Good Grade-cious
Finals start in a couple of days and this is the day that I give my kids the skinny on their final grades. I’ll give their grade for the six weeks, their current grade for the semester and a projection for their final grade. You know—they have to make X on the final to get Y for the semester.
Like turning in research papers, there’s the usual cast of characters, especially those who are mathematically out of the running. My three favorites, in no particular order, are:
The Giggler: This is the kid who can’t help but to laugh at his/her abysmal grade. The odds were so against them that they would do that bad, but they did it anyway. It’s like they won some kind of failure lottery. Like I always say, “You’ve got to be in it to fail it.”
The Sleeper Agent: This kid knows they’ve done the impossible and doesn’t even bother to come up to your desk to see what they’ve got. Instead, they demonstrate how they got to where they are by doing what they’ve been doing all year—head down on desk, snoozing.
The Optimist: When this kid is told that they need 132 on the final to pass, they ask a question for the first time all year, “Will you be here after school for tutoring?” Better really, really, really, really late than never, if you ask me.
I’m not making fun of these kids either. This is just who they are and on some level you’ve got to appreciate them being true themselves. I wish them all better luck next year.
Like turning in research papers, there’s the usual cast of characters, especially those who are mathematically out of the running. My three favorites, in no particular order, are:
The Giggler: This is the kid who can’t help but to laugh at his/her abysmal grade. The odds were so against them that they would do that bad, but they did it anyway. It’s like they won some kind of failure lottery. Like I always say, “You’ve got to be in it to fail it.”
The Sleeper Agent: This kid knows they’ve done the impossible and doesn’t even bother to come up to your desk to see what they’ve got. Instead, they demonstrate how they got to where they are by doing what they’ve been doing all year—head down on desk, snoozing.
The Optimist: When this kid is told that they need 132 on the final to pass, they ask a question for the first time all year, “Will you be here after school for tutoring?” Better really, really, really, really late than never, if you ask me.
I’m not making fun of these kids either. This is just who they are and on some level you’ve got to appreciate them being true themselves. I wish them all better luck next year.
- H.T. at 8:40 AM
