If you haven't noticed by not only the name of my blog but also by the content of many of my posts, I like to bitch and moan about things that I really cannot control -- things that get under my skin because they are ridiculous, asinine, ludicrous or simply annoying to me for whatever reason big or small. Students annoy me, I admit it, and the older I get, the more they annoy me -- it's an age gap thing I understand that, but there is more to it than that.
I realized the other day that my complaints to my students sometimes are misconstrued. One young man said to me, "If you hate teaching so much, why do you do it?" To be honest, I was quite annoyed at his question because I don't hate teaching, and that is when I realized that to teenagers who don't see the bigger picture it may very well come across as me sounding like I don't like teaching and that I don't like my students -- and both of those things are not true.
I found myself launching into a tirade to clarify the situation for him, and I realized that this blog would perhaps be a better place to make it clear what it is that actually annoys the hell out of me about teaching teenagers. Again, to be very clear -- I LOVE teaching when the students actually want to learn what I have the knowledge and expertise to share with them, and I LOVE my students even on the days that I want to walk away and never look back. Each kid is unique and special, and I believe, I firmly believe, that they all want to learn, but they too often let their attitudes interfere with their learning and definitely with my teaching.
It isn't teaching or the kids, per se, that drive me crazy -- it these three statements that I simply cannot tolerate anymore: 1. "Whatever!" 2. "It's good enough." and 3. "I don't care."
Let's examine that damnable word Whatever usually said with unnecessary emphasis on the second syllable and a noticeable touch of sass thrown in for good measure. Basically, it is a kid's way of saying "Shut up, old woman. I don't need to listen to you. I'm young, and I know everything, so you can just keep talking and lecturing and moralizing, but I'm going to go right on behaving in a completely idiotic and inappropriate way no matter what you say." Or it can mean, "Well, you are right, but not in a million years would I admit that you are right because then I'd lose face with my friends, so I'll just say this really obnoxious word, so that I can retain my cool status and make others my age think I got the best of you even though I know you are right, but once again, I would rather die than admit that to you or anyone else." Whatever is a kid's way of telling an adult to "shut the hell up," and it is not acceptable to me. Also, it shows that the kid doesn't care to truly learn anything new -- he'd rather just go along happy in his own ignorance, and that is never good for getting an education. If all you want is for others to justify what little you already know, then why are you in school? What is the point? Whatever is snotty sassiness and ignorance all rolled into one extremely annoying word.
It's good enough. Whenever I hear that from a kid, I immediately ask, "For whom?" Certainly not for me because he is usually telling me this in response to me pointing out an error in a sentence or how his paper is really sloppy or something else that is easily fixable with a little effort, but therein lies the problem -- too many teenagers these days don't want to do the work to make something truly good or even exceptional. They'll happily settle for "good enough" to just get it done. Now, I'm not saying that this is just a teenage problem because that would be an understatement by far. I'm even guilty on occasion of both feeling and saying this sentiment, but usually when I do hear myself say this, I give myself a mental or even physical head-slap and remind myself that GOOD ENOUGH IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. "Good enough" implies that it can be better, and if it can be better, then it should be better, and you should take the time and put in the effort to make it better. This will not only help you, the student, to earn a better grade on the assignment, but it will also help you improve your work ethic which will, in time, help you earn more money and gain more promotions over your lifetime. You'll be known as an achiever and a person who doesn't settle for second best. So, when my students scoffingly say to me, "It's good enough," I tell them that the D or even F that they are going to receive on their assignment then is a "good enough" grade. In that light, they often rethink their attitude; unfortunately, just as often they simply shrug and walk off after saying "Whatever."
My final complaint concerns the ever-popular phrase of I don't care. Here is my take on that -- when you say that, this is what I hear: "I don't care about myself." Period. Simple. Sad. Pathetic. Pitiable. I have to ask, "Why don't you care? Why don't you care about yourself and your future? Why don't you care about others? Why don't you care about the school, the community where you live, the state where you reside, the country that has provided you with the right to not give a damn? Why? Why don't you care? Why is it so damn hard to give a damn?" Seriously, think about it the next time you casually announce that you don't care because plain and simple, if you don't care enough to care, then why the hell should I care about you? Why should I waste my time and energy and vast amount of knowledge about the subject I teach upon somebody who does NOT care when there is a wealth of knowledge-hungry kids living in impoverished conditions all over the world who would love for me to come teach them? Maybe you'd care if you went hungry every night. Maybe you'd care if you were homeless. Maybe you'd care if you lived under a regime that kept you downtrodden and miserable. Maybe you'd care if you had parents who gave a damn and instilled that within you like they should have. Maybe you'd care if you hadn't been brought up with a false sense of entitlement that you haven't even come close to earning. Maybe you'd care if you lost everything in a fire or a flood or a hurricane or a tornado or any other horrible catastrophe that can befall you at any given moment. Maybe you'd care if you stopped for one minute and really looked at the world and your place in it and realized just how much you need an education to get you ANYWHERE in this world. Maybe. But who am I to know this? I'm just a teacher. What the hell do I know?
So, again to my doubting students who think that because I complain about them and about my job that this means that I hate teaching or that I hate them, I say that nothing could be further from the truth. My problem is that WHATEVER will never be Good enough for me, and I simply DO CARE too damn much for my own good.
If I could convince all students out there of one thing, it would be to "Schtick this!" when it comes to their negative attitudes that only serve to interfere with the wonderful educations they could give themselves. CARE. ACCEPT ONLY THE BEST OF YOURSELF. SAY "YES, MA'AM" OR "YES, SIR" INSTEAD OF "WHATEVER."
No comments:
Post a Comment