Sunday, March 17, 2013
Goodbye Old Friend
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
STUDENT RIGHTS
Monday, March 28, 2011
A Message to Teachers
1. DO NOT ACT LIKE GOD! While it is expected that you know more than what your students know, you do not know everything. While students are expected to follow your instructions, do not expect them to follow everything you want.
2. DO NOT BE VENGEFUL. If you had a teacher who gave you hell when you were a student, why make your students suffer the same?
3. DO NOT HARASS YOUR STUDENTS. Students have enough problems as it is. Why make their life more miserable? Most students do not and cannot fight back. It is not fair.
4. FILTER SPAM. Most students study to pass. Some students give excuses. While some of them may be telling the truth, be aware that some students can be manipulative twerps if they sense that you are pliant.
5. DO NOT ASK FOR FAVORS FROM STUDENTS. This is not new but I cringe whenever I hear it. Small favors may be acceptable like asking them to run small errands. Favors that involve money and the likes is just improper.
i am not perfect and i know i have to remind myself every now and then but seriously, if you are a teacher, take teaching seriously! Otherwise, get out!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
musings on growing older
as you grow older, the age gap between you and your students increases. you start finding ways to bridge the gap only to realize that you may be able to narrow it some but the gap would always be there.
as you grow older, you become softer but there are times when you have to stand firm and not give in to emotions. the world will never run short of sad stories. you have to listen to some but you can't listen to them all.
as you grow older, your wants are trumped by your needs. you may want to stay up late but you need to wake up early for tomorrow's responsibilities.
as you grow older, you will realize that you have to take care of yourself because you do not own yourself anymore.
as you grow older, you will find out that while it's ok to be angry at times, it's not healthy to be angry all the time.
as you grow older, you have to realize that you share the world with other people. what you do to yourself or to others will in some way affect a part of your world.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
there's a limit for considerations
Let us take the case of Student M. To pass, Student M needed to score 117 out of a possible 100 in the final exam and he knew this. He knew that whether or not he takes the final exam, he will still fail.
If I were in his shoes, this is what I would have done: I would have studied hard for the final exam like I'm gonna die if I didn't and aimed for a perfect 100 (Yes, it's possible). Come exam time, I would have used the full two hours alloted to answer all questions, check and recheck my answers, and write my answers in an organized way. Maybe if get a high score, my professor will take notice and may consider passing me. If not, then I will vow to do better so as not to land in the same predicament next term.
There is a high probability that student M played DOTA or FB or got drunk the night before the final exam. Come exam time, he used a quarter-hour to play "the-proctor-is-not-looking-please-give-me-the-answers" with his classmates. When nobody bothered to play with him, he used another quarter hour to answer (or pretend to answer) the questions. Student M got a score of 15/100. The 15 points are consideration/effort points.
Forward to the next day after I have posted the results of the final exam. Student M came to me and asked for his status. Our conversation went like this.
Student M: Sir, can I verify my grade?
Mr. J: Have you seen the posted exam results?
SM: Yes sir.
Mr. J: What's to verify? You already know what your status is. You failed.
SM: Sir, can I ask for a special project?
Mr. J: There is no such thing as a special project.
SM: But Sir, this is my second time to fail in your class.
Mr. J: And it's my fault?
SM: Sir, I may be kicked out.
Mr. J: And it's my fault?
SM: Sir, you can ask me to do anything. You can ask me for anything.
Mr. J: Do not go down that path. It would be offending.
FACTS: Student M has a penchant for coming to class late and he never passed a quiz. His final average is 47.77 (the passing average is 70.00).
Am I inconsiderate?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Other Victims of Ondoy
Ondoy's timing is terrible - it struck just before the final exams when every student is cramming to pass their subjects. But unlike the legit victims of Ondoy, there were no volunteers and relief goods in sight to help the students salvage their grades. Many were doomed to fail their subjects, but many were also silently thanking Ondoy for they had an instant excuse for failing.
STUDENT: Sir, what's my grade?
ASTIGNAGURO: 5.00
S: 5.00?! (Showing an almost genuine sadness.) It's because of Ondoy.
A: Why, was your brain washed out by the floods? Your grade was already failing pre-Ondoy.
S: No sir, my notes got washed out by the floods! And I was not able to review for the finals.
A: A perfect score in the finals will get you a grade of ..... uhmmmm 5.00.
S: Is there anything I can do to pass? Special project? Removal exam?
A: Go ask Ondoy.
Considering that there are only about 11 weeks in a term, that means everything has to be crammed in the 8 weeks that were left. Because of the shorter term, there were less time for studying. Students will not sacrifice their DOTA time and Facebook time just to study. Are you kidding? They'd die of hunger first before you can rip their faces off the computer screen. A good number of students were logged in to Facebook the night before the final exams.
And these students were the other victims of Ondoy?
Friday, July 10, 2009
special students
in the succeeding terms, i made sure that i am going to teach the regular offering of physics. i wanted to find out who among these wide-eyed (steffi included) late teeners will be up to the challenges i was going to throw their laps. in the four terms that i had them under my spell, i got to know them so well that i can put each one in his/her own category.
THE SOURCE - this student has the brain the heart. he/she not only can easily get what i'm blabbering about in class (and therefore can easily ace the quizzes), but is also ready to share neurons (as well as answers to homeworks) to his/her not-so-brainiac classmates. GRADE RANGE: 1.50 - 1.00. christian c, mark, jessica t, gathe a., cabbage in phy10 and phy11, to name a few.
THE SERIOUS - maybe this student has a grade to maintain. maybe he/she just likes physics. maybe it's just his/her nature. i bet he/she burns the proverbial midnight candle on the night before an exam. on the exam day itself, he/she is the last one to pass the test booklet. well, it usually pays him/her huge dividends as he/she usually gets good grades. GRADE RANGE: 1.75 - 1.00
erika and josielle are the names that first come to mind.
THE GRADE - classmates and teachers usually call him/her "grade conscious" but i prefer to call him/her this. every quiz, this student utilizes everything in his/her arsenal to squeeze a point (bonus, effort, and pogi/ganda) from me. if all else fails, he/she will be on the verge of spraying me with tears in the hope that i'll give in. GRADE RANGE: it varies. usually better than 2.00. i'd rather not mention names to avoid self-incrimination
THE AVERAGE JOE/JANE - this student just sits there. he/she does what is asked of him/her and gives enough effort to pass. a notch or two above those who get 3.00 everytime. GRADE RANGE: 2.75 - 2.25. i'd rather not mention names to avoid hurting someone's feelings.
THE NONDESCRIPT - who are you? i can't even remember your name. and i'm good at remembering students' names! GRADE RANGE: are you my student? hmmm .... mr. trinidad and mr. soriano, you belong to this category (which one of you is trinidad?)
THE 3.00 - this student gets 3.00 every term. either out of pity or out of luck. he/she thinks that there are only two grades, 3.00 and 5.00. carlo and dexter best describe this category.
THE PET - i just love this student. he/she is the source of my (and everybody's) amusement in class. for whatever reason, this student never fails to make my day. he/she is usually cute. if you belong to this category, you're lucky. your name is forever etched in the trashbin of my brain. hannah my daughter outside, charles, and carlo (again!)
wherever you may fall in the above categories, if you have finished the 4 physics subjects required of you, then i salute you.
thank you for giving me the privilege of being your physics teacher.
thank you for giving me the privilege of becoming my student.