About a third are failing - but that is higher than the same time last semester.
We are trying to help them study for the exit exam (which the 11th graders take in 4 weeks) - they talk, sleep, shoot trash into baskets.
It just drains you to try to make them care.
We were discussing today: you can motivate them if they WANT something (grade, knowledge) - but when they care about nothing, how do you motivate?
The Small Subtle Poisons
3 hours ago
2 comments:
This is my BIGGEST and most consistent quandary. I've got a bunch of kids who just don't give a shit, and nothing I seem to do makes a damned bit of difference. Once we figure the magic motivation question out, most of our stickiest teacher problems will be solved.
I think....I think that every kid cares about something. I just think that sometimes what they care about is avoiding making mistakes so they don't look dumb because it's better to look like you just don't care about your education, or having fun in the moment because they don't believe they have a future, or their friends because those are the only people who consistently show that they give a damn.
I think that until we can find a way to demonstrate the value of education and make them feel safe and show them that of course their friends matter but their futures matter more, we'll never get much of anywhere.
And for a lot of them, I don't know how to show them that.
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