"Do you know what you are doing to my mark?"

This is a comment I have heard from a few students. My response? "I'm only marking what you give me, so you are responsible for your own mark. If you don't hand things in or put in any effort, that's not my responsibility."

I find it sad and disturbing how much people need to blame someone else or something else for their problems. Take responsibility for yourself because excuses will only get you so far... and with me, excuses don't get you very far. You know, I understand that you have a learning disability, but you still have to hand in SOMETHING. I understand you have a crappy home life, but you still have to behave in class and be respectful to your classmates. At a certain point in time, people have to realize that they are directly responsible for what happens to them and they are responsible for what they happen to do. Truth is not relative no matter how much you have deluded yourself into thinking so. I just hope that my students can learn this earlier rather than later.

Thought this was cool

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free. In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved. You'd like your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was insecure and in constant need of reassurance. Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as commitment. Love only works when both people are totally devoted.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

Val says...

We have a science teaching assistant at our school. Basically what she says, goes. Period. And I'm ok with that.

She is awesome. She knows the science store room inventory like the back of her hand and if I say "Do you know where ________ is?" she always has an answer for me.

It's quite a luxury, though. Not all science teachers have the privilege of having someone to set out lab equipment, set up labs, yell at children who are playing with fire, etc. I feel very lucky to have someone to do that. My students get to do more labs because it frees up some of my time.

Our TA also listens when I'm frustrated with my students. For instance, I related this scenario to her today. I gave an assignment and had 4 handed in out of 18. Now in my opinion, that's pathetic. You probably agree with me. But what am I to do? I gave time in class, let students take it for homework, and even gave them an extra day. If they choose not to do their assignments after all that they deserve the 0 they get. If they want to be lazy, there is nothing I can do to change that.

But hey, I look at the bright side. Assignments sure are easy to mark when I only have 4 to do.