Feelings for First Semester
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Five months have passed so quickly as we are moving on to the last week of
first semester in a period of seven days. We have had great times being
busy, la...
10 years ago
4 comments:
I am going to use this opportunity to be the first one to comment about what a great bike ride we had today. This is the fourth time Nordonia has done this particular event, and this was, by far, the best yet! The biggest difference between the previous rides and this one was the Valley Voyage students who lead the teams. You all took the job of team leader very seriously and brought a lot to the ride for the other students. You may not have realized how important your role was until now, but I want you all to stop and consider for a moment that this ride was an awesome advertisement for our class. We also collected many positive examples of the success of the program. That means bigger and better things in the future. The way you performed was outstanding. You should be very pleased with your efforts today. I am! Did you know that several students commented today that they had a great time, the best day off they have ever had, and they would have done this regardless of the extra credit - it was fun? Way to go!
I will be the second one to comment on this.
I thought that while the idea is always an excellent one, offering extra credit to students is not the best idea. I was not very appreciative of the US History teachers who offered extra-credit, dumped their students with us, and didn't bother to come along and share the responsibility.
This idea also appeals to the more irresponsible student who needs the extra credit and believes that merely riding a bike around for half an hour will boost their grade significantly. If extra credit is going to be offered, I think more strings need to be attached.
I was certainly not appreciative of the fact that I had to lead a group which had a collective I.Q. of about 65. They had no desire to learn and did nothing but make this experience utterly miserable. I think that knowing how to properly use a bicycle needs to be a prerequisite for the future as well as making it very clear that this is not something that the extremely faint of heart should bother attempting.
I understand your frustration and also wished I could have spent the ride with more dedicated learners, however I wanted to say to you that you and Jeff handled the situation well and hopefully were able to teach the girl you finished with something along the way. Just as a note of encouragement, once one of the other girls traded bikes with me she had much more success. Then when she got picked up by her mom, and I was down to two, they suddenly got much more interested. By the time we got to the end they were actually asking me questions about the canal. When the ride was finally over they thanked me, and one of them said she wanted to come back another time time and ride some more. So, see what we were able to accomplish even though it seemed liked we were waisting our time. You now know how some teachers feel everyday. That is why I appreciate this VV group. You all make it worth it.
Well Mr. Testa, you are right. I have always looked up to teachers quite a bit, but after that day I told myself that I have an even greater respect for them. I usually make the folly of assuming that just because I'm eager to learn means that everyone else is too. I'm glad that you got through to a few of them.
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