No Such Thing as a Dumb Question? Annmarie October 22, 2014 Dear Ed Inquiry, As an educator, the last week of the quarter was met with questions such as these: “Miss! What can I do to bring my grade up?” “I’m gonna be gone the last day (week) of the quarter; can you give my work?” “Why am I failing?” And, I am not the only one. I have spoken with many colleagues who voice the same frustration. What I want to say are things like: “Get in your time machine, dial it back 9 weeks, and do all your work.” “Are you actually going to do the work I am going to give you and hand it to me as soon as you return so I can get a grade change in on time for your report card?” “Uh. I don’t know. Maybe because you slept through almost every period even though I attempted to wake you several times and refused to use the text during our open-book tests?” I am not supposed to be sarcastic, so I bite my tongue. Almost clean off some days. How do I answer these questions without being facetious? Sincerely, No Such Thing as a Dumb Question Dear No Such Thing as a Dumb Question, There may not be dumb questions (insert eye roll here), but there certainly are some pretty crazy demands placed on teachers and little willingness from some students to do their part. Disney World trip the last day of the quarter? Sure, why not? Students asking for weeks upon weeks of “make-up” work the last few days of the quarter even though they were present and chose not to do the work. Yep. Looks of pure bewilderment as students check their grades and see those F’s and D’s. Seen them. Personal responsibility seems to be a dying characteristic. Not to age myself, but back in the day, it wasn’t an option not to take full responsibility for my grades. Period. No excuses. No complaining about teachers (even if it was justified). No whining. So, I can empathize with you when students stomp their feet and expect you to accommodate situations they could have avoided with some pre-planning and a good work ethic. The question really isn’t how to answer these not dumb questions, but how to teach your students to take some responsibility for their own academic success. Your expectations are allowed to be high, as long as they are not unreasonable or unattainable. Your classroom culture can be one that focuses on success, but still acknowledges that there will be little failures along the way. You are allowed to require a certain level of self-motivation, but it will take some work up front from you. Have students set goals, keep track of their own assignments, and chart their own progress. Force them to reflect on how they did and not only what contributed to success but also areas where improvements could be made. They will hate you for it. Temporarily. Then, a beautiful thing will happen: Students will actually start to take responsibility, make better choices, and as a result, stop asking crazy questions that drive you mad. They will already know the answers. Sincerely, Ed Inquiry Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser.