It was the end of first period. Corbin approached. He couldn't figure out how to get into the student portal to look at his grades, so he asked me to pull them up for him.
(One of the great things about long term assignments is full access to the gradebook software. I can click on any of "my" students and pull up all of their current grades. Honestly though, I rarely look.)
He had mostly A's with a D in PE...
Me: "Have you not been dressing out?"
Corbin: "Ms. B hates me. She says I have attitude." And he looked genuinely perplexed.
So, let me back up a minute. Corbin... Well... When I gave him back an assignment as it wasn't completely done (and we still had half a period to go, so he had time), he complained that he always gets A's in science, and he did the assignment well enough.
And he's the one who actually did the whole, "When does my real teacher start?" to me. (He's only met me. As Ms. S doesn't return until February, I've been non-specific about how long she'd be out. That's a long time for seventh graders.)
So, uh, yeah, I can confirm Ms. B's assessment. Attitude.
To Corbin's look, I gave a look back.
Me: "Well, uh..."
He genuinely has no clue that he acts like he knows everything. Which... tracks, really.
What's funny is once I separated him from the other boy in class who's a disruption, Corbin's been okay. (Other than his smugness.) I kind of like him. And he does do his work.
As for the attitude, well, he'll likely grow out of it. Or decide to become a surgeon. One or the other, really.
Corbin sounds like an intelligent, young boy. I bet he does in fact grow out of it.
ReplyDeleteCould be. Hopefully I'll be able to report back in a few years with a yea or nay.
DeleteHe may have an attitude, but really, that shouldn't affect his grade. Unless, as you say, he isn't dressing for PE. An A student who dislikes PE? Sounds pretty normal, going by kids I knew!
ReplyDeleteWell, that A is no longer an A. They had a test today. Corbin didn't do so hot.
DeleteJamie here;
ReplyDeleteI always hated PE class! The athletic, competitive students saw it as an outlet to bully the less or unathletic students. When their team lost a game, the competitive ones would act as if they'd lost the World Series or the Olympics. And the teachers seemed to think that the class was a breeding ground for future Olympic stars. And written tests on game rules-why??? They often don't tell us the rules until before the test and expect us to know how to play the game with no explanation. And there's much more I could say.
I hated PE so, so much. So, I took marching band and didn't have to deal with it in high school :)
DeleteI would be curious to know if he does or doesn't dress for PE. Because if it's not that, downgrading someone because of attitude seems inappropriate to me. And if he's otherwise an A student...something seems a bit fishy to me.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to give seventh graders bad grades for their attitude, they're all going to be failing.
ReplyDeleteHmmm....smug and clueless. I think he'll grow out of it after a round or two in the school of hard knocks. But I also won't be surprised if he's successful in whatever he wants to do. Just a feeling.
ReplyDeleteFirst hard knock: his test grade from today.
DeleteCause and effect. Corbin will learn
ReplyDeleteHe will.
DeleteMy grandson started 6th grade this year. He has a bit of an, I know everything attitude too. Hopefully he's a nice teenager.
ReplyDeleteIt's an awkward age. They do grow past it. I have seen it.
DeleteThat an age I wouldn't want to experience. But since I'm an believer in past life regression. I'm sure I will experience it again as I did in past.
ReplyDeleteHe's likely to grow out of that smugness. Or become a surgeon 😅 I like that.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Delete