Too exhausted to care
whether the sensitive child is traumatized
by my insistence that she complete the
assignment as required.
Too exhausted to laugh
at the absurdity of end of term panic
after six weeks of poor attendance and disorganization.
Too exhausted to do more
than get through the day myself,
with nothing left for under-achievers who think
I should go over and above for them.
Too exhausted today to care
more about student success they they do.
There’s always tomorrow.
Shawn L. Bird 
Amen my Sister. I work as a security officer in a museum so on a daily basis I get lazy kids (high school & college) who think that the guards should do their homework. I don’t mind helping young people with their assignments but I cannot do nor should I do their homework for them. When I was in college (pre-Google) days I listened and wrote down what my professors expected of me then went onto successfully complete my assignments and research papers. I don’t know whether some of these kids are just lazy or not taking notes in class, etc…. I’ve yet to figure them out. However if the student and parent come to me with an assignment on Renaissance Art and the student has listed artworks that are not only not located in the museum or even in the USA, well this also makes me wonder about the parents. Adults in their late 30s and 40s need to check their kids assignments. You will not find the Mona Lisa, state of David or the Sistine Chapel in New York City!! I can excuse a 14 year old for not knowing this information but the 40 year old parent! What’s their excuse. I tell these kids that they need to look on the Museum’s website and Google is your friend! I’m not trying to be sarcastic but when I went to college yes there was the Internet and a few search engines but nothing with the sophistication of Google and there were no such things as smartphones or tablets. These kids have it much easier than my generation. IMHO, many parents are co-signers to their kids poor attitudes then at semesters end wonder why the kids are failing in school. Let’s fast forward 10 or 15 years and let these spoiled brats try telling their bosses, managers or supervisors why they can’t complete their work assignments. Things that make you go Hmmmmmm……..
Yup. Helicopter parents who believe everything the kids text them and imagine their child is perfect. Lots of complaints about work being ‘too hard’ and absolutely no capacity to work though things that are difficult so they get better. It’s a generation that thinks everything happens instantly. SO many moms who’ll excuse kids who skip because the kid is having a bad day and then freak out that the kid fails because they have missed so many classes and have not done any work to catch up. Makes us crazy.
Another regular one is that kids will tell their parents (who tell the principal) that their angel has no idea what he should be doing because that mean teacher never tells them. When a kid is away, I record his/her name on the handouts for the day and put it into the return bin so they always get the handouts they miss. PLUS I have a website where I post all the kids assignments and handouts. When one of those parents complains, the principal opens up the website and points at all the work listed. I like it when the parents gets mad at lying kids instead of trying to tell me I’m in the wrong.
I honestly don’t remember this many lazy kids 20 years ago, but then again, the weak students didn’t stay in school. If there were mental health issues, learning disabilities, coping issues, they were not in high school. Now they are.
Teacher’s are expected to be “on” at all times. My friends and I are were just talking about this – it’s not a job where you can fade into the background on a bad day.
Didn’t get enough sleep last night, and I was in a head-achey fog all day. I had nothing to spare.
“Should you not meet my standards, I will flunk you, with a smile.”- Enrique Rueda-Puerto, former Professor of Spanish Language and Literature
🙂 The smile is rarely a consolation for the student, but logical consequences are a bitch, eh?