Mental Health Disorders Info
Friday, March 22, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Grades
As a teacher, the most stressful time of each quarter is the week before grades are due. That means each quarter as we head for break I am a complete wreck. It's not because there is so much work to do; actually the work load decreases significantly as I am preparing to wrap up the term. All of the sudden, though, parents and their children care about their grades. They haven't really been worried for the eight weeks prior, but they want to know how to pull the grades up.
Out of the blue, work that has been missing for weeks is turned in. I have found a way to make that grading go quickly; students get half credit for late work. What is harder, though, is the stack of paperwork that students want me to copy. Worksheets that they lost, instructions to assignments that they don't remember, it all adds up to more work for me.
I have been telling students for two weeks that all missing assignments were due on Friday, giving me enough time to get my final grades in by our Wednesday deadline. On Thursday, the request for papers was incredible. I finally told students I just couldn't get them everything they needed. We had a nice class discussion about being proactive. I feel badly, but I'm really trying to realize that their lack of planning is not my emergency. I do the best I can to help students be successful, but I just couldn't produce everything they needed at the last minute.
Saturday afternoon I got an email from a parent that hurt me tremendously. She was upset that I "gave" her son a failing grade in social studies, even though I explained his danger of not passing more than four weeks ago. I offered an extra credit assignment, that if done well, could raise his grade by 50 points, giving him a B or possibly an A. The assignment would have really shown comprehension of the subject, thus taking the place of the original scores. I figured that I would give the student the benefit of the doubt that he just needed more time to master the material. In my mind, this was a win-win situation for all of us.
Friday afternoon, the deadline for the extra credit assignment, I looked at what was turned in, and I was disappointed. The project was half done and lacked effort. I only gave him half the points I had told the parent were possible, and I honestly felt that was being generous.
I've done my best to motivate this student, and I was told in the email that the parent felt I had not given the student credit for the hard work he put into the original work in social studies. I hate that. I hate the implication that I don't see the good in my students; I do. When they have a gap in the skills necessary to be successful, though, I am honest about that.
I hate grades. I hate the judgement that parents, students, and teachers feel surrounding those scores. I've done my best, though, and I just have to remind myself that assigning grades is part of the job I signed up for.
Out of the blue, work that has been missing for weeks is turned in. I have found a way to make that grading go quickly; students get half credit for late work. What is harder, though, is the stack of paperwork that students want me to copy. Worksheets that they lost, instructions to assignments that they don't remember, it all adds up to more work for me.
I have been telling students for two weeks that all missing assignments were due on Friday, giving me enough time to get my final grades in by our Wednesday deadline. On Thursday, the request for papers was incredible. I finally told students I just couldn't get them everything they needed. We had a nice class discussion about being proactive. I feel badly, but I'm really trying to realize that their lack of planning is not my emergency. I do the best I can to help students be successful, but I just couldn't produce everything they needed at the last minute.
Saturday afternoon I got an email from a parent that hurt me tremendously. She was upset that I "gave" her son a failing grade in social studies, even though I explained his danger of not passing more than four weeks ago. I offered an extra credit assignment, that if done well, could raise his grade by 50 points, giving him a B or possibly an A. The assignment would have really shown comprehension of the subject, thus taking the place of the original scores. I figured that I would give the student the benefit of the doubt that he just needed more time to master the material. In my mind, this was a win-win situation for all of us.
Friday afternoon, the deadline for the extra credit assignment, I looked at what was turned in, and I was disappointed. The project was half done and lacked effort. I only gave him half the points I had told the parent were possible, and I honestly felt that was being generous.
I've done my best to motivate this student, and I was told in the email that the parent felt I had not given the student credit for the hard work he put into the original work in social studies. I hate that. I hate the implication that I don't see the good in my students; I do. When they have a gap in the skills necessary to be successful, though, I am honest about that.
I hate grades. I hate the judgement that parents, students, and teachers feel surrounding those scores. I've done my best, though, and I just have to remind myself that assigning grades is part of the job I signed up for.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Allergy Test Results
So, the allergist was a bit baffled at the results of the skin tests. He really expected to see different results. Because of this, he ordered a total of nine blood tests to be done. A couple of them are to confirm some of the allergies that showed up. One is to test for Valley Fever, which he is pretty sure will be positive. The other is to finally get a "real" test for Lupus, which he will also not be surprised at a positive result after looking at how swollen my fingers and wrists were yesterday. He also ordered a test to check for antibodies to confirm if I ever actually had shingles. He really wants to know if that really was shingles that put me in the hospital two years ago or if we have been barking up the wrong tree all this time. I'm not sure what the other tests are for, but that's enough for now.
Even though my allergy tests showed I am allergic to pretty much the entire outdoors for ten months out of the year, he didn't prescribe or even recommend a daily allergy medication. I'm not having any of the symptoms that go along with those allergies typically, so the medication may not help. He's waiting until the blood tests come back to see if there is something else that is causing the reactions to the pollen.
He did ask me to stay away from onion, tomato, and citrus fruit altogether, but I only have to worry about the foods themselves. I don't have to read labels and look for hidden ingredients. Just the obvious foods. So, no more pizza or chilli for me. WHAT am I going to request for my birthday dinner now? Since I can remember (age ten at the very least), I have had lasagna or chilli on my birthday.
Finally, I am VERY allergic to cats and should not sit on couches where cats have been hanging out. It looks like I'll be sitting at my parents' dining room table for now when we visit, until he decides what to do after reviewing the blood tests. The only other thing that I had more of a reaction to than cats was parakeet feathers. What a strange thing to test for and to react to. He said I should not get a pet bird of any kind.
Even though my allergy tests showed I am allergic to pretty much the entire outdoors for ten months out of the year, he didn't prescribe or even recommend a daily allergy medication. I'm not having any of the symptoms that go along with those allergies typically, so the medication may not help. He's waiting until the blood tests come back to see if there is something else that is causing the reactions to the pollen.
He did ask me to stay away from onion, tomato, and citrus fruit altogether, but I only have to worry about the foods themselves. I don't have to read labels and look for hidden ingredients. Just the obvious foods. So, no more pizza or chilli for me. WHAT am I going to request for my birthday dinner now? Since I can remember (age ten at the very least), I have had lasagna or chilli on my birthday.
Finally, I am VERY allergic to cats and should not sit on couches where cats have been hanging out. It looks like I'll be sitting at my parents' dining room table for now when we visit, until he decides what to do after reviewing the blood tests. The only other thing that I had more of a reaction to than cats was parakeet feathers. What a strange thing to test for and to react to. He said I should not get a pet bird of any kind.
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