Today I handed back the tests my students took a week ago. Overall, they conformed to a bell curve of results. However, that meant some of them definately failed--as in they got less than fifty percent of the points possible. Bummer.
After class today, I encountered my first crying student. Yep, she failed, and she was devastated. It was awful. I felt really bad for her. I know that I feel awful for her because I would have felt the same way, and I remember every 'F' I have ever received. I could see she'd tried really hard and just not quite "gotten it". We talked. I still feel bad for her.
Sometimes I wonder if students understand I want them to succeed very badly. The only poor grades I "enjoyed" giving out were to students who didn't show up to class until the day of the test. The others who did poorly left me feeling like somehow I'd failed them. I know it's really not like that, but I have been evaluating the merits and problems of every test question for the last week as I grade tests. I want to be a good teacher who makes it possible for students to succeed in my classes. I don't want everyone to hate hisory, right? I want people to like it because I love it.
I wish more teachers/profs were like you :)
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