The Year: The College Professor Returns to School, Week 5

Motivation

Week 5. Progress reports.  What can I say?  I made sure I stressed the difference between earning and receiving grades.  Earning grades comes with satisfaction like no other work, especially when your only job is to go to school and EARN good grades.  It means studying even when no one told you to do so, the creating practice problems when none were assigned, teaching a new concept, vocabulary, or math procedure to anyone who will listen - teddy bears, grandparents, siblings, parents, friends, neighbors, even the dog (or cat).  It includes writing down questions to ask the teacher while reviewing the day's lessons at home.  It includes setting aside two hours, at least, to review, reread, rewrite, and organize your notebook or class binder.  This is not limited to high school or college students. This type of commitment to learning must occur early in the lives of students. Yes, even as early as 10, and earlier if materials are sent or available at home via the internet.

Earning a grade happens when motivation and the desire for success intersect and dedication, ethics, and hard work are plotted along the way.  Receiving grades is a lot simpler.  It takes no effort at all. In fact, the effort usually falls outside of the student's purview.  It includes, but is not limited to, the lineage of the child, political pressures, or even familial ties.  It could be that you, as the teacher, are new to the community and are fearful of assigning the student the grade he or she earned because the student is the grandchild or grandnephew of the mayor.  It could be that you have all Advanced Placement courses and all of the students are used to receiving, in many cases earning as well, all A's and who are you to break tradition?  Perhaps, you are quite sympathetic to the plight of many of your students and are asked, or pressured, by a coach (including academic coaches as well) to bump a student's grade (from let's say an F to a C, or C to an A) in your class so that he or she can 'play' whatever game or participate on a given team.  

I am a believer in the Golden Rule.  Teachers often discuss their levels of comfort with giving additional points to final course averages.  I do not mind a maximum of three points, but it is not a given.  The student needed to have contributed to class discussions a lot, have near perfect if not perfect attendance, show good citizenship in class, complete assignments on time to the best of his or her abilities, arrive on time and prepared to begin the day, etc. It is not simply that you are popular, your parents are popular, or that you feel a sense of entitlement.  However, I am amazed by the number of grade school teachers who strictly enforce the belief that if you have an 89 then come hell or high water, you are going to receive a B. I have secretly always wanted to request their college instructors' grade records to see if they have not benefited from those who are not as stringent.  I know I tell students that I don't curve, but what I don't tell them is why.  I do not curve scores on individual assignments, because I will give up to three points on their final average.  It seems to balance everything in the end.  Is this perfect? No! I have boosted a student's final average by 3 only to place him or her a point or two away from a higher grade. Do they receive it? No.

I am sure as 9-weeks grades become due across the county, that there are teachers who dread the frustration that grades emit.  Sarah is a good student. She comes to school everyday, but not always prepared. There are some things going on in her home that distract her. What, she has never said. Her grades are hit and miss.  She misses easy questions and assignments, but scores above average on the hard stuff. Her average is a 67 (on a scale where a D is 60-69 and a C is 70-79).  I would like to think that most of the teachers I know would not pause or blink and assign her a C.  But there are those who believe that she EARNED her D and if she wants a C or better then she had better work harder.  Yet, there are those who feel that a D would shatter her confidence and send her plummeting into failing grades, low or lowering self esteem and depression.   I wondered why teachers completed their grades at the local bar or restaurant during Happy Hour, but never looked happy. Why some went on a bon bon binge or smoked only once in awhile, the one day of each 9-weeks when grades were due. The issue of grading was not covered in any course I completed. I am sure it falls under ethics, but that is not enough.  And it is more than scoring essays using a cleverly crafted rubric. Teachers deal with ethical dilemmas daily.  As a teacher educator, I now have a plethora of lessons and discussions and assignments to add to prospective course syllabuses to flush out issues like this that are on the hearts and minds of day-to-day classroom teachers.

This self sabotaging behavior got me to thinking about sabbaticals for teachers.  Would teachers turn to spirits and chocolate and food if they could release, relate and relax for several weeks or a months during the year?  Don't offer conferences as a substitute for the aforementioned 3R's.  As an often regular conference attendee, you don't have time to rest if you intend to attend workshops, lectures, and presentations.  Most major conferences pack your days and some nights with more than enough to keep you busy and thinking about improving instruction.  I am talking about a break. A mental break to keep not only the mind healthy, but the body as well.  Attend your next conference and notice the spreading waistlines, crooked walks, and frowning faces.  I am not suggesting sabbaticals for teachers who have been teaching for decades, but sabbaticals for those who apply for them as necessary, have their application reviewed by their peers, effectively demonstrate what they plan to bring back to the classroom and how the sabbatical will keep them in the profession.  The sabbatical, like that of a Fulbright, could last from a few weeks to a year or more.  Sabbaticals in higher education are common. You apply, are approved, complete your plan of study, and then return to share your findings with your colleagues.  They keep the college faculty alive and focused. Sabbaticals are not maternity and paternity leave.   Clearly, sabbaticals would be beneficial to all.  

A facebook friend and wife of a former student, Taneshia Toussaint, recently updated her status

I find it quite ironic that when the refs were on strike from the NFL people were ready to give them whatever they wanted to get them back on the field. Yet when teachers in Chicago went on strike for better learning conditions for other peoples children, many people were mad and upset they were being inconvenienced ... just saying priorities...

Clearly, sabbaticals would help reduce the fatigue and stress and lack of appreciation that teachers feel that often fester unattended until, POW, the explode. And dare I offer, that perhaps, just perhaps, sabbaticals could slow or derail strikes?!  First, let me say that I love football.  I mean I L O V E, LOVE, L OOOOO V E football.  I watch reruns until the season starts anew.  I go through withdrawal post BCS Monday and Superbowl Sunday. I think that the debate here is not about competing forces.  The debate is about workers' rights and fair compensation. The NFL is a corporation. It is a business. The owners, individuals, own their teams and make billions, but there is parody in the sport.  Some teams' cache far outweighs others.  When there are disagreements that cannot be resolved, they go on strike.  The Commissioner seeks a quick resolution, after all time is money and missed games mean a lot of missed money.  The Commission represents all teams regardless of their location.  There are not state commissioners, thank Heavens.  The game is entertainment. We could live without it, although my stomach tosses and turns with the very notion, but it is not a right or requirement of being a citizen of the United States.  It could possibly be offered that an education, especially a free one, is not a right or requirement as well, but it provides the pathway for individuals to attain their "unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 

Teachers, like football players, should have the right to strike.  I say this as I type this in a No Strike state.  I have always wondered why a group of people, teachers, firefighters, or other service providers would allow their greatest leverage to be taken away.  What threat can teachers impose if they do not have the freedom to express their displeasure by choosing to stay home? Did I support Chicago teachers' right to strike? Yes. Should they have? Yes. If you have it, use it. If you are not being treated as vital contributors to the success of the team, if you have filed so many grievances that you could work for Legal Aid, if you have tried to work within, around and through the system to no avail, then I believe you have a right to force those in command to notice you.  Parents often forget that their son(s)' and daughter(s)' teachers have options.  They choose to teach. Most parents work and know what they would do if they felt their boss ignored simple requests, passed them over for promotions even when overqualified, or demanded unreasonable work hours in unreasonable working conditions - they would file a grievance, quit, strike, they would do something. Yet, many deny teachers this very right because they would be inconvenienced by not having the funds or the availability of sitters. Teachers either need sabbaticals or more vacation days.  They seldom spend time with their own families while tending to the needs of kids who have parents.  

As a former University Observer, one of the questions I frequently asked teachers was to identify their biggest regret. It served as a way to forewarn graduating pre-service teachers of pitfalls to avoid.  The response I received most often was not spending enough time with their own children.  Through misting eyes they would recall spending countless hours planning lessons and grading papers and projects while they had to push their children toward other preoccupations and people.  They spoke of missed tryouts, productions, playoffs, homework help, and competitions while being present at those of their students.  They spoke of seeing their children take their first steps, speak their first words, or shed their first tooth via the lenses of a camera or worst still the babysitter's or spouse's reenactment. This is an extremely high price to pay for continuing criticism, decreasing paychecks and respect, and ever increasing demands, expectations, accountability, and production. The great state of Florida is increasing test requirements on many of its certification exams, many counties within the state have or are considering freezing step pay increases for veteran teachers, and more teacher preparation responsibilities are being given to 2-year colleges.  At this rate, I wonder who will teach the next generation of scholars? What will be their motivation? Most importantly, I no longer wonder if they will stay, I simply wonder how long?