Let it Go

I want to write today about my students. I teach Composition 107 which is a writing course for students who struggle with the concepts and skills. They don't receive credit for this class but need to pass it in order to move onto Comp 110 (or freshman 1). So when I started teaching this course I expected to have students who were resentful for testing into this course, who don't enjoy writing and so will fight with the process the entire time, and who think it is a waste of their time since they aren't receiving credit for it. Fortunately, for the most part, my class is not like this. I do have a few who provide me with much to be frustrated over but I just let it roll right off. I try to remember that they are freshman and for the most of them this is their first semester. The student who already has 5 absences but who, once she found out that if she has 2 more absences I can withdraw her from the class, now attends every class. I can forgive that student. I can assume that the shock of freedom and having to learn how to manage your own time are the reasons behind her numerous absences. Then there is the student who has offered me every excuse in the book as to why she doesn't have her assignments and has only just given me the first assignment when we are already on the fourth. She I can not forgive. Get your act together or drop the class. She makes me want to scream. But I take a deep breath and then later, in the privacy of my home, I let it out.