Learning: It's Your Journey
- School should be professional training for life.
- The most important thing a teacher can teach you is to never quit and to do your best.
- "What you achieve, or fail to achieve in your lifetime is directly related to what you do or fail to do."
- "You can change anything in your life, if you want to badly enough."
- "If you aren't willing to work for your goals, don't expect others to."
- Homework is for catching up or getting ahead, not for making up for mismanaged class time.
- "Excuses are for losers! Those who take responsibility for their actions are the real winners in life."
"I CAN'T"
Translation: I won't
If you "can't," then no one else can do it for you. You have to do your absolute best before anyone else can help you. A great teacher will never do something for you that you can do for yourself.
"I DON'T GIT IT"
Translation: I don't want to try. You do it for me.
Great learners will say, "This is what I understand, but you lost me here..." or "If I can just figure out how to ______________, then I will bet it." Explain to me what you understand and what you don't, but if you quit, I can't help you.
"MY TEACHER LOSES MY ASSIGNMENTS"
Translation: I lose my assignments, or didn't do them in the first place, but don't want to get in trouble with my parents.
That doesn't mean that teachers don't ever lose assignments, but it is usually an excuse to delay consequences. In our class, we have a simple way of avoiding this problem. All assignments that are handed in on-time are handed back together. After they are handed out, every student has the opportunity to protest if they have any concerns about the grading, and especially if they didn't get a graded assignment back. They are encouraged to keep their graded assignment as a "receipt" until they have verified that the correct grade has been entered into Powerschool.