Fail Safe

Today is report card day. Let me tell you, the students’ desire to argue over their grades for the fifth grading period is much more diluted than it was after the first grading period. Today. there won’t be riots in the hallway over how hard I grade or parents demanding a committee to be formed to review grading practices of single male teachers. Yeah, that last one has happened before.

That could be for a number of reasons, I suppose. It’s hard to sustain such anger for that long. Even wild broncos can’t buck all the time.

Another reason may be the fact that a number of these kids (primarily the slackers) see their fates already sealed. Who are we kidding? By now they know if they’ve passed for the year or not. There’s no point to get all worked-up now, is there? With three failed grading periods, a fourth doesn’t really pack a strong punch. It’s like when a murderer gets two life sentences. They deserved it, but you really could have stopped at one.

Better luck next year.