Put a fork in me cause I'm DONE!
No more teaching no more books no more students' dirty looks!!!
No more teaching no more books no more students' dirty looks!!!
Today was my last day with kids and I am filled with mixed emotions. I am so excited to have witnessed my AVID 9 and Cathirell's AVID 10 scholars end the year with some good old fashioned fun. My awesome AVID 9 class really got into it and pulled and ran and threw and twisted and ate their little hearts out. Cathirell's class was the most animated. It did my heart good to watch them play as a team and try things they know they aren't good at. It was exhilerating to watch them soar doing things they are great at!
Too bad I didn't get to see my AVID 11 scholars have any fun. It hurt me deeply to have to hand them a written exam. For the first time in years I didn't give a class the AVID Field Day tradition. A few weeks ago, only 7 students out of 32 did their A Long Way Gone projects on time and with pride. I am tired of them thinking that they get to do nothing but receive everything. It felt horrible yanking away that AVID tradition but as Ms. Sanders put it ... "That's the real world. You get rewarded for a job well done and when you don't finish the job you get reprimanded."
Will they learn from this? I'm not sure. What did I learn from this? That punishing students with more work is not always the best way to change behavior. This topic came up in class tonight. It felt like a Sunday service when the pastor is preaching a sermon that you are sure was written just for you. I think God wanted me to think about my decision and reflect on new ways to hold students accountable. I have some thinking to do on the subject. My heart told me my decision sucked. My brain is still telling me these kids have to start producing.
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