Why are my grade twelve students handing in mediocre work? I know some are focusing on "core" subjects like sciences and maths, this course is a pre-requisite for the French Immersion Certificate, but it is not a 4U course, so it doesn't "count" as a pre-university credit. They are merely submitting to the requirements and doing (what I thought were interesting) tasks quite passively. So what am I to do?
My next step is to find out what aspect of history or question each individual may be interested in and modify my course expectations to invite them into the planning process. This may mean fewer assignments, more tracking and consultation, less content-driven lessons.....
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The problem is that for kids of the 21st century has been numbed to the past. There have been too many teachers that did not have a passion or ability at all in the teaching of it.
ReplyDeleteMy undergrad was in history, but until I was forced to take history in OAC I thought that I hated it. It was Mr. Sharp, he made history come alive, he gave it a feel and he made me love it.
I believe that lowering the content would go against your and my standards. Instead I believe that you have to try to do the same as my High-school teacher did and try to keep living breathing history.
Students need to prioritize even with their school work. If they don't find something is valuable, then it is understandable why they would only submit a mediocre piece of work. Finding out what aspect of history each student is interested in is a great idea! This will make the lesson more meaningful to them. You could even take it a step further. How fun would it be (from both perspectives) to have each of those students state one fact about the history lesson they found most exciting and create questions based on those statements? Many of us don't work well under pressure and the fear of failure is very real. This could be a way to get them involved and feel safe. Sometimes the output doesn't match a students true ability. Perhaps these students would respond better to evaluation through conversation or consultation. It is nice to have a choice and educators could learn so much by having a short conversation with their students. A great educator is someone who is flexible enough to change the plan when they see it is not working for the students. Your “next step” is very risky for some; however, highly necessary. Hopefully these students appreciated the effort and their involvement improved.
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