Dec 062015
After our first class meeting, a student approached me and told me she was taking ENC 1101 for the 3rd time. She had freckles and round cheeks and the most melt-your-heart brown eyes I’ve ever seen in a student. As we talked, her eyes filled up with tears and she looked at the floor and said, “Never mind,” and abruptly left the classroom.
That evening, I checked out my roster and saw that she wants to be an elementary school teacher. I sent her a quick message.
“You seemed discouraged when you left class this morning, and I hate to think that you are feeling defeated before we even get started. You are not alone. Several of my students are taking ENC 1101 for the second or even third time. It is a challenging class and you should look at that as a good thing if you can. Very few worthwhile things come easily.By now you should have some idea of which areas of your writing need work/help. When you turn in your writing sample to me, please make a note at the end of what you need help with and I’ll try to think of a way to make it easier to understand. What kind of feedback have your other instructors given you?I see that your major is Elementary Education. I have been a teacher for a long time, and I have learned that some of the very, very best teachers are the ones who struggled and persevered. You are going to be a wonderful teacher. Hang in there.”
I wanted her to start to take ownership of her learning, but every time she and I spoke, she shot down every suggestion I had with a flat, “That won’t work.” When I asked, “OK, what will work, then?” she’d just say, “I don’t know!” She wouldn’t even try.
By the time essay three was due, she was sending me messages that said, “We both know that I’m not going to have a draft for peer review. So what can I do instead?” When I told her that the peer review process was a required and helpful component of the class, she stopped coming to class on peer review day. Then she stopped turning in her essays altogether. When November 13 approached, I thought for sure that she would drop the class, but she attended right up to the last day.
This afternoon I was sifting through my students’ Final Reflection assignments. This is what she turned in, in its entirety.
Part One
I have learned nothing that I didn’t already know. Everything that was taught in this class
was taught in high school. And the first two times I took this class. Nothing has changed. I still
make the same mistakes I made in high school and because I learned nothing new it’s not going
to change.
Part Two
There are no skills that I learned that I didn’t already know. And the skills I know aren’t
going to be helpful in the future.
Over the course of the semester I communicated with this student privately — via face-to-face conference, email, Starfish, and through the OSD — no fewer than a dozen times. I couldn’t overcome her defeatist attitude. She is the only student who earned an F.
I can say with a clear conscience that I did my very best with this student. I have no misgivings about documenting her non-passing grade. Sometimes it’s OK to throw in the towel.