Faith In A Failing Student

Final grades have been entered and the e-mails from the few failures are coming in fast and furious.  Jeff didn't understand why he failed even though he did no homework and failed every test including the final.  He was distraught and wanted to do extra work to pass.  If only he had done work in the first place he might have passed. No extra work for someone who did nothing all semester.

Jeff did have one saving grace.  When I told  him his final grade he stopped asking to pass, took responsibility and promised to work harder when he retakes the course next semester.  My money is on him.  He grew quite a bit (not enough but a lot) in the four months I have known him and I have faith he will continue.  He promised to keep in touch and I told him I am waiting for the letter announcing his success in life.

Taking Responsibility

My friend's son did something hurtful.  Instead of letting it fester like I usually do, I sent him a message, explaining how I felt about what he did.  We went back and forth a few times and then he said he was wrong and he was sorry.  He didn't mean anything by this and did not realize the affect it would have on me.

I'm so glad we had this conversation.  I'm glad I opened the gate to the wall I usually build around myself.  I hope this teaches me a lesson for the future. I am so proud of him for apologizing instead of denying and making excuses.  It was a very mature and responsible thing to do.  He is way more responsible than many three times his age.  His mom should be proud of him.

Packemin Visit



I paid a visit to Packemin this morning to pick up my unused sick day check. We get so much mail for other people, I dread thinking about how much of mine gets lost so I did not want to trust this good sized check to the postman. (I rarely took days off.)

On my way out of the bulding I met Aaron, a sweetheart and a scholar. It felt good signing his yearbook and talking to him about his future plans. It was great hearing about his sister, Liaa, also a former student, who is doing nicely in college.  Liaa didn't do well in high school math, but she worked hard and learned quite a bit.  Her term in remedial math was easy as it was the second time around.

I also ran into Debbie, one of the kids that tortured me two years ago.  She has really grown up nicely.  She even apologized for the way she behaved in class.  She hugged me and told me that I did a lot for her in school and I really helped build her self esteem.  She even got a 73 on the geometry regents.  Unfortunately she is programmed for a pre trig class next term and won't get to go for her third year math regents.  It is sad when statistics mean more than a child's education.  The worst thing to happen would be Debbie failed the regents.  She would learn much more in a trig class than in the class she is going to be in.

On my way home I stopped at a nearby hardware store.  The present owner is also a former student (37 years young.)  We laughed together about what a dingbat he was in high school and how far he has come.  It is a good thing he graduated years ago because today he probably would not have been allowed to complete the advanced regents sequence.

I'm glad Packemin is a nearby school.  I get to keep running into these awesome former students and see how great they've grown.  The post office might have delivered my check but it could not have delivered the unforgettable experience I had picking it up.

(I even enjoyed seeing the adults I ran into.)