'm done with Algebra 2 notes for the year! Now I just get to look forward to editing stuff next year. But that's much much much better than starting all over again!
I often tag stuff on diigo or star posts in my google reader (If you don't use this, please check it out! It's amazing.) and then forget about them. Did I say often? Make that very often. Unfortunately, I typically find them just after completing the topic in class. Sam Shah, though, just took the time to organize all of his finds on a specific page on his blog (using the "page" option? I'll have to check that) so that he has a list of topics and what he can use for each. Definitely a must-do this summer! I'm not looking forward to that process.... though it'll be fun to find all the neat stuff that I'd forgotten about!
3 comments:
It's not that hard to say no. It just takes practice. The alternative is teaching them that their decisions don't have any consequences. (Note the context, though, we're not talking about ruining a life, we're talking about the difference between a good grade and an awesome grade.) I think they should have to demonstrate superlative understanding of content for an awesome grade. Not just be willing to do a little dance at the end of the marking period.
Hey dudette,
If it stresses you out, don't go back and look at old the old stuff you've found. Just start now - de novo - and put stuff you find NOW into your filing cabinet. Otherwise you'll feel like you have this huge project you have to do. I bet your cabinet grows HUGE in just a month, starting from posts you see now.
Sam
I'm happy to report that (after finally grading the quizzes that were hanging over my head) both students ended up with B's that e-mailed me. One was begging for the B, one for the A. So #2 won't be happy, but oh well. She can still get an A with a 4th quarter and exam A. Maybe she'll work harder next quarter! Kate, I would've said no... just would've felt guilty about it. I offer enough opportunities for points during the quarter that I don't bump anyone at the end.
And, Sam, I'm actually kind of looking forward to the organization... I just know it's going to be a big job. Not sure where to start.
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