class pictures

I took several pictures of my class today to post on the course web page. It is fun to look at all the pictures when I get back home, but it is so hard to decide which one to post. They are all so cute!

I still love looking at the pictures of all my students from previous semesters. I get to see many of my students from last semester around campus, but sometimes I miss my students from previous colleges that I don't get to see any more. I wish the web would have been usable 11 years ago when I first started teaching. Sadly, I don't have pictures of the first classes I taught.

I still remember Eric N. told me he would eat my oreo cookies middles since I don't like the middle. Oh, the look of horror on his face when I put the white blob on his desk a few days later! And it was really heartwarming to see Bandar, Lindomar, and Eric W., who met each other in my class, still hanging around together several semesters later.

You've got to come to class

Last semester I had a student who didn't register until the second week of class was over. I don't know who allowed her to in so late. She did not do well in the class at all. I decided that I wasn't going to let another student show up after missing two weeks of class again.

Well, sure enough, I get an email today saying that one of my students this semester isn't going to show up until this week (2nd week of class). She hasn't shown up yet. Homework is due tomorrow. I do not accept late homework.

It's fine if she wants to show up, but the onus is on her to catch up. --

Yesterday I saw a student of mine from last semester who missed one week of class for political activities during election week. He was really bright and had the highest grade out of all the students up until that point. Sadly, it went downhill for him after that. He just couldn't keep up and ended up with a C in the course.

I was so disappointed because I knew he could have done so much better. Of course, getting a C in one class isn't the end of the world, but at the end of the first semester of one's freshman year, one hasn't proven much else to the world yet.

-- However, I have confidence that he will do better this semester now that he has experienced a little bit of college and realizes that he has to stay on top of his work.

End of Semester

I have decided to start posting my journal on-line. My writing is meant to be read (otherwise why bother writing), so why not let others read it now.

My intent is to post my point of view regarding the interesting situations my students bring up. I often share these thoughts with colleagues. I am hoping that my point of view will be of use to not only my students, but other college students, high school students, their parents, and their teachers. We'll see where this goes.

I am concerned about the future of education in the U.S. because, from my point of view, it looks like standards are declining rapidly. This is quickly having an effect in the workplace of recent graduates.