Oh Me, Oh My

Goodness, how things have changed. So three days ago, I was flush with praise for my students and my classes. I'm not sure what exactly was going on there...I updated grades and posted them on Tuesday morning. A funny thing happened on the way to the bulletin board: 11...eleven...ONZE of my wonderful French I students in 1 class were failing. Not because of necessarily low test scores, nor because of absences, nor a total lack of understanding. It is a case of extreme laziness. Daily work and homework are not being done, and that is the quickest way to a grade below 70. For the last 6 weeks plus, they have just been sitting there looking at me. I introduce the lesson, give the assignment, and their task is to complete it. Lately I've watched as they begin their assignment, and I wonder to myself "Why are they just sitting there looking at me? Do they think I have the answers on my face?". I really just want to yell "Do something! Don't just sit there and look at me! That boy doesn't care anything about you!". Yesterday was the last straw. They were comparing who had a 48 average, a 50 average, etc., not at all concerned with what this really means. I left work yesterday the angriest I've been in a long while. When that class began today, I let them have it. I told that that if they didn't take care of business, they would be purchasing themselves a round-trip ticket to Failureville, where Mr. French is the Mayor. They would be sitting in French I all over again, listening to me teach the EXACT same lesson, and tell the same stories over again (trust me, it's not nearly as fun the second time around). I explained that it was idiotic to just sit there and look crazy when they needed to begin their work. The ones that sit there and talk are the last ones who should have anything to say. I must have put the fear of God into them, because they said absolutely nothing, and began their activity for the day. In Texas, you must have 2 years of a foreign language to graduate. I told them to figure it out so that they aren't sitting up in class as a 20 year old freshman. I felt instantly better after getting all that off of my chest. We'll see how this turns out. Man, Freshman are a handful.