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It's finally here. We have an outbreak. The symptoms are all here! The infestation is among us! My own students are infected! Some of my best students have fallen...to the dreaded senioritis. Oh, the horror, the horror...the horror.
Let me describe the problem so you know how to avoid them and their sordid mindsets.
Some of the seniors I spend time with every day are expecting top-notch grades for simply putting forth minimal effort-showing up. These creatures slowly roam the halls, slack-jawed and drooling, with a slow, limping step. They look dishevelled with the wounds of four years of homework festering on their once strong shoulders. The multiple impalements of teacher expectation have slowed them to witless wanderers. They walk the world in a state of perpetual mindless animation searching to feed on..."the easy way out". They are a shell of what they once were. They are the senior-zombies.
Others...are runners. They run from class to class at tireless speed, but with the same lack of thought. Their procrastination forces them to bounce from one project to another with no regard for personal safety. They are numb to learning for the sake of learning. These are the night-dwellers. They stay up to all hours of the night getting angrier and angrier working on projects forced upon them by their teachers. They have the rage. This rage makes them red-eyed (because of their lack of rest) and thirsty for the real world, yet angsty towards doing the work to prepare for it. They will attack at the opportune moment when a teacher least expects it. They foam at the mouth, spewing blameful rhetoric as to why they should not be given work, or, at least, more time to do the painstaking work. These types are a bit more unpredictable and violent because they are blinded by the power of procrastination. They are so haphazard and sporatic in their preparation one doesn't know from whence they will attack. They have no logic-only a need for their version of supposed freedom.
I will not give up the fight. My weapons to defeat these young, senior-zombies are simple, but powerful. If I'm cornered by a single creature, I might unleash a barrage of sarcasm. Once they figure out what I'm saying they are tamed a bit. If I'm in real danger, I might find myself surrounded by a zombie-senior horde. This is when I have to release a serious...reminder. I throw into the middle of the group a calculated blend of persuasion mixed with a bit of fear of events to come. This disorients them to the point that their numbers disperse, dissipating their overall power. This also usually tames the beasts for the time-being as well.
Fending off senioritis is a battle that must remain constant. Overall, we succeed in defeating senioritis, but the struggle is getting tougher.
Let me describe the problem so you know how to avoid them and their sordid mindsets.
Some of the seniors I spend time with every day are expecting top-notch grades for simply putting forth minimal effort-showing up. These creatures slowly roam the halls, slack-jawed and drooling, with a slow, limping step. They look dishevelled with the wounds of four years of homework festering on their once strong shoulders. The multiple impalements of teacher expectation have slowed them to witless wanderers. They walk the world in a state of perpetual mindless animation searching to feed on..."the easy way out". They are a shell of what they once were. They are the senior-zombies.
Others...are runners. They run from class to class at tireless speed, but with the same lack of thought. Their procrastination forces them to bounce from one project to another with no regard for personal safety. They are numb to learning for the sake of learning. These are the night-dwellers. They stay up to all hours of the night getting angrier and angrier working on projects forced upon them by their teachers. They have the rage. This rage makes them red-eyed (because of their lack of rest) and thirsty for the real world, yet angsty towards doing the work to prepare for it. They will attack at the opportune moment when a teacher least expects it. They foam at the mouth, spewing blameful rhetoric as to why they should not be given work, or, at least, more time to do the painstaking work. These types are a bit more unpredictable and violent because they are blinded by the power of procrastination. They are so haphazard and sporatic in their preparation one doesn't know from whence they will attack. They have no logic-only a need for their version of supposed freedom.
I will not give up the fight. My weapons to defeat these young, senior-zombies are simple, but powerful. If I'm cornered by a single creature, I might unleash a barrage of sarcasm. Once they figure out what I'm saying they are tamed a bit. If I'm in real danger, I might find myself surrounded by a zombie-senior horde. This is when I have to release a serious...reminder. I throw into the middle of the group a calculated blend of persuasion mixed with a bit of fear of events to come. This disorients them to the point that their numbers disperse, dissipating their overall power. This also usually tames the beasts for the time-being as well.
Fending off senioritis is a battle that must remain constant. Overall, we succeed in defeating senioritis, but the struggle is getting tougher.
1 comment:
Be carefull Mr. A, I might eat your brain.
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