Comments on: “I am racing people, and I always win.”

By: Steven Kimmi

Steven Kimmi — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:11:53 +0000

Now I am pretty happy I took a hiatus, as this post has never hit more close to home than it does now, two weeks into summer school. I mean, these are the majority of the kids we get.

And I am all caught up, because if my students did even what your example student did, I would be…

I can’t say that I really agree with much of the previous comments, because caught up in that moment I feel like all of this would transcend grades.

“Don’t give me any of the mushy garbage”

Sorry, that’s all I have. I sat next to this student just today, the 5th grade version, as we were doing (apparently not so) simple addition. After every single problem he asked me if he got it right, he needs success, a lot of it, to motivate him to work, stop bothering others, etc. He has showed up late every day this week. I hear a emotionless “Yes, sir” every time I attempt to correct his missteps.

No amount of, “you did good here, butt not here, let’s talk aobut how you could make this better,” is going to help that kid, in my opinion.

What a grizzly situation you have put us in, Paul. And I think it no coincidence that there is one person here who hasn’t told us what they’d do. An iceberg, right?

By: Marinating in RSS — Thing 5 | To Infinity...and Beyond!

Marinating in RSS — Thing 5 | To Infinity...and Beyond! — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:42:20 +0000

[...] Successful Teaching, she writes “Why Bother Trying?”. This post is in response to “I am always racing people, and I always win,” by Paul Bogush who writes Blogush. The idea being discussed is the ever-struggling student and [...]

By: Why Bother Trying? | The eLearning Blog

Why Bother Trying? | The eLearning Blog — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:00:37 +0000

[...] In “I am racing people, and I always win.” from Blogush by Paul Bogush, Paul asks, “Can you imagine what it must be like to spend seven hours [...]

By: Successful Teaching » Blog Archive » Why Bother Trying?

Successful Teaching » Blog Archive » Why Bother Trying? — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:18:55 +0000

[...] “I am racing people, and I always win.” from Blogush by Paul Bogush, Paul asks, “Can you imagine what it must be like to spend seven hours [...]

By: Karen Janowski

Karen Janowski — Wed, 27 May 2009 01:55:18 +0000

Paul,
This is so important; I blogged my thoughts here http://is.gd/FZIF.
As always, your posts make me think. I so appreciate your contributions to the blogosphere.

By: Angela Powell

Angela Powell — Wed, 27 May 2009 00:05:30 +0000

Found you through Jenny at Elementary, My Dear. Love the post, love the blog. You have a new subscriber.

By: Cool Links #38: Memorial Day Weekend Edition « TEACH J: For Teachers of Journalism And Media

Sat, 23 May 2009 16:41:38 +0000

[...] – Blogush has an excellent post on how we set our students up for failure and how we should or at least could be helping them to “race and always [...]

By: Pam Thompson

Pam Thompson — Sat, 23 May 2009 09:26:18 +0000

I agree with ani about another chance but also with Terry about grades for different parts of the assignment. I understand this to be something like a rubric infeedback so that the student can see where they can improve but also give him/her the credit and acknowledgement of completing the task and submitting the presentation.

Gosh, this post really made me reflect on my practice. I have just such a student in my class at the moment & I strongly believe his lack of work is not just laziness (as stated by other teachers) but learned behaviour. He’s convinced himself that he is incapable of doing the work set (probably backed up – even if unintentionally – by previous teachers). Thanks for the wake-up call.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:54:25 +0000

I’m with Ani. Grades get in the way in very important moments like that one.

By: Terry

Terry — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:25:53 +0000

OK, maybe a bit of a stretch, but it’s how my mind works… Are you familiar with 6+1 writing? Well, if not, kids receive separate points for each facet of the writing. So, something might score high in ideas, but poorly in organization.

So, maybe assignments can be formatted so that a kid who makes an attempt can get SOMETHING for an appearance, but accurately scored for what he/she didn’t have. The kid gets a great score for enthusiasm and presentation, but a poor score in accuracy. The kid doesn’t feel pandered to and you have integrity. No mushy garbage from this guy!

I believe kids gather great momentum…. If they are accustomed to the letter grade F, they will keep the F’s coming. By the way, I am a firm believer in that the grade of F can ONLY motivate kids who typically get higher grades.

I think many teachers would be surprised at how little it takes to improve a kids outlook on grades. Earlier this year, a kid who I am close to asked me to check his grades. He is usually in the B range and he had a D in one class. He was late on a project. I gave him my very serious ‘teacher look’ and with a stern voice, I said, “And this grade is coming up TODAY. Get that project in.” Grade at the end of the day? B+. Wouldn’t work with a kid who was used to D or F’s and it wouldn’t work if you didn’t have a relationship with the kid…. but it works.

Wow, haven’t written this much in WEEKS! You hit a nerve!

BTW, long time no hear.