Tuesday, November 25, 2008

what are we doing

Students got their grades today for the first quarter. One came to me to ask about her B- in my class. She thought it would be higher. We took a look at her grades for the quarter, talked for a few minutes, and then she burst into tears. She felt so much pressure, and she wasn't sure where it was coming from. Her parents weren't on her back, her teachers (me included) weren't riding her, but she felt so much pressure. It made me very sad. She's a good kid, an ok student, and she seems pretty sure of herself most of the time. But she has some indescribable sense that she is not doing enough, that she is falling behind. And she doesn't even know where she is trying to get; she just senses that she's not doing enough. What are we doing to these teenagers?

J.

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