It is intersession at the continuation high school. They are officially on spring break, but for one week of their three weeks off they give the students a chance to make up more credits in a more intense four-hour class. This is a voluntary thing.
I would have thought that only students who wanted to use this time would take intersession. I was wrong.
I knew what I was in for when I saw the roll sheet. Kayla was on it. So was Marcus. Oh, right, I have only alluded to Marcus in the past. I guess it's time to spend a little time talking about him.
I first met Marcus at one of the other high schools. It was in a government class. The teacher warned me about him in the lesson plan. I ended up having him for a second period for economics.
In the government class, Marcus spent the whole period goofing off. Talking. Doing no work. Flirting with the girls (and the girls enjoyed it). I remember thinking that he belonged at the continuation high school, and I wondered how he would manage to graduate. I figured that he was on track for graduation as he was still at a regular high school in the second semester of his senior year.
Then a funny thing happened in the economics class. The rest of the class disliked Marcus, and they shunned him. They were more interested in doing their work. Marcus put his head down on his desk and slept.
I was only surprised to see Marcus at the continuation high school because it is so late in his senior year. (Apparently, he won't be graduating on time.) Otherwise...
If everyone in class ignored Marcus, then he'd settle and not disturb anybody. But Kayla was in class. Yep, the inevitable happened.
I explained to them that they were there to work, not talk. Kayla told me she was "multitasking". Um, sure. Perhaps that's why she got next to nothing done. Marcus told me that it was intersession. So, because he voluntarily signed up meant that he didn't actually have to do anything while in class?
(The students only get credit for work turned in. If they do nothing, they wasted their time.)
Kayla told me that I was rude. Yeah, I guess I was. I wouldn't answer her random questions because I wanted her to do her work and stop talking.
Eventually, they'll both age out. I hope they'll graduate. I hope they'll wake up. But I rather doubt it. (I would love to be wrong, though.)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
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It's sad to see students give up on life before they've begun. How do they not see socializing won't get them anywhere in the long run?
ReplyDeleteWow, those guys get a lot of time off.
I started daily subbing again today. Sort of.
I bemoan the lack of discipline and the powerlessness of teachers to enforce good behavior. I blame our education system's woes on the coddling of youngsters. Troublemakers should be punished so that they know better and if Marcus had gotten this kind of discipline early then he might not be on the track to failure that he is.
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