my response

i spoke with the parent of one of my students last week on the phone. The kid is obviously bright, and he could be doing well if he cared. At one point in my conversation, i said that i did not care if Andre tried or passed, i only get angry when he disrupts the class and is being a detriment to the other kids' learning. The father said, I don't mean to give offense, but as a parent, that statement concerns me. He did it without giving offense either. He sounded a little resigned to getting calls about how his son is bright but is failing because he does no work. My answer at the time was that i need to use my effort on the students that deserve it, or something to that effect.

i was thinking about it in the shower this morning and this is my fuller, articulate-er answer.

you come into my school. teach my classes for a single day. after that day, tell me if you can afford to waste your time helping the kids who won't pick up a pencil or who throw your handouts on the floor when class ends. when you're helping a student who genuinely asked for it, and you are interrupted by some jackass kid who starts throwing things, or gets up and walks out of the classroom, or starts yelling at another student for no reason, or starts talking on his cell phone, who should you be concerned with? there is 50 minutes in each class. why would i waste time to simply coax a student to get out a pencil, get out a paper, and take some simple fucking notes or do some fucking work in the time i give them in class, when there are students who are actually trying and having trouble with the material? if a kid wants to skip my class, fine. if he won't take notes, fine. if he leaves every quiz blank, fine. if he wastes every opportunity i give him to do work in class, fine. i don't care. i'll leave him alone and let him fail. i'll discipline him if he starts disrupting class. but he will absolutely deserve that F.