Because I'm (so quickly) frustrated by the essays I have to grade and my students' inability to follow directions, I'm blogging.
A few highlights from my Friday:
A former student came to me and said, "Mrs. Other English Teacher sent me to you because we have an MLA question that neither of us can figure out, and she thought you might know. You know, since you're the MLA Queen" As I laughed and grabbed my MLA reference books, she said, "I don't think it will be in there. When I told Mrs. Other English Teacher, she got really red and said, 'I don't know why I'm so embarrassed by this.'" I gave her a nervous/confused look and said, "Yikes. What's your question?" She said, "Um...I'm writing a research paper on sex education, and I need to know how to cite the back of a box of condoms." The MLA question I never could have anticipated :)We figured it out, by the way.
In an effort to keep my kids from calling The Odyssey a novel in their essays, the day before their essays were due, I reminded them that it's an epic poem. I said, "Remember to refer to The Odyssey as an epic poem, not as a play or a novel." A sentence from an essay: "In The Epic Poem, Odysseus is a man whose misery is determined by fate." I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
The non-highlights:
Having a kid cheat for the second time in my class and receiving an "F" in the class, as a result.
The parent who really, really wants me to convince her kid to take honors again, next year.
The pile of essays that seems to be multiplying. Really, it's just starting to get under my skin.
2 comments:
oh how frustrating i find it when they cant follow directions. i try to make them as simple as possible. but somehow they still seem to not understand...blows my mind my friend...and i only have 5ht graders...cant imagine havin older kids who should have already mastered the "following directions" skill...hahahahha
oh the joys of doing what we do
Hang in there, and way to be the MLA Queen! :)
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