Because tonight, after posting my class's participation grades and daily reflection grades, I received 22 emails in the span of 2 hours. Some were accusatory (why did I get blah? I did blah, blah, AND blah!). Others couldn't seem to handle certain portion of the final exam that actually didn't explicitly tell them exactly what to write and that (GASP) let them choose some things for themselves. Others implied that I am entirely incompetent and can't add/subtract correctly.
Actually, when I think about, the annoying thing isn't the students, it's the fact that I am merely the purveyor of bad news, enforcing the standards of the prof. If I were teaching by my own yardstick, this wouldn't be so bad...
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2 comments:
No, my yardstick would teach them that there are standards and deadlines in the world, and that there are consequences. However, that letting go of perfectionism means learning to do what you have to do despite deadlines not because of them. So, removing deadlines..extending papers...etc., that's not helping free themselves from perfectionism, that's giving in to it. Rather, they should learn that if they have something bigger in their lives going on, then great, attend to that bigger thing, and learn not to care so much about the difference between and B and an A.
Don't rule out academia. Just don't teach somewhere the kids are so fuckin' competitive! ;)
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