Anyway, usually 4% of my students show up. I look at their grades, talk about what I'd do if I were them to improve their chances. Some of them follow my advice. Some just sit there like it's punishment.But TODAY. Today was like I was being Punk'd.
Student after student would listen to my advice, take in what I was offering and then disregard it entirely by trotting out this line: "But Dr. Darla...I tried so hard!"
And I couldn't break out of this spiral. The first student who said it delivered it like it was a line in a Lifetime movie. Such angst. Such sadness. Even a little muted confusion.
"It's not about effort," I said. "It's about achievement. And I think trying is the first part. But let's talk about HOW you tried. I asked you how many drafts you wrote before turning it in and you said, 'I don't do drafts.' So where's the 'try' in there? When we discussed the Fryman article last week, I asked you for your input on it - since it had been assigned - and you said, 'I'm still thinking through my feelings about it.' I respect that; I really do. But if that's trying, then trying is not enough. Maybe you need to DO."
And she didn't explode, but she almost did.
And then it went on and on like that.
Effort. Is that what they think I'm grading on? When did this happen?
It comes from the "self-esteem" movement that began in the 1980s. People became terrible concerned that children's self-esteem was a) important and b) low. So kids starting being told by anyone and everyone that they were great, fantastic, brilliant, wonderful, and - most important to your case - they were also rewarded for mere effort.
ReplyDeleteIt used to be that the winner of any contest received a trophy and no one else did. But that was soon revealed as a ridiculous, psychologically-damaging sham to make people think that only actual *performance* ought to be rewarded. Soon, simply showing up and participating earned children a trophy. "A" for effort!
It turns out that modern research demonstrates that self-esteem attached to "something" (e.g., a good grade, a home-run, completion of an earned degree) is great. But self-esteem attached to "nothing" (e.g., trying) is not related to any positive outcomes at all (and *is* related to some negative ones, including narcisissm and external locus of control).
Although the U.S. rates at the bottom of the charts in actual math performance/ability, U.S. students rank themsevles disproportionately high in math performance/ability. In other words, students think they're better than they are. And not just at math.
I always make a sports analogy out of it (and I don't even like sports). I ask my students, "if you're playing a sport, and you aren't a very good player but you try really hard during practice, what's the chance that the coach will let you play?" They sullenly will agree that sports performance trumps sports effort. But they have a hard time transferring this to their academic performance. So then I go with the medical model:
"Which would you pick, if you had a choice? A surgeon who doesn't have a particularly successful record, but who tries really hard? Or a surgeon who actually performs well in surgery?" None of them want the "A-for-effort" surgeon. They all want to live.
But they still don't want to apply it to their own lives. School isn't sports and school isn't life-or-death (at least, not for English, History, Psychology, Math, etc, etc, majors. Maybe only for people in med school)(this is THEIR reasoning, not mine, mind you).
So then I get out my sock full of quarters and beat them with it soundly. I'm trying really really hard to restrain myself, but in the end, I'm just not up to a good performance.
Ahh, if only.
I just got an email from a student saying that I assign too many projects.
ReplyDelete(She also misread an assignment sheet and thought she needed to get a letter of recommendation, instead of doing a ROLE PLAY (which we've done before) in which she SIMULATES requesting a letter, giving information about the imaginary scholarship and real achievements in the 2nd email, and then thanks the professor. I do this as part of the resume assignment so they take it seriously, and I just want to establish some structure of politeness).
Anyway - Syllabus! Calendar! It's all there, clear what's due, when it's due, which of these are group projects, and how many points things are worth. My syllabus even says, as the first objective "Students will write far more than they previously thought possible" - and I stress that I mean it. I believe in quantity leading to quality and setting high standards, and so far it works pretty well. (When I get English majors who have written a lot and easily exceed word counts without blinking, then we work on conciseness challenges instead, but they are rare.)
I aim my freshman class at producing students who can write papers at the 300-level (since they may not have any writing classes again), and I aim my tech-writing students for the post-collegiate world. So yes, I'm harder than others (and just an adjunct, but my department-head has backed me), but honestly, my strategy kicks ass. Most of my students can kick the ass of anyone taking a comparable class.
But when I get an email like the whiny one I started with, I do start wonder the cliche: why do students want LESS than what they paid for with education?
"NO. Try NOT. Do or do not. There is no try."
ReplyDeleteYeah, that Yoda quote seems especially apt. If they insist they tried so hard, tell them to try harder, and if they can't try harder, oh well. I've worked my ass off in classes and didn't get an A, although I couldn't possibly have tried any harder because the classes were too challenging - I am just not that brilliant at math. But the student should be able to try hard enough to at least get a C.
ReplyDeleteI went to a school that gave letter grades for achievement and number grades for effort (1-5, with 1 being the equivalent of "A for effort"). I got in a lot of trouble for A3s, but a C1 was theoretically OK, though it never actually happened.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what to make of that. My self-esteem remains, thank god, appropriately low.
FreudianQuip, you are absolutely right! Your analogies are excellent! Mind if I use them?
ReplyDeleteWe fight against it in high school, too. Well, I do. My great colleagues do. But there are still some out there praying to the Great Goddess of Self Esteem, and it drives me bats. Your response to your student was well-reasoned and well-argued.
ReplyDeleteI don't want the pilot, the heart surgeon, the vet, or the teacher who tries hard. Dead in a ditch, dead on the table, dead dog on the table, dead dumb. I want the effort and the eventual improvement and result. Effort is important, but it's not equivalent to success.
My analogy involves their attempting to push the building off its foundation using only their hands. No matter how much effort they put into it, they will not succeed. If, however, they have the proper tools, they could accomplish it. This then leads to how in college, the proper tools include active reading and listening, time management skills, tutoring, office hour consultations, appropriate questions, and so on.
ReplyDeleteHi Marcia - me too! My school gave out letter grades for achievement and effort for a while. I kept getting into trouble for getting AEs (but could never get a satisfactory answer about what I would gain by trying harder).
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