Thursday, January 5, 2017

Not Expecting That Grade


There were quite a few familiar faces in Ms. D's classes. Vaughn was one of them. I have uttered his name many a time. Many of those times, the tone was sharp.

He was seated in one of the "attention" seats. Every teacher has a spot (or two) that I can just tell is the spot where the difficult students sit. It can be kind of isolated. It's generally in a spot that the teacher can easily keep an eye on.

I was not surprised at Vaughn's behavior. I was used to it.

But I did get a big shock when I was recording the class' tests.

I don't really look at names when I'm grading papers. And, these tests were Scantron, so they were graded by machine. I don't know if I noted the name or the score first, but when I put the two together...

Vaughn got a 95% on the test. He missed two questions.

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I recorded his score. (And no, he didn't cheat. While I can't be certain, I did not witness anything that would make me question the validity of his score.) Then I looked at his grade. He has a B. Another shock.

It looks like he's one of those lucky souls who remembers things easily. I talked to the teacher, and she said he does well when he does his work. He just doesn't always do his work.

Deep sigh. I just hope he matures out of his difficult ways. Because imagine what he could do if he really tried.

29 comments:

  1. I hope he does find some motivation to want to do better with turning work in, etc. Sounds like a bright young man who just needs some type of push to get him in a straighter path.

    betty

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  2. Hope he manages to apply himself more :)

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  3. If he does well with so little effort, is it possible he's bored, and that's why he acts out?

    VR Barkowski

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  4. Reaching a kid like that is a challenge. I wish his teachers and his parents the best of luck.

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  5. Some have a gift and rise to greatness with it. Others just get by with it. He does sound like he needs direction and motivation.

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  6. Over the years I have noticed that often those kids who cause the most trouble make better grades. A mystery to me. Maybe they aren't challenged enough!

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  7. I couldn't be arsed and always managed to be top of the class. High school isn't the best place for everyone...

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  8. Just because you're a trouble maker doesn't mean you aren't smart :)

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  9. I had a boy like that in my kindergarten class. He was my first reader, and he could read well! He was also one of the most difficult students in the class, behavior-wise. It's those kids that I wonder about most often and I hope they learn to apply themselves.

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  10. Sounds like me at that age. I was literally incapable of paying attention in class...most often would sleep through all of them...but I finished highschool with a 4.8 GPA and received a double bachelors with a 3.8 GPA sooo....

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    1. I guess he just needs more stimulation? Or something.

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  11. Hopefully he'll turn his behavior around and do something amazing with his life :)

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  12. It amazing how some time we put people in pigeon holes. I recall I only once aced a test...I was false accuse of cheating because I was to stupid to get such a high score.
    Then from then on I made sure I miss a lease 3...But I'm not a good test taker.

    Coffee is on

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    1. That's too bad. I can see how suspicion might fall, but it's rude to accuse someone of cheating unless one saw the student do something suspicious.

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  13. I am sure he will apply himself more in future.

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  14. I think you said it best, hopefully he will mature out of the behavior. Perhaps he gets more attention from his bad behavior than he does from his accomplishments.

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  15. I had a shock last year when I marked a huge spelling test and the most disruptive pest in the class was way above the rest of the class. I think sometimes smart kids find the school system boring.

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    1. I think the lesson here is some of the most disruptive just need more to do ;)

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  16. More to do and maybe more odd stuff to do

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  17. Wow! It sounds like his teacher really has a "handle" on him. He is so lucky to have her. Not every teacher would have the patience to know what to do with a kid that can "perform" but prefers to misbehave. (Sorry. Sucking with wordage today.)

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  18. Unfortunately, intelligence doesn't always mean good decision making. Hopefully he'll grow out of it.

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    Replies
    1. That is true. Plenty of smart people do dumb things all the time.

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