Before I begin, I want to shout out my good friend, Ryan Goldman, for the inspiration to create my "iCan't" series. These were inspired by his "Things Nariah Says" blog, which follows random, hilarious commentary from his daughter, Nariah.
There are certain things that I've come to realize over the last 6.5 years in academia that will never change. However, they DO seem to ebb and flow in the direction of improvement or worsening conditions, based on the class of students enrolled at the time. I like to call these my iCan't moments, that instant where something happens and, instead of getting frustrated, annoyed, and irritated with the situation, you simply shake your head, grab your forehead while walking away, and say " I can't....I just...I can't..." We've all had them. If you are an educator or parent, you've had them all too often.
Today's iCan't moment of the day is dedicated to a student I shall refer to as the Third-Striker. This student has taken my class three times, and seems hell-bent on trying to find a way to ease past and continue his coursework. As a student enrolled in the same course, with the same professor, you should somewhat know that professor's teaching style and, more importantly, pet peeves, right?????
Wrong....
T.S. has a habit this semester of arriving 15-25 minutes late to class. Last week, after arriving late to class, he asked that I go back to a screen where students were to copy onto their computer. My response was "(n)o. You should've been in class on time." You would think that would be enough of a warning right?? Well, that PLUS I've warned students I give pop quizzes and, they are always the first 10 minutes of class, right?? RIGHT?!?!?
Wrong...
Today, T.S. arrived in class approximately 20 minutes late. By this point, I've returned a quiz, reviewed the answers on the board, created an extra question from the quiz (which was subsequently worked out on the board as well), and provided students with an example problem to work on in class for the first 30 minutes. Being 10 minutes late to class, of course T.S. doesn't know what's going on.
After being informed that again, when you are late to class, you WILL be confused so get here on time, T.S. attempts to provide the following excuses (in that order):
1. He was only a few minutes late...(my response-based on what constitutes a few, you were 20 minutes late).
2. He was looking for parking... (my response-how does this become my problem? In fact it's not, and you should've accounted for this, given the fact that class starts at 11:10 am).
3. He was trying to get here on time...(my response-we all were, including myself. Somehow everyone else succeeded).
The Lesson: I was told by my coaches and other educators along my life travels, "if you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. If you're late, don't even bother."
As a student, you are being prepared not only with information in the classroom, but also in developing "intangibles," those soft skills or things that aren't part of the curriculum, but are expected of any professional in your field.
Regardless of your profession, in life, there is a thing called accountability. This means that there are consequences associated with your actions: good and bad. As a result, You will be held responsible for the choices you make. I remember professors in college who locked their doors when class started. There are even those who deduct points from your grade for being late. And no, not just a homework grade, your FINAL grade. You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT expect to enter a professional career and do what you want to do, when you want to do it. That is, unless you are the boss. In most instances, you won't be. In that case, you must play by the rules. And if you are consistently late for your job, AND you can't get your work done, then guess what? You WILL be fired.
But wait, did anyone catch a key phrase from that paragraph above?? If not, I'll paste it here..."You cannot, I repeat, CANNOT expect to enter a professional career and do what you want to do, when you want to do it." Key word...EXPECT. There is an overflow of expectation from students about what they deserve. However, there is an inverse relationship between what they expect and what they believe they should be held accountable for. To put it simple, as expectations increase, it appears that accountability decreases in the eyes of many students. That must be new math, cause I don't remember that making sense.
But I digress. At the end of the day, there are expectations that you may have as a student or child, but that doesn't mean they are justified. Even moreso, there is an even more important word you must learn and practice daily. And yes, AI got it wrong...and FYI...AI=Allen Iverson...you DO need to practice, and practice it daily. It's called "accountability." It comes before "expectation" in the dictionary. Learn it first, practice it, and then see what positive consequences begin to overflow as a result of your efforts. Cause yes, AI, practice makes perfect. More importantly, you play how you practice (what I also learned from my coaches).
Or....you can just follow T.S.'s motto. Better yet, follow Iverson's motto. Let me know how that works out for you. We see where it got both of them.
Woosah!!!
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