Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Please Tell Me Why...

I have a question to pose...why do students not care about their grades? I mean, that has to be the only reason they don't do their work after I spend days explaining how to, then give them a handout that explains how to (just in case they forgot or weren't listening), then give them a book that explains how to and THEY STILL WON'T/DON'T DO THE WORK!!!

Honestly...why? I just don't understand. My students are working on their research papers. Today their notes and works cited were due (150 points) at the beginning of the hour and 90% of the students didn't have them done. I gave them until the end of the hour (my plan all along), but after 7 days of computer time to research and work on notes, most were still completely unprepared. How hard is it to look at the text citation information given to you (via the database source; this is information like: author, title, publisher, etc.) and compare it to the instructions for putting it in MLA format. It is literally just plugging your information (which was provided for them; they didn't have to go find it themselves) into the provided format. This takes no English abilities. It's just following instructions. Regardless if a kid ever plans on having to research anything ever again, they do need to know how to follow instructions.

I HATE research paper time...more than the kids ever will. It is full of whining, complaining, me having to end up doing part of the papers myself, and, of course, the grading, grading, grading. Why these kids think I do it for fun is beyond me. As if!

So, if anyone out there has any suggestions as to why kids act this way or how I can combat it or fix it, let me know!

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