Do You Want to Live Your Life on Easy?

Ah, progress reports.  That delightful time of the year when teachers hastily grade items so as to have tangible evidence of their assessment of student effort, understanding, and…progress.  Although the comments are a serious pain to write, once a critical mass of the class’s comments are written (i.e., every “type” of student  is represented) ctrl+C and ctrl+V, with minor modification, can take over.   For example:

[...]is a gifted mathematics student who has the potential to excel in any subject.  She can be a pleasure to teach, and that would be aided by her participating in class more.  Her behavior is generally not an issue, unless she is sleeping in class.  Despite this, her work is generally exceptional and her great attendance has allowed her to keep up with the material better than most students.  When [...] puts effort into class, it is extremely evident, as her work is unparalleled.  She is also willing to ask questions, which is essential to understanding in mathematics.

and

[...]is a gifted student with some deficiencies in her mathematical understanding.  She is generally a pleasure to teach, as she is sometimes ready to participate without prompting.  She has no problem asking for help, but unfortunately, she can be distracted at times by her classmates, and is sometimes the cause of such distraction.  Her work is generally of a good caliber and her great attendance has allowed her the time necessary to approach mastery of the material.  I would like to see more focus from [...], and a more hardworking attitude.

The comments are a necessary evil.  It gives the advisor something to use during the sit-down with a student, in case he or she doesn’t actually teach that student.  It’s extremely useful when teachers independently develop a convergent analysis of a student.  I think that helps to get the message to the student that a) they are really awesome, or b) they need to get their shit together.  Sometimes, however, the ones that really don’t have it together are so out of touch and/or nihilistic that one it takes a bit more than a comment to get to them.  These are the ones with whom a teacher invests all of their management energies on a daily basis.  No work completed, no desire to pay attention, constant talking, the list is endless.   Often, these behaviors are not purely out of a deficiency.  It may be boredom, only because it’s some of the most talented students who present in this manner.  Consider the comment I made to one of these Nietzschean students:

[...] is an incredibly talented student who is not currently working at his potential.  His attendance has thus far been abysmal, and his work habits and assignment completion are not reflective of his potential.  At times he can be distracting, but his behavior thus far this week has been a marked improvement over the previous month.  I only hope that he comes to understand his potential so that he can do the great things of which he is capable.

This one is a fifteen year old who could run circles around the rest of the class, but is so terrifically unmotivated that he is starting to regress.  For him, the comment was not enough.  It did not get the message home.  The sit-down was necessary.  During this talk, we got real.  We spoke about what he wants out of life, and that it’s necessary to demonstrate effort now so that he can grow accustomed to putting effort forth.  This wasn’t quite getting across, and he was still fairly unmoved.  It was at this point that the opportunity for a delightful analogy presented itself.  I inquired, “Do you like playing video games on easy?” to which he responded, “No, that’s boring.”  Booyah.  He walked right into it.  Attempting to conceal my self-content, I replied with the only response possible, “Do you want to live your life on easy?”

And then I hit Down, Up, Left, Left, A, Right, Down, and pulled his spine out.