Resolutions

On the first day back to school, suffering post-Hawai'i lag and generally confused to be teaching when I was so recently treking over lava, I panicked and assigned a New Year's Resolutions essay. Aw hell. Things ended up going fine, and reading them now, I'm struck by how much my students are either 1) focused on improving their educational prospects; or 2) really adept at telling me exactly what I want to hear.

Some examples:

"My first New Year's Resolution is to get better grades in 5th period. I could get better grades by reading more than 30 minutes a night."

"Second, I need to work harder in school because I used to talk when the teacher was talking. I mean, I used to talk when the teacher was 'making us smarter.' Teachers do not just talk like we do, they help us learn."

"Finally, I want to go three years in one year at school. To do this, I could do all my homework and even ask for more work."

"Finally, I want to go to High Point C. I do not want to be left behind when everyone else moves up and I want to learn harder stuff. I want to stay in this class, which is the best."

This is my favorite:
"Second of all, I want to advance to High Point C. I could accomplish this goal by paying closer attention to the stories and question. I will also read the stories before I answer the questions on the test, and also check my answers carefully. Finally, I will try to talk less during class time. to acheive this, I will ignore my friends and focus on my work, or I will try to think about my school grades and what will happen if they get worse. I will give myself time to talk to them during brunch, lunch, before or after school. Class time is learning time, not talking time."