Remember the ad for The Blair Witch Project? It had the girl in the beanie, close-up shot with the flashlight under her chin, light shining in her face. It’s her nostrils, some snot, some tears, and she is so sorry and so scared.
My students are like this when I pass out a test. They do have some reason for the worry–they haven’t read the book. Or they weren’t listening in class. Or both.
It’s frightening to watch. Every single day I try to figure out a way to interest my students, which I’m not sure is in my job description. Perhaps an F on their quarter reports will spark something, either from them or their parents.
My hardest takeaway from today was from a student who is not dumb. He does work online, where others can’t see it, and does well there. In class, he gives no outward show of effort. So, test today, open book/open note, we read all the poems in class and discussed them twice. When he turned in his test he made sure to tell me “I didn’t read any of the poems.”
What does it all even mean?