Day 44- "When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." Ernest Hemmingway

Today is the last day of the grading period. It is also the day I handed back the senior's first essays. There was very little joy in Mudville today as I pretty much lectured my seniors for being lazy and not taking the first paper seriously. The vast majority of the errors for this paper were based on sheer laziness. I made a pictorial of screen shots with step by step directions for the students to follow to format their papers for MLA formatting in Google Docs. I also included how to format the bibliography. Only 6 out of 110 students followed it. When I asked the classes why they didn't follow it, they all said they forgot or just didn't care. I bet they care now. To prove my point that following directions makes their lives easier or better, I gave them a "screw you" test for bell work. The "test" consisted of 20 random pure nonsense questions. The first question told them to read the entire test before they answered any questions. The last question says do numbers 1 and 2. After about 2 minutes, I told them to stop doing the test, and if they were still working, then they didn't follow directions. To a T, about 50%-60% of my classes were still working on the test. Most of the classes were a little shocked I did this to them, but I believe my point was made. Follow freaking directions!

I handed back their essay rubrics (all were submitted online via Google Docs), and the classes went to the IMC so they could all view the comments I made on their essays and I could have a dialogue with the students who had questions on my comments and wanted more feedback. Overall, it was very productive. I also received a note back from a student on one of the notes I made, and her note to me made my day.  This student was 2 days late, so I had to take a percentage off of her essay. Also, the essay grade dropped her to a class grade to a C, which was the first C she ever had on a report card. The note said, "I like how mean you are, it honestly helps. Thanks." Sometimes, maybe, just maybe, what I do does make a difference.