Being a TA for COMM 3010 has not been the easiest thing to do. Since the course is intense in research and writing, students must spend a lot of time working on their assignments, which build on each other to form a final research proposal. All of their work means grading for this course takes hours. Because it takes hours, my colleagues and I get a little grumpy when having our family dinner grading parties.
Since I have put gifs on all of my blogs, we look a little something like this when we find a more difficult paper to grade:
Palmer (2007) mentioned the idea of the "student from hell" (p. 40). His example is of a student who sat in the back of a guest lecture Palmer was teaching with his hat pulled over his eyes, jacket buttoned up, and absolutely nothing on his desk to take notes with. Palmer described how he aimed the entire class on trying to get that student engaged and did not succeed. Later, Palmer recounted how that particular student actually ended up bringing him to the airport to go home. The two had an in-depth conversation about how the student lived in a home that did not support his educational adventure. His father constantly encouraged the student to drop out and deal with a "fast-food job" (p. 45).
Palmer's example of the "student from hell" made me think about my "more difficult" students. I don't know where any of them come from. All I know is what they show in the classroom and, especially in 3010, on paper. My students may have very different home lives from what I could ever understand. I will never know what they are going through that may impact their preparedness for a course like 3010.
Although feelings *shudders* are difficult for me to understand (#heartwork is waaaaaaay more exhausting than expected), I think using enthusiasm will serve me well when dealing with these students.
We can't automatically be angry with students who don't perform to our expectations. We also cannot allow for a student's grade or actions to result in a judgment of his/her character. We still need to be excited for them, to find a way to also make them excited about what they are doing, and to not just assume that they are a "student from hell." If we can use our sense of #happy to make our students #happy, then we can bring #joy to ourselves and #joy to our students.
So, if you're facing a difficult student, practice your fake smile and make it seem genuine. Your excitement could be the push that a student needs to not be your "student from hell".
#happyhappyjoyjoy
-Tay
I agree - it's hard enough managing my own feelings, now i have to deal with 30 other students feelings, some of who feel very comfortable displaying them in front of me for whatever reason. But we have to make sure we don't judge a student's character for their lack of participation or those who don't perform to our expectations. Its way easier to 'reach' students in 1 on 1 situations like Palmer did in the car ride, but practical classroom limitations make that difficult
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