the grades are in

I finished marking the final exam papers this morning. got so excited that i computed the grades right after. and here's the stats: 4 got flat 1.00, 4 got 1.25, 1 got 1.50, and 2 got 1.75. Not bad at all!

Aside from these "rock star" students, 20 more managed to actually pass!!! Of the 31 who passed, 28 are batch07's. The results is sort of expected. The "regular" takers will make it and the repeat offenders will not.

28 out of 59 failed! Either the older batches can't keep up with their younger classmates or can't keep up with me. Maybe they just don't care and they have lots of money to burn.

again, i did my part. everybody had his chance to get extra credits. as i've said in my previous post, teachers teach, students study.

merry christmas to all of you. see you next year!

today is the final exams. i have posted my students class standing and the score they need to get to at least pass. those who need to get more than 100% to pass need not take the exam. although it's their right to still take the exam, it will just be a waste of time for them (and for me). and these people should not come to me after the exam to "verify". what the "f" is there to verify? they should spare me from the annoying bugging and themselves from the humiliation of begging.

for the rest of the students who still have fighting chances, just one tip if you are ever to see your prof after a final exam: come alone. do not come with an army of bodyguards or gofers and supporters or friends (or worse a fellow bug-begger).

profs hate being put on the spot. what if you only need a few tenths of a percent to pass and the prof may actually decide to give you extra work? but you came with another bug-begger who needs an arm, a leg, and his head to pass (read: hopeless). if i were the prof, i'll just fail both of you.

if you want it, you'll find ways to get it

last tuesday, i gave a (p)review of the next day quiz. the room was more than half-filled (about 15 or so students out of my 60 lecture students). 25% of my students showed up!!! not bad. though around 3 of those who came were just "sit-ins".

those who attended discovered the following day that exerting a little more effort always pays off. i gave them a challenge for extra credits. find my blog and leave a note. i did not give them any clue where to look and they had to find it before the next-day quiz. i never thought they would find this blog but they did. 8 of them did (or maybe just one and then passed (or sold) the info to others). it's a proof that, if you want something, you'll find ways to get it. we'll that's extra 10 quiz-points for you.

on monday, there will be a review class for the finals. 1030 AM at w314. sitting capacity only. eating/drinking in the room is prohibited but bringing coffee is welcome. :)

here we go again

in less than two weeks, it's the finals again. same old same old. here we go again. many students are in the "bug-beg" mode again. they bug their profs then beg them to give them passing marks. but i am a teacher. if i wanted to be merciful to people who beg, i would have run for congress. not that i would win, but congressmen are known to be kind-hearted. right? oh! only to their patrons. back to bug-begging your profs. the only difference now is that it's the christmas season. profs are supposedly kinder-hearted and more giving. after all, what prof would cause his students' miseries during the holidays? okay, there are a few who do just that. but in retrospect, is it really the prof who caused (or will cause) your miseries this christmas?

to my students, did you do your part? i know i did my best to do mine given the time constraints. here's the good news! if you happen to read this, leave a note and i'll give you a "christmas bonus" (not the monetary kind though) which may spell the difference between passing or failing. i'll check on tuesday, dec 2.

put the blame on me

I don't look forward to the day that I have to go back to school after a vacation. Aside from having to work my butt off again, it means that I'm going to see former students again. There are two groups of these: Those who passed and those who failed.
Those who passed the previous term and knew they deserved to usually give me polite smiles. A few would not even give me a glance. Maybe they just did not like the subject or did not like me as a teacher, or both.
Those who passed and don't know why they did (compassion is the word, idiots!) would give me grins as wide as a four-lane highway.
Those who failed and knew they deserved to, give me mixed reactions. Some can't even look my way. Some beg me to take them again in my class for a second chance. Some give me sarcastic smiles and smirks as if I was the one who did not study for the final exam. Why is it that whenever students fail, they blame everything but themselves? If it will make them happy, then they can put the blame on me.
Those who failed and don't know why... I have no such students.

I Never Liked Failing Students

The final grades are in and here are the stats! Out of the 80 students, 64 passed. Of the 16 who failed this term, 6 are repeat offenders (that means they failed the same subject the previous term). The other 6 repeaters made it to the next level!
I never liked failing students for two reasons. Reason 1: If a student fails in my subject, I am partly to blame. My job is to teach and make students learn. If they did not learn, then I failed in my job. Or did I? What If I gave them all the assistance and considerations and they still failed? What If I know that I taught them the best I can and they still failed? Then I can stop kicking myself in the butt and go on to the next set of new students.
Reason 2: The tuition fee students pay is "f-ing" high that I pity the parents. I know because I'm a parent who sends my kids to school too. Whenever a student fails, money and time are wasted.
But I can't just make every student pass without him even turning in the minimum stuff needed to pass can I? It breaks my heart whenever I encode a red mark. But we all have a job to do. Teachers teach. Students study. So there.

Students Should Know Their Status

Today is the final examinations in physics. I have 80 students who'd be taking it. Less than 10 of them need not take the exam anymore. They've accumulated enough credits that they'll pass no matter what the outcome of the exam is. About the same number need not take the exam for the opposite reason. About 75% need certain scores to pass. They know what score they need. I showed them the numbers.
This is one of those things I always do. I let my students know their status before the final exam. Although they already have an idea of their performance (I return marked papers the first meeting after each test), I don't want my students to be guessing.
After the finals, i promptly mark the papers and then post the scores. I just post the scores opposite their student numbers (never opposite their names) to minimize the humiliation any failing student would feel. After they have seen their scores, very few of them see me to verify the results.
I don't understand when teachers hoard unmarked papers which they only check a day before the grades are due for submission. I always almost want to tell them "Get the hell out of teaching!".

There's No Money Here

There is no money in teaching. Some people are born with money. Lucky them. Those who are not as lucky work their butts off trying to earn some. All these "unlucky ones" dream of becoming rich someday. Some say it's about choosing the right career and starting from there. Choose any career but teaching they say.
There is no money in teaching. So why am I a teacher? Oh I love teachers! As a student, they were my source of amusement. Some teachers are funny. Those who were not, I made fun of. Well, my path to becoming a source of amusement to students started in 1984. That's a looooong time ago and I don't want to bore myself typing the details so I'll make it short. I became a teacher because of the difference between 600 pesos and 500 pesos. To make it shorter, I became a teacher because of 100 pesos! The details are real tearjerkers and yawn-inducing so I'll spare you.
Some people use teaching as the platform into something "better" as some of my classmates did. One's now a lawyer. The other is married to a lawyer. Some are still teaching but I know would jump away the moment the first whiff of something different comes. Some already left for some teaching job in foreign countries where the pay is ten times as much. I know at least one who's still teaching and would never leave.
If there is no money in teaching, especially in this country, why do some people stay as teachers?

astignaguro is what i want to be

this is my first blog. i'm turning 40 tomorrow and this is the first time i've ever posted a blog.
astignaguro. literally "a tough teacher". if you are from my part of the planet, you know that this connotes lots of things. you may even think that i am a little centripetal for claiming such a name. i admit i haven't heard anybody call me that... yet. i hope i do before i die. if not, i'll just leave a note (to be opened only when i finally kick the bucket) to put it on my tombstone in lieu of my name. even if i don't deserve it. why the obssession with it?
everyone likes the idea of leaving an indelible mark behind when they die. i am not an exception. neither are you. mine's having been an astignaguro. i wish at least one person learned something from me that is worthy of him or her calling me one. i wish i can teach young people how things in this world work without robbing them of their imaginations and individuality. i wish i can do that. i wish i can be an astignaguro.