As this past week was the last week of the semester, I have
definitely learned a lot more about proficiency schools and their policies. I can
see the positives and the values of a proficiency school, but at the same time I
understand and have experienced first-hand the frustration and “blurred lines”
of a proficiency school. In a way it seems to encourage the idea of not working
hard the first time because students know they can just retake the exam or
makeup the assignment. Now this is not true of all students, however I have
really noticed this recently as many students have been frantically making up assignments
and tests to raise their grade. My question is, how can we motivate students to
continuously work on their grade throughout the term instead of the last day of
the semester? It is my understanding that weekly progress reports have been
sent home in the past, however this has stopped in the attempt to go paperless.
Is there more as educators we can do, or is the responsibility at this point
solely on the student?
The third class I picked up this week has a grand total of
three students in it. My other two classes have 13-14 students. This has been a
huge adjustment for me. Every day I felt that class just seemed to go at a much
slower pace, it was very quiet, and there are hardly any management issues. There
always seems to be extra time left over at the end of class no matter how I plan
it out. These three students are each very VERY different. There is never a
doubt in my mind that they are not with me on the material or interested and if
there is a question, they ask it. I feel as though the energy is quite low
compared to my other classes. This is challenging for me and I am not sure how
to increase the energy of the class and environment. Maybe it is just me and I need
to adjust…
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