Sunday Morning Snow

This is what we viewed when we woke this morning and pulled back the window covering. Good golly! We've got snow.

I know, for anyone who lives in real snow country this is nothing. We, however, live in southern California. It just doesn't happen here. Okay, so this is twice this season that we've seen this sight. You'll just have to believe me that it is rare. It was cold out there too. I dressed in warm clothes to go to church this morning.

After church I spent the rest of the day back at it -- grading, grading, and grading more papers from my basic writing students. I think I'm getting slower, not faster, as I move through the stacks of three classes who have all submitted the same project. I did have a moment of absolute thrill when I came across an A+ paper. It was written by one of my re-entry students.

Re-entry students always are more apprehensive than the young ones; always fearful that they can't produce like the 18, 19, and 20 year olds. They have a savvy, though, that gives them an edge and a lead, and most of all they have desire. Soon they are considerably ahead of the rest of the class.

For the most part, though, these papers I am reading and grading have been pathetic. I've read many papers that I knew could have been quality, but the student chose to be lazy, chose not to follow the instruction, and not to meet the requirement, and therefore turned in shoddy work.

Each student had to read five articles and summarize each one. Almost all of my students cannot find a main point in an article. So the week before they submit the project, we have a workshop in the class to make sure that everyone knows what each article's point is. So it is quite disturbing when they submit their papers and they have not started the summary with the author's main point.

Every student wants an "A" and acts devastated when the graded project is returned and it has not been marked with an "A." I have to explain numerous times during the semester that an "A" grade represents superior work; that a "B" represents something above and beyond the assignment's requirement; and that a "C" represents a competent paper. I must also explain to them that they are in the top 30% of the nation that attends college; therefore, earning a "C" does not make them average.

What most of them will not acknowledge is that they do not want to do and have not done the over and above effort or time that is required to earn that superior grade.

So the age old dilemma continues: they have come from easy high school classes and then arrive at the community college where I teach to the shock of rigorous college classes and many of those students are facing that reality in remedial level classes; they aren't even in college-level courses.

The recent documentary Race to Nowhere claims that California's most elite institution of higher education -- University of California at Berkeley -- must provide remedial education to almost half of its incoming students. This is absolute evidence that our youngsters are exiting high school minus the basic education they need to step into college-level classes.

On that cheery note, I'll sign off for this Sunday so I can get back to grading student papers.

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol