Right now, the least of my worries is my own judgment day, my formal observation on Thursday. Unit 2 testing starts tomorrow, and excepting my all-star class tomorrow morning, I don’t have much reason to be optimistic. I gave a quiz last week on the concepts that are at the heart of the unit, and the results were abysmal. There’s not much reason to expect a major change. Even so, the show must go on. We’re way behind and we have to move on to new material. Plus, I don’t think rehashing the same old material would solve the problem.
I’m practically begging for kids to come in for the help they need, but almost no one is taking the initiative. For some kids, I honestly don’t know what they’re thinking is going to happen when the end of the year comes and they don’t pass this class or the state exam. The saddest thing is that some of these kids are so bright, but they’re pissing their potential away. I’m hoping that since it’s report card week, I’ll get the chance to issue some wake-up calls to kids and parents. It’s too bad most of them won’t receive them before they take this test.
Oh well, I’d just as soon shelve this material for now and come back to it later. I’ve got a few test days and a long weekend to think about how I’m going to make Unit 3 far more effective than my first two have been. I just pray that for those who don’t do well, this test comes as a reality check, not a knock down.
Alan, online. 