It's all about the students

At the very end of each semester, in those last couple days when time is running out and exams have begun and final essays are being revised, I can hardly focus on anything but my students.  Teaching at a community college after having been a high school teacher for several years is challenging.  It pains me to watch kids choose to fail, essentially, by blowing off assignments, skipping classes, and putting next to no effort into much of their writing - - and I can't do anything about it except push harder to inspire them.  I can't call their parents or refer them to their counselors.  I can't count on the administration to give them detentions or assign them a mandatory study hall.  They get to choose.  And oooooooh, that drives me crazy.  NOT because I'm an obsessive control freak - REALLY!  It's because I want to see them succeed.  Certainly I don't put blood, sweat, and tears into this job for the money - - it's because I want to help my students become successful - in writing, in their work, and in their lives in general.

So today is once again a great day because - although my night class has dwindled from 19 down to 8 - almost all of my students once again passed their first exit exam.  And there is nothing more exciting in my life than seeing the thrill of accomplishment that radiates from their beaming faces when these students find out they've successfully passed this test.  It is the test that haunts many of them - that stands in their way of moving forward into the next class - that looms large over them, threatening their sanity.  So when they pass it - especially on the first try! - they get such a rush.  I think it's a combination of relief and pride and joy and relaxation - - and they absolutely deserve it.

Tomorrow my remaining few will also conquer this beast, I hope and pray.  Those who have stuck the class out to the end have worked hard.  Often not hard enough, but compared to what they're used to, it's been a tremendous effort in their minds, I know.  And I just want them to feel that their effort will not go unrewarded.  How fabulous that the only reward they seem to need at this point is the satisfaction of knowing they passed.  And their satisfaction will always be my reward.