Today was the first day for presentations in Astronomy. Students were assigned to pick a famous astronomer, research their life and accomplishments and give a 5-6 minutes oral presentation with supporting slides. They needed to have a brief 5-10 question quiz to make sure students were paying attention.
I made up a rubric and everything!
They were told that all presentations needed to be completed and ready to present today. They were told that I was going to drawing names out of a hat to determine who would be presenting, so everyone needed to be ready.
Many of my students were not ready.
Due to the delay with the testing, I only saw periods 2, 3 and 6. When called up, here were some of the responses I received:
What is this presentation supposed to be about?
We were supposed to have a quiz?
I needed to send it to you?
Can I go to the library to finish it?
When I checked my email this morning, I had received 3 files.
Several students were making last minute changes (like adding a quiz) on their phones before sharing the files with me.
The presentations themselves left me feeling confused and frustrated. I few of the students did a good job, but the vast majority gave presentations as though they hadn't even glanced at the rubric. I spent an entire class period going over it, making it VERY clear what I was and was not looking for.
The presentation was supposed to be between 5 and 6 minutes. The average for the class was around 2. Several of the "quizzes" were questions read out of their notebook with no way to determine who was and wasn't paying attention.
I did get a few quizzes ahead of time and was able to load them into the Plickers program, which allows instant feedback.
Again, while a few demonstrated considerable time and effort, many appeared as though they were thrown together at the last minute. Only one presentation appeared to have been rehearsed.
I'm writing all of this not as a way to complain about the students, but rather to express the depth of my frustration and concern. A student from another period came in and watched, commenting afterwards that what she saw should have been embarrassing for a senior about to graduate.
"No college on earth would accept that level of work."
I'm spoken with my students about what they need to do in order to pass my class and, in many cases, graduate.
I'm not sure what else I can do for them. The lack of achievement doesn't seem to come from lack of understanding, but rather lack of effort.
Last week, I attended Curriculum Night at the school to talk about my class to potential parents and students. Several spoke to me of their concerns that it would be too hard for their child. I feel as though I have made considerable effort to make sure than anyone CAN pass the class with a basic understanding of Astronomy with a considerable amount of depth possible for those who wish it.
I am distressed at the number of students who are not passing, or are right on the edge of not doing so. I think that I have differentiated my instruction and my assessment to accommodate the various strengths and interests of my students.
One of the arguments that is often made against differentiation is that students will learn that the world will cater to them. While I think that's true in a very few cases, the vast majority of students don't fall into this trap.
With that said, there's something going on. I don't know how to address it and I don't know how to prepare my students for the realities of life outside of high school.
Sometimes the only way a person can learn is the hard way. I know I've found that to frequently be the case with students in recent years, even including my own child. Sometimes all you can do is be true to yourself and honest and clear with your students and their parents/guardians about what was expected, and what was received. In this day and age of steeper and steeper requirements for college acceptance, there is no excuse for half-assed work other than a half-assed attitude.
ReplyDeleteRemember that failure is just as important a lesson as success, if not more so.
While I agree with your sentiment in part, I get the feeling that many of Justin's students would have already learned a lesson from failure by now if it was going to work.
DeleteIn my experience, many students, even seniors, struggle with large projects. Smaller and more frequent deadlines help them see how to manage a project and set intermediate goals, and give the teacher more opportunities to step in and clarify or cajole, whichever is needed, to keep students on the path to success. Also, until a class project is part of the culture, it's hard for students to buy in, especially in a class where traditionally projects haven't been done.
Also, one area where I've had success is having students fI'll out their rubric for each stage, and submit it at each deadline. That way, early in they get an idea that you mean business. My first deadline is generally topic and sources, which can be corrected for the project for full credit. It also let's you see where the student may misinterpret your rubric at the beginning so you can make site that gets addressed and isn't the reason they fall behind or miss lots of points.
Finally, I never have projects due on Mondays. Usually Thursdays or Fridays. Inevitably things get forgotten over weekends.
While I agree with your sentiment in part, I get the feeling that many of Justin's students would have already learned a lesson from failure by now if it was going to work.
DeleteIn my experience, many students, even seniors, struggle with large projects. Smaller and more frequent deadlines help them see how to manage a project and set intermediate goals, and give the teacher more opportunities to step in and clarify or cajole, whichever is needed, to keep students on the path to success. Also, until a class project is part of the culture, it's hard for students to buy in, especially in a class where traditionally projects haven't been done.
Also, one area where I've had success is having students fI'll out their rubric for each stage, and submit it at each deadline. That way, early in they get an idea that you mean business. My first deadline is generally topic and sources, which can be corrected for the project for full credit. It also let's you see where the student may misinterpret your rubric at the beginning so you can make site that gets addressed and isn't the reason they fall behind or miss lots of points.
Finally, I never have projects due on Mondays. Usually Thursdays or Fridays. Inevitably things get forgotten over weekends.
Not having experience with high school, I need to qualify this comment, as I don't know what time you have in class to do work. But I do find with my middle school students that they do not get work done out of my sight. I can send things home with them, but either due to family inertia, activities or other homework, my students don't finish their work outside class. As a result I have given over class time to all my project work. This way I can see what they are (or are not) doing and assist them as needed. I don't know if you have a period or two available for this, but it has saved me frustration on what we do - not entirely, I still get similar effort and results from my graduating group at this time of year.
ReplyDeleteYou have my sympathy. I understand how perplexing this apathy is (and even how it is encouraged tacitly from home).
@bar_qu