Final Exams

My students are taking their final exams today. All the bad ones are left (bc the good ones are exempt). As much as I would like to believe in the beauty and potential of all of my students, I struggle to maintain the idealistic point of view that grad school has vested me with. Only one class period has taken my final and already, three students will fail my class for the year. Considering the number of participation grades I give, this is pathetic. What is more concerning is that they are seemingly oblivious to their situtation. Take "Tra" (long a on the end) for example. This child has recevied an F on every report card he has been issued this year and he made a 35 on my final. He has not turned in one single homework assignment (these generally take 5-10 minutes) and he sleeps through most classes. He is shocked that he is not passing my class. I believe his exact words were, "Shoot, maaaan! I ain't goin to no summer school. How I fail yo class?"

Then there's "Stacey," the greasy haired, racoon-eyed young lady who fails to complete any assignment I give her but always has a sheet of notebook paper covered with hearts and "I love Stephen" (who she was dating until just recently when he started going with her sister, "Misty") written in hopeful bubble letters. THe last poem she wrte for me was called "Boy Crazy" and she pulls up every morning in a small, round car covered in bumper stickers for heavy metal bands as the speakers rattle under the weight of rap's heavy bass. She also failed my final, but at least she admits that she didn't really study much. I was kind of hoping she would pass.

As I put the final grades in the computer and I hit the "post" button, I wonder whether it will make any difference that these students failed my class. I mean, how much harm could it do to pass them? In a vain attempt to maintain my own integrity, I am failing these students, but what if I didn't? What if they "pulled it off" with a 59.5?