Inside, I was livid. I struggled to control my anger. I even took a break during which I did a little soul searching for answers. But I was mad. My Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) training told me to try and embrace the gentlemen for returning, but these two were so brazen, so audacious, that I lost empathy.
One came up to shove an essay in my face during a time when I wasn't collecting essays. It was an essay that was due three weeks ago, not a draft of the final research essay that was due that day. He wanted to hand it in without the cover sheet that was required. I gave into my ego. "You need to include the cover sheet," I quipped, clearly exasperated. "What cover sheet?!" he demanded. "I discussed this essay over a month ago. If you were here, you would know." He picked his essay up off the desk. "You not gon' take it?" he asked. "Not without the cover sheet," I smirked. "Man, f*ck this!" he huffed before storming out.
I wanted to give him a lecture on responsibility, but I had done so before to no reform. I was frustrated for him. I saw him as a son, such an adorable young man, whom I saw as having a great ability to excel yet purposefully failing and having so little an opinion of me that he thought I would be a willing participant in his failure. That's what made me most upset. Why on earth would he think that I would subscribe to his BS? Who has done this before? How much has gotten away with just by being adorable and playing the "black victim" card?
His buddy lingered for a while before he finally came up to show me the beginnings of his final research paper. He only had three paragraphs. There were zero quotes and no citations. Much of his words were plagiarized. He, too, balked, "Maaaaan, what am I supposed to do? How do I do that?" With him, I was even less patient. He had approached me with a fairly chauvinistic attitude throughout the semester. I smiled and told him that I had taught MLA format and how to quote and cite on the days that he was absent and that he could go to the writing lab if he needed help. He gathered his belongings and left, taking the rest of the tension in the classroom with him.
Later, I chatted with my SI about the situation. The SI said he would've been meaner. Indeed, the guys had been wandering in and out of class on the days when they were there, and their displays of disrespect were outright in their undermining of my authority.
Still, I felt like crap. Two young black men just got away. Two young black men now think of me as a b*tch, and I'd be okay with that if they had at least learned some personal responsibility.
Does cultural sensitivity equal making excuses for the failures of black students? What could I have done differently while still maintaining authority and integrity?
So... To follow up: After the student (the first one) left, he went to the Dean's office to gripe about me. His complaint was that I wouldn't take his paper. Of course, he didn't say that the paper was due a month ago. Another complaint he had was that I never discussed anything in class but my family. That day, during a discussion on gender identity, I brought up my family member as an example. However, I hadn't talked about my family at all before that one day. Indeed, this student was absent so much that he couldn't recall very much about our class even if he wanted; when he did bother to show up, he spent the time chatting with another student or hanging out on social media. Fortunately, my dept chair was supportive, but the sting is still there. The sense of entitlement held by this student is common. Entitlement is another of the beasts with which I do battle in my job.
ReplyDeleteI think you were absolutely right to do and say what you did. After reflecting on this semester's Freshman comp class, I think I wasn't enough of a hardass to my students, didn't demand enough from them. The prof demanded nothing and may very well penalize them for not doing what he never told them he expected. Perhaps, we both need to focus on our successes this semester. We well, and we did good.
ReplyDeleteI've never had Culturally Responsive Teaching training, but I do have years of experience with students who sometimes behave as the ones you describe in your post. Now, I don't have all of the answers, but I do have several comments. First, I have a general rule: I never sacrifice the welfare of the majority in class for the few who choose to disrupt it. I teach and never allow latecomers or chronic absentees to derail class activities that are ongoing. When the first guy submitted his paper I would have quickly asked, "Cover sheet?" When he replied, "What cover sheet?" I would have taken the paper and asked him to stay a minute after class for an explanation I couldn't stop the class to give him at that moment. If he bothered to stay after class, I would explain the need for a cover sheet and ask him to bring or email one ASAP so that it could be included in the overall grade of the paper. If he chose not to stay, I would simply grade the paper and penalize it for not having a cover sheet. I would have done the same for the other guy. After scanning his paper I would accept the paper and quickly ask, "Quotes and citations?" When he answered, "What's that?" I would ask him to stay briefly after class for an explanation. He could choose to stay or not to stay, and I would grade the paper accordingly.
ReplyDeleteI would never have protracted conversations with these two in front of the rest of the class. I would never refuse to accept a paper (even though you were well within your rights to do so); this gave them reason to turn your refusal into a pissing contest. They became defiant and aggressive to save face in front of others in the class, and to try to make your refusal of their papers seem arbitrary and unfair. In effect, they wanted to make their failure appear to be YOUR fault. Then they can storm off in feigned righteous indignation from your affront to them (it's part of the act, you see). My experience as a teacher cautions me to avoid pissing contests. Accept the paper, continue teaching, give them a chance at some sort of redemption after class if they choose to stay, or let the hammer fall when you grade their shoddy work. I am not paid enough to battle immature hotheads in front of the rest of the class; it's not worth it to allow cavalier students to raise my blood pressure and disrupt an otherwise good day.
Keep your head up. You're too good to let them yank your chain.
David
I had to break up my response because of length.
ReplyDeleteAnother important point: it appears as if this powder keg was allowed to sizzle far too long. There were clear signs at the beginning of the semester. You told me that these guys are basketball players. I would have used this as leverage. Early and often, I would have contacted the coach and told him about their chronic absenteeism and tardiness, their disruptive and disrespectful behavior in the classroom, and the poor quality of their assignments. In most cases, the coach can light a fire under them and you'd see some improvement. (As a football coach myself, I am appalled that the basketball coach hadn't reached out to you earlier and made an inquiry about the progress of these student/athletes. Doesn't he care about them? Doesn't he at least care about their academic eligibility?)
Another thing: I believe in transparency, and I know you do too. I would communicate with this type of student early and often,revealing to these guys exactly where they stand, the reasons why they are doing poorly, and identify specific things they must do in order to get better. This type of student needs to hear the message often; it's got to be delivered like a regular drumbeat. In my experience, once I address bad behavior and poor work consistently early in the term, I seldom have much of a problem later in the semester. Most, I am proud to say, improve themselves at least a little bit. I still teach the ones who choose to embrace bad habits; I teach them about CONSEQUENCES.(With the ones who choose to not to listen, I at least reach a level of understanding so that they don't cause flare-ups in the middle of class.) The old addage is true: "A stitch in time saves nine."
It's a shame that some young adults nowadays don't know how to self-regulate. It's too bad that the teacher has to contend with this, but that's the reality these days.
People who don't teach have NO IDEA what we have to deal with. Believe me, I feel ya. Been there, done that.
I hope my comments were of some benefit to you. What experience has taught me has enabled me to survive in the trenches and to emerge relatively unscathed. Good luck!
David