Finals Week

Finals week in our district is upon us.  I know a lot of high schools do them after the holidays.  But I am grateful that my district made the change a couple of years ago.  Sure it's hectic.... sure it's a frenzy.   However, the students are able to relax through the holidays without having to worry about studying or more realistically worrying about how they are not studying.

Students walk around with a "woe is me" attitude or "my teacher is so mean."  They have no idea that finals week is almost equally as difficult for teachers.  There are many aspects that contribute to the stress of finals week. 

First of all, as the students get stressed, their behavior goes in the toilet.   The type of behavior you must deal with depends on what kind of student you are dealing with.  Group One is the over achievers.  They are smart, high achieving grade grubbers.  With this group, our teachers must deal with over tired, over caffeinated, over pressured, cranky students.  They are usually hard working and pushing to get their GPA and class rank up because they are aware that college is looming.  They are scraping for every percentage that gets them closer to that Ivy League School.  While I applaud this group, I wonder if in the end the stress is worth it.  Are they so overwhelmed and anxious that it affects their performance.  They have the rest of their lives to succumb to the pressure of being overachievers. 

Group two are the underachievers who are clawing their way to a D.  They have spent the entire semester studying Snap Chat and Twitter instead of their subjects.  They are the type of students that when given time to work on something in class.... do everything but work.  They chat with friends, play on their phones, and might even attempt to sleep.  They are the 11th hourers.....they come to you 3 days before the end of the semester and want to know what missing assignments they have.  They are desperate.  And teachers as a rule are compassionate, and they want to help.  But it comes at an expense to the teachers.  Extra work, extra time, extra grading. 

In addition to dealing with these overwhelmed students, the teacher themselves have work and personal lives.  It is no easier for them.  The amount of grading at this time of year is ludicrous.  Make-up assignments, projects, and finals.  Add to this that teachers must also be adults when they go home.  Many teachers are parents that must prepare for the holidays.  Some have small kids and babies.  In addition, teachers WANT kids to succeed.   These finals are a culmination of all the lesson planning, teaching and tutoring that they have been doing all year.  They want students to want to succeed.  Teachers put in extra time during finals week to make sure their students have the materials they need to be successful whether they are the grade grubbers or the 11th hourers.  

So as we begin this finals week....good luck to all teachers, students and parents.  May the odds be ever in your favor

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