Midterms

Midterms were hit and miss for my students. A solid hit for most of those doing work and a solid miss for most of those skipping class and avoiding work.

I wish I could say everyone was doing work, but skipping is a problem at my school. I have one student who is basically a haunted backpack. I turn around and the backpack has appeared. Later, I turn around and the backpack is gone. 

Very rarely, I will spot the student moving said backpack. This student wants to drop out and isn't shy about it. 

There's another student I normally have a good connection with (aka they skip my class far less than others). I wrote the student up for skipping one day when they went to the bathroom and never returned an hour later. The student missed the next day of class and then came in for the next class.

"Where were you?" I asked.

He'd been assigned ISS (In-School-Suspension) for skipping, so he skipped the whole day to avoid it. 

And it worked?

Bah.

Same kid took the midterm in a few minutes. Said, "Whatever," and clicked randomly. 

I have other students who skip whom I've managed to build more of a connection with. Hopefully, that connection will help them show more progress as time goes on. Midterms are typically a tough time of year for motivation (followed by the February-March stretch). 

Meanwhile, I have Honors students who could pass an SOL yesterday who were upset their scores weren't as high as they expected. I replied to at least a couple of concerned parent emails about kids who are doing fantastic. 

It's been a learning year for the kids and me. Things are going well overall, but there's always something to work on.

Almost time for break! I'll have to do some grading and such, but I'm not going to do it right away. I'm going to sleep in and avoid it for at least a few days!