No, I am not going to complain about my busy day again! However, I had two encounters that were both sad and funny, in a way.
First, I was a recipient of maybe innocent or maybe charged compliment this morning. I have this student in my MW morning class who apparently developed a puppy-love affection for me (um, he is like maybe 19-20; I am in my 30s and, MOST important I am a teacher and do NOT get involved with students). I have noticed him gazing at me and usually try to stay away from him so not to encourage any inappropriate behavior. This morning, he approached my desk while students were working on a brief individual activity and I was taking attendance and loudly complimented me on my outfit. I was shocked, of course, but responded in a business-like tone, very briefly thanking him and then immediately asking if he finished the activity; since his response was negative, I told him to go back to his seat and finish the activity. Needless to say, the rest of the class discreetly watched in stunned silence. Ever happened to you? Do you think I handled the poor guy properly? What else can I do w/out blowing this thing out of proportion? I think I will pretend nothing happened and hope he stays away or finds a girl of his own age and status.
Second, received several e-harmony matches tonight. None of them interested me for a variety of reasons. One did make me question e-harmony process -- it was for a cattle manager who can't live w/out country life, sleeping, and steak. Eeeeew! Definitely not interested!
Teaching one student at a time... Making one yummy treat at a time... Struggling with life... Having Fun!!!
3 comments:
I would have done the same thing with the male student!
Funny you mention this, I have a student who I think likes me too. I do want to stay professional with my class and I am married, but I am around his age so I guess I can see where he *might* get that from. Although, being the way I am I cannot see why anyone would like be, but eh - that's another story.
My student has not created any situations like the one you described, which I think you responded appropriately - but, he has been missing a lot of class and asks a lot of questions when he does come back to class, which annoys his classmates since they can follow the material pretty well if they have been attending lecture and find his questions to be a waste of time, which is not always the case but if he attended lecture more often then he would not have so many questions. He does often call into my office hours, which by now has become routine, and asks to turn in assignments late, etc. and I give him the same responses I would give anyone else. I believe he thinks I am particularly sympathetic towards his situation, but really I give him the same run-down I give my other students. Do you think being lenient on everyone promotes his behavior and maybe even encourages his feelings? I hope not.
But anyways, I was wondering about these averages you give every few weeks. Do you give them class averages or individual averages? Also, how can an average tell them how good or bad they are doing? Individual averages tell them about their own performance and class averages tell them how they are fairing in terms of the class as a whole, but just because they did badly on some assignments in the past does not mean they will continue to do badly and just because a few other people are not showing up to lecture and not doing well does not excuse the entire class on doing well on the exam. I am not sure how this is helpful.
Does he know you are relaxing your policies for everybody? I usually enforce all deadlines and allow for extra time only in emergency situations.
I use GradebookPlus so all percentages are calculated to provide accurate individual averages which I post online (we use BlackBoard so it's secure). Also, I provide comments for each assignment so students know why they missed points and how to improve. You're right -- I can't predict the future performance; that's why I always include a disclaimer -- this is how you're doing now; if you keep it up, you're fine; if grades drop, your average will drop.
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