We still have a week of school to go, but near as I can tell, the students have already turned off their brains.

Yes, boys and girls, our winter break doesn't begin until 2:00 on the 22nd of this month. Not tomorrow, like you seem to think. Next week is finals week--and your brains need to be in gear at least till you finish those up.

And whatnheck happened to my icon chooser? Darn you, Livejournal!

I'm not sure why, but the great frustrations of my work seem to be hitting me all at once today. Yeah, the weather could have something to do with it--cool and cloudy, slight chance of precipitation (very slight), and windy. But generally speaking, cooler weather is something I enjoy. It could be my Time of the Month (yeah, there that really could be it, come to think of it). It could be my old friend Depression trying to get a foothold in my life again.

So I'm hoping writing about it will help me sort these frustrations out a bit and help the rest of my week go better.

( Hiding behind a cut so I don't depress everyone else gratuitously. )

So I sigh. And today, I weep.

At any rate, regardless of what I think about it, we as a department are now to come up with strategies to encourage students to be more willing to do their best on all the work so that they will (we hope!) do better on the state exams.

...just make you wish you'd stayed in bed.

The day started out okay. I was on fire to get my grades put into the electronic gradebook, and finish showing my students Animal Farm and And Then There Were None. I had questions ready for the students to answer. I had the novels ready for them to read. I even managed to get the DVD player and monitor before school so I didn't have to rush down to the library after duty to pick it up before my first class.

Then I started figuring out the attendance of my students. Well, that was a mistake. School policy says that if a student misses 10 days in a semester, they earn a No Credit for a course. Sounds pretty leinient, doesn't it?

I wish.

Out of the 97 students I teach, I have 57 getting credit (not counting the Fs). Which means 40 are not. 40/97 is almost 39%.

How can I feel like a successful teacher if 39 percent will have to retake the class?

Oh, I have the option of giving credit anyway. Of those 40 students, 12 would have a passing grade if I give them credit. So let's say 28 students will have to retake the class next year.

That's one whole classroom full.

But how can I possibly teach them if they won't come to class? All these lovely "No Child Left Behind" platitudes...what if the child *wants* to be left behind?

Oh, and two of them I had last year and we had this same problem. They have not improved with a year to think about it.

I am officially depressed.