French 2. 4th period. Two students had a test to finish that I was told they started on Monday. (It was Thursday.) The test was worth 200-something points. That's a lot.
The boys sat next to each other. That made me uneasy, so I insisted they sit apart. Adam took a chair over in the corner. Arturo remained where he was. Good enough.
Adam got working, and while I kept an eye on him, I left him completely alone.
Arturo fiddled with his phone. I reminded him he had a test to finish. Instead of getting to the test, he started talking to the girl sitting next to him. When I heard him ask her a question, I pounced.
He claimed that their teacher lets them discuss their tests... After a couple questions this excuse fell apart. (I said something about talking during the test, so he amended to say that they could discuss towards the end. But then I poked that one, and he gave up trying to convince me.)
Since I couldn't trust Arturo where he was sitting, I insisted he find a more isolated seat.
And then again, he was playing on his phone.
I offered to "watch" his phone so he would no longer be tempted by it. He put it aside...
And he finished his test two minutes after this.
How much more quickly would he have finished without all the previous distractions? I wonder...
Sometimes, I have to be the pest. I think that's somewhere in my job description.
Seems like he had a bit of a problem getting started, but once started, he sure could finish what needed to be done. But got to admire him for being in French 2; I just did the required one year of foreign language when I was in high school years ago :)
ReplyDeletebetty
Most colleges ask for two years of a foreign language nowadays, so that's why French 2 was pretty full. French 3 on the other hand...
DeleteI have come to the conclusion they will try anything when they have a sub!
ReplyDeleteYep. That's what keeps my blog in stories.
DeleteIt would be nice if students just did what they were supposed to do without having to be nagged.
ReplyDeleteSometimes they do. But those days don't make for good blog posts.
DeleteIn my class Arthuro would have his phone confiscated and not returned till the end of the day, or a week or even a whole term :) if the parents agree
ReplyDeleteThreatening to take the phone away is usually a good way to get them to do something. I can't believe he tried to claim that the teacher lets them "discuss" the test. Really? You think that will work?
ReplyDeleteI hate being a pest, but sometimes you have to.
ReplyDeleteA pest is necessary otherwise they wouldn't get anything done at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I was a student before cell phones existed.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I am too. But then I think about all the times I would have loved to have a phone in class...
DeleteMy stepdaughter, who is 27, sometimes hands me her phone to hold on to so she can avoid temptation. It never ends!
ReplyDeleteYeah, we all have our problems. The technology is just too tempting.
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