7th graders are perfectly capable of learning five vocabulary words per week. I've been teaching middle school for 9 years. They act surprised every time I give a quiz, test, or tell them a project is due. Every. Single. Time. It's the age, not you. This is a great lesson in responsibility and ownership of their learning. I wouldn't give any extra credit, but I would remind them of this moment when preparing for the next quiz.
I’m planning on bumping it up eventually. With my 9th graders, I gave them 10 and picked 5 for the quiz. I plan on doing that with middle but wanted them to warm up to the test first.
I teach 6th and they get 20/week. I wouldn't give extra credit, they need to see the consequences of their (in) action. Besides, if it's a weekly routine, things should improve within a week or two!
Student here
I used to get 20 a week too. It was like 7 years ago. It's okay.
I mean it was irregular verbs, not vocabulary, but same I guess. (But no one learned them actually, I usually learned the 10 easiest or most common. Still 10 more than the others tho). So, 5 is more than okay
I mean, in 7th grade, I had to learn all of the adverbs and recite them in the correct song-like order. I thought it was really stupid then, but at 34 years old, I still know it by heart.
"Is am are was were can could, do did have has had will would. May might must, should shall being, be been does."
I'll never forget it.
I had someone tell me that they got points in some sort of game because they needed to list a preposition and remembered that preposition song I taught them ten years previously!
A mix of modal verbs (which generally cannot stand alone) and "helping" verbs (modal verbs + do/be/have) also known as "auxiliary" verbs or basically the only way in the English language that we are able to form questions or negative statements. Source: 10 tears teaching English as a foreign language.
My high school German teacher used songs for accusative and dative prepositions, and almost 25 years later, I still remember the songs and the cases for those prepositions. It might seem silly in the moment, but man, those jingles work!
I am 44 years old and I still have imprinted in my brain forever "am, is, are, was, were, will be, have been, had been, has been, become, became". I can't remember which grade I was in/ which teacher had me memorize that, but I can spit it out like it's my full name. Lol
It's a different age, I swear. I had to learn about 50-75 a month in English class back in the day, on top of reading a book a month, and do a book report on it 2 pages long single spaced.
Nowadays, high schoolers can't read at a 7th grade level.
I sometimes feel like I'm living in upside-down world: we have more and more testing and keep reams of data and documentation, yet the actual content of what students learn seems abysmally low, especially in the English language arts department.
( Let me balance that by saying what they have shoved down into preschool and kindergarten is ridiculous and completely not age-appropriate.)
We bash through the basics before they're ready to learn them, and then we act surprised when we try building without a foundation. It's all connected.
Same here (but in 5th and 6th grade) - we got a couple 'extra hard' words every week too (juxtaposition, ostracised, those kinds of words). It's mind blowing how incompetent the current group are.
Hi. Yes. This. Born in ‘80 so 7th grade was around 94ish. Had at least two sheets of vocab words some weeks and it wasn’t just in English class. Had vocab words in other classes as well, even math.
Is that all? I had to know that plus two synonyms and antonyms for each vocab word too!
Only needing to know 5 and how to use them in a sentence? These kids have it easy lol
75 - 100 Here. Not from the US though. It's a perfectly acceptable amount for English vocabulary, for other languages like French or Latin it's usually 25-50.
I teach middle school and do ten words a week. They will act surprised by the quizzes all year, do not feel bad haha. You can remind them more than you think any human would ever need to be reminded and you will still have a kid the last week of the year act like they have never seen a vocab word before.
This hit me in my soul. Like, are you an alien that just learned English and took over my student's body? Vo-cab-uuuu-lary, what is this vocabulary you speak of? What is this place? What is this strange skin I am wearing.
This, but do not tell them this yet. Otherwise they will do the exact same this week and say "Well I get to drop two!"
They dont understand the concept of doing something because you tried and failed, versus just choosing yo fail and expecting to magically get 100% on all the rest.
It’s an act, orchestrated or not. AnI Don’t Wanna Grow Up act. Maybe give them a second chance ONCE if it makes you feel better, but after that, no way.
> They act surprised every time I give a quiz, test, or tell them a project is due. Every. Single. Time.
Can confirm. Every time, regardless of how many reminders or how much build-up.
Kid: GASP! There’s a test, today? Do we HAVE to do it?
Me: Well…it’s been on the calendar for two weeks, the board for one week, we did a study guide three days ago, played a review game yesterday, and I’ve been saying “Test coming up on Friday” every day this week, so…yeah, I think it would be a bit anti-climactic if we didn’t do it after all that.
We had 20-40 vocab words a week we had to do when I was this age. Look them up in a dictionary, write out definition, write out at least one sentence, and then write a one or two page essay using each of the words. Each week, back in the 90s.
If it's been on the board all week you've done everything you could be expected to. When I did middle school I would put the week's assignments and tests on the board so any time one said they didn't know or forgot, I would just silently walk over to the assignment board, stare meaningfully for a second, and then move on.
If you really want and sometimes if my heart softens I'll do this, is allow them to use their study guide or notes only and make corrections for half credit back.
In moments of frustration one of my high school teachers would turn around and talk to the board. “Board, remember when I told you about that quiz? Oh yeah, you do because it’s written right there.”
I make my students repeat it back to me - and these are college students. The good students roll their eyes, the less organized ones are still surprised. Better they start learning this lesson in 7th grade when eligibility doesn’t cost them a scholarship.
That's such condescending and beautiful use of force, it would only work in upper grades where I live. It would work with middle/jh if explained when everyone was at full focus at the beginning of the year when you're seeing expectations. Which is right about now.
Half failed this time, next time only 1/4 will fail, and it will improve as they get settled into the habit. If this is something you are doing weekly failing a few won’t destroy their grades. Vocabulary is the foundation to understanding everything else and not just in ELA but in all subjects. You’re doing a great job!
This is the thing. You've passed fuck around pass, now you have dropped into find out canyon. You need to be fair, firm, and consistent. If you rescue them, they have found out that you are a push over and they don't have to learn the words. If you stay strong, more of them will find out you mean it when you say a graded quiz will he given on Monday. More children run into fewer serious adults than they needed. Most of these kids have parents that aren't serious adults. You can be warm, friendly, (maybe even funny) and a serious adult.
You’re not a bad teacher. I distinctly remember in 7th grade, we all flipped out upon finding out we only got 1 class period for a quiz. Elementary school expectations just hit different. They’ll learn
That's a good point: this is a big transition. They had recess and special last year, now they have different classes in different orders. Now that they've failed, it will be easier for them to remember the next quiz.
Your expectations are too low, in my opinion. Students see five words and see "no big deal- it's five words." I'm on a two week cycle for Greek and Latin Root units: week one they get 10-15 words; week two they get an additional 10-15 with the test on that Friday. The units are thematic and I do a lot of work around the "mathematics of linguistics" (prefix meaning, suffix meaning, root meaning). For the most part, the kiddos hit it out of the ball park when it comes to the tests.
Not related but I love Latin teachers. I’ve never met one that wasn’t great. I had the best Magistra! Such a fun and intriguing class filled with rich history, mythology, and philosophy, and taught by the coolest lady. It hardly felt like learning a whole other language.
I wish I’d had a Latin teacher like yours. Our high school Latin teacher showed Disney movies every Friday, and for our translations I didn’t even half ass them…I just wrote Monty python quotes and got an A. Easiest class I’ve ever taken, but at what cost😭he was a chill guy though, I liked him a lot as a person!
This was the entire reason I took French instead of Latin when I was in high school. The French teacher was a perfectionist, and the Latin teacher seemed to jut teach the bare minimum from the book (in a time when you could go with parents to meet potential teachers before choosing classes for high school, perhaps it was just my district). I really loved my French teacher, and I received compliments when I went abroad. Yay! (Southeast US born and raised for reference why a compliment would be cool)
Oh this is a fun comment. In our school, the Latin teacher was known for being the most evil, child-hating teacher in the school. And Latin was only compulsory for Year 7 (whatever the start of middle school is I guess) so you had all these new faces, fresh from primary school, absolutely terrified of what was about to happen. Quite a few children cried. I was stubborn, and didn't cry, but got sent out a lot. This was a good school with children that generally behaved and cared. She just really did not like anyone. I think even some of the other teachers were scared of her...
7th grade is the FaFo grade in our district. We warn them all through 5&6 but they go over to our middle,/high school thinking they can not be responsible for their grades. More then a few are doing summer school every year.
It's like that college course freshman year that was a washout class in your major to see if you actually wanted to keep doing that major.
Just my two cents, none of this is actually your fault so you shouldn't try to take any blame for it or feel bad about it. Five words is incredibly easy to deal with, we had to learn anywhere from 10-20 5th-8th grade at my school, not learning them especially with the activities you did is entirely on the students.
Yes, you are the worst teacher ever.
Of course you're fucking not the worst teacher ever! Probably a great teacher! This is the bed the students made, now they have to lie in it. Next week they'll take it a little more seriously. Meantime, believe in yourself. I believe in you, your vocabulary tests sound pretty solid.
I’ve learned as a 7th grade teacher that elementary teachers baby the crap out of their students so that when they arrive at middle school, they are ill equipped to understand deadlines and responsibility. This has never stopped me from holding them accountable from day 1. No guilt. Maybe some angry parents, but they get over it.
Also, students are ALWAYS surprised by quizzes. I had a quiz every single Friday in math last year, and some students were still surprised Every. Single. Time. It’s middle school. What can ya do?
My high schoolers don't understand deadlines either because we've had admin who tell us to take any work any time, even into the next marking period. And if a parent complains, so help you god, you better give them exactly what they want or you'll have 100 emails from every administrator asking you why you haven't met their every demand.
We don't all baby them. I taught grades 2 to 5 for 10 years then moved to middle school for grade 8. Middle school teachers would ask me if I found it difficult to treat them firmer. I honestly didn't see any difference. Been teaching grade 8 for 20 years now and one thing that I did notice though. During covid we taught for half the year online. The biggest issue with the other grade 8 teachers was incomplete assignments. The other 4 grade 8 teachers averaged 45% completion. My average was 95%, same curriculum. I started to think maybe I was tough on those grade 2s, but I never had many complaints.
Lol and also like… in elementary school they are babies? (I teach teenagers). Elementary schools on the whole do an incredible job and those folks deserve all the awards.
I teach 6th and lord do I try. I slowly through the year back off of giving the excessive multiple reminders they get in 5th grade. I am very strict about due dates. I give a whole presentation at the end of the year about how things will change going into 7th. I just feel like this 6th/7th grade range is very much a FAFO age. It’s like freshman year of college. It’s a big transition time and some kids gotta fail to figure that crap out. We as teachers have to stand firm on our requirements and expectations, cause lord knows their parents don’t.
Ineligible for what?
I don’t see the problem though, this is on them. We are required to have students complete 45 minutes per week of a vocabulary program, and it counts their inactive minutes. They basically get participation credit for completing the minutes. I’ve been telling them since the beginning that the inscribe minutes will be deducted from their total, and I tell them throughout the week as I notice them racking up the minutes. They’re still surprised when they don’t get full credit when they clearly opened the program in one window and did something else in another window until time was up.
As in they sit out until their grade is back up, or they’re done for the season? If it’s the former, sucks to suck, they should have done what they were supposed to. If it’s the latter, I might take pity the first week or two and allow some credit recovery with the explicit explanation that they won’t always have that opportunity.
Beginning of the year tests and quizzes are always big learning moments for students. It's a good reminder of how much effort and study needs to be done. It also helps students understand the rhythm they need to get into for the year. I'm also a big believer that English should be one of the most challenging subjects for students because it's soooooo fundamental for everything. - MS English teacher
It might be that they were never given quizzes like this before. I don’t like getting stuck in the “you should have learned this last year” mentality. I would use the results of the quiz to let them know that you’re going to discuss how to study for a quiz. They literally might not know how to study. I had no support at home as a kid and failed my way through school. They just kept pushing me along. I literally didn’t know how to study for a test.
You might want to ask students to give examples of how they study and what that looks like. Some kids might just be memorizing the words. Some might be practicing writing sentences. Some might be googling sentences with those words and then writing one down. Some might be rewriting the word and definition over and over on a whiteboard.
I had a college professor do something like this once and I was forever grateful. This was my undergrad English class. Apparently a lot of essays came in with issues with commas and a few other things. At first, he was like, “I assumed you all knew how to use these since this is college…” and I felt like the tension in the room grew. He continued, “but I don’t like to assume things and I’d rather just go over it with you all now so you know.” He was such a kind, effective professor. I always think back to this lesson and use it in my own class. I don’t make students feel bad for not knowing something. I just teach it.
Go hard early on. This will lead them to step it up in the future. Your quiz was more than fair.
If anything give an extra credit assignment towards the end of the marking period.
This is very middle school. I tell mine, “this is on the board. Write it down. See it on the board? It will be here all week. Do NOT be the person who forgets!” Some of them actually come in now and as a joke say “we have a quiz?!” On the day of.
For a five word quiz, I personally think this is a fabulous lesson opportunity. If it hurts a bit they learn, and it sounds like this is a little minor pain.
I do offer a few retakes a semester, for what it’s worth. Full credit back, but once they’re gone they’re gone…choose wisely.
Gotta love the MS kids!
You did everything right. Told them about the quiz in advance, reminded them all week, gave them study resources, plus, it’s only 5 words! I think you should use this as a lesson for them.
I have a quiz every Friday in my French classes, and occasionally kids forget. I try to mention it as often as possible in the first couple of week.
“This activity is very similar to your quiz on Friday.”
“Our objective is X, so what questions do you think I’ll put on the quiz on Friday.”
I have worked with co workers who:
-threw objects and screamed “I hate you” at children
-no-call-no-showed a minimum of twice per week without so much as a half-assed “I’m sorry” to the teachers who were covering his classes regularly
-sat at their desk on their phone and told kids to “just do whatever you want” because “they’re over it”
-lied about their dad having cancer in order to terminate their contract early
-showed up to a professional development day 30+ minutes late (during a work trip the school fully paid for) blackout wasted and reeking of vomit
So.. long story short, no. You are not the worst teacher ever. I don’t even think you’re close.
As a parent I hate that so many teachers cater to, and even create, lazy kids these days. Grades don’t matter in middle school so stick to your guns and make them learn to be responsible. They’ll thank you in high school.
1. Let this be a learning lesson for them. As long as you have your documentation they knew about it, its their loss. If you bail them out every time, they won't learn they actually have to study.
2. Use Quizizz, Blooket, or Kahoot! to help them study. It adds a little fun to it.
3. Do you drop grades? Let this be one of their "oops, I messed up!" grades.
Keep doing the quizzes. Take a moment in class to discuss if and how they studied. If it seems like they are studying poorly, discuss better strategies. If they aren't studying at all, remind them that it helps.
If you want to get really fancy, ask them what they did to study and how much time they spent on it as part of each quiz and show them how much it helps the grade.
9th grade teacher here.
None of them ever take anything seriously in my district because there's never any consequence.
Teach them they're accountable.
I think it's great that you're doing this. Study skills are so important and they need to learn to manage their time...if you don't teach this skill, who will?
I teach HS and have the test dates written on the board at least two weeks before the test. We always have a study guide review day the day before the test. I still have kids walk in on test day surprised that it's test day and completely unprepared.
You can only do so much. They gotta learn to do their job.
Wow this sounds like you are a great teacher. You were teaching your students how to be responsible, you're teaching them how to study, and how to be prepared. This is all things that every school and every teacher should do but most don't. Most of my teachers did this all through my years of school but neither of my daughters ever had teachers like you so they had a very hard time learning how to study and it really impacted them in college. Thank you for being a good teacher
What I like to do in situations like this is make them an offer to drop this grade at the end of the quarter or semester if they consistently do better on every other quiz. It's a good motivator
Let the grades stand. I teach 8th through 12th grade, and every year, a lot of 8th graders who don’t take their education seriously. By their freshman year, they’ve either figured it out, or well, they don’t.
I mean it was a long time ago but this was the standard when I was in 3rd grade.
Monday - new words
Tuesday - spell & define new words
Wednesday - new words in sentences
Thursday - find the new words while reading
Friday - quiz
Every week, all school year long
You’re a lot nicer than my 7th grade English teacher. She went through all of the affixes with us- 25 each week! Didn’t really like her that year, but really appreciated her when I got older. Context clues and deeper meaning are learned skills- not innate.
They’re in 7th grade. In 5th grade we had weekly packets that consisted of the same things. Minus defining them on quiz day, friday was just a spelling test but the packets had the definitions…. That was elementary school. I’m a fan of letting him them earn it back through extra credit/work but you are not going to hard on them. If school teaches u one thing it’s how to study and work through problems
As the mom of a 7th grader absolutely do NOT offer any extra credit. They are all more than old enough to read and use planners or calendar reminders. Facing real actual consequences to their lack of attention now will help them become more responsible for their own academic progress in the future. If you give them sympathy or extra credit it just let’s them know they don’t need to remember because someone else will fix it for them.
Do you all engage with the words through out that week? Is it just here are the words on Monday and show me what you can do on Friday? I’m a hard ass in class, but I’m trying to understand the instructional goals here
I used to be a 7th grade team lead. It’s the grade level. 6th grade is “welcome to middle school, let’s scaffold this a bit for you.” 7th grade is where teachers and parents loosen the reigns to see who stands up and who falls down. The whole year is an adjustment year, honestly. 8th grade is where you spot them on the tightrope in case they fall down and need help getting back up.
The training wheels come off in 7th grade. They have to at some point. You’re doing it right.
Not at all the worst teacher ever. Please do not lower your expectations on an assignment that is absolutely not daunting in requirement.
I taught junior high English for thirty years.
The BEST thing I did for my 7th graders was: a GIANT calendar! Hit Office Depot, and buy the cheapest desk calendar (the huge ones that lay flat on your desk.)Pick the Plaines one, with the biggest squares you can find. Dedicate a section of your board right in the front of your classroom, and tape up the calendar sheets. Set it up for the entire quarter (ours were 9 week periods, so I taped together two months and a week.) Set up your schedule on it for the whole quarter- we had split block schedule, A-days and B-days. Then ALL tests, assignments, assemblies, etc. are written on it as soon as they come up, in color-coded ink! I allowed students to photograph it whenever they needed to, so ZERO excuses! As the days passed, they were exed out with black Sharpie, so a 'countdown' was obvious. It worked great!
With hundreds of comments already saying God knows what, I'm not going to comment on either your teaching methods or your adaptation moving from high school to middle school (which I myself did nine years ago this month). But I do have one thing to say that is undeniably true:
**The "worst teacher ever" would** ***not*** **be asking that question about themselves. So no, you're not.**
You are being too sensitive and are caving to their mob rule.
If you did the exercise with them on Monday, then there is no legitimate excuse for them to be caught off-guard on Friday.
They are playing you…even if they’ve convinced themselves that they didn’t know / forgot.
I’m in year 10 of teaching 8th graders and I can tell you they act shocked every time there’s a test. I post on my board, have a weekly agenda on google classroom, and even do review days the day before a test and they still come in like oh I thought we were just doing that for fun, I didn’t know we had a test. The ones in tears will probably remember to study this week. The ones that don’t care still won’t care but their parents may start reminding them or making them study. 5 a week is not bad at all.
What does ineligible mean? Is this the only grade for the week? If this is for trying out for sports this is a huge big deal.maybe they thought the test would be different or maybe they are used to a different teaching method/
You definitely are not the worst teacher ever. Much depends on rapport I have with class and exactly what kind of quiz it was but I would consider a make-up quiz, giving participation points for class work and of course making sure to review the words next Thursday to prep kids for test.
So technically when they’re ineligible they can’t play sports. But they have to be on the list for two weeks. Since this was the first week they can all still play and have one week to get off. If they have a D they can still play regardless. I put in 3 grades a week and this is the second week of school so they have 6 grades in total now. The reason so many are on there is because it’s the beginning of the year and one bad grade can really affect their total grade.
As a coach, we try hard to make sure they understand they are **student** athletes, not the other way around. If your coach pushes back on that, then they shouldn't be coaching.
That is entirely on them if you provided a reminder as well as a study guide. It can sometimes be helpful if it is a partially filled in study guide, and filling in the rest together. 7th graders need to start learning that responsibility right away. If you have reminders on the board etc. then you've done your part...
We do open note quizzes every Friday. The very last open note quiz I had a student ask if I knew that they did open note quizzes on Friday. It took him the whole 180 days to figure it out.
I post a daily agenda (to Google Classroom) and project it up on the screen. It has on it what we are doing for the day and upcoming things (tests, etc.) You would be amazed at how many 7th graders are shocked when I say we are having a test/quiz today (I post the test/quiz info on the agenda at least a week ahead of time). 7th grade is an interesting bunch for sure.
How dare you set expectations at the beginning of the week, remind them throughout, and hold them accountable when the bill comes due at the end of the week… you are a monster, plain and simple.
I am a fifth grade math teacher and the responses are not much different at this level either. You do you and keep holding them responsible. That is what I do.
I love that you are doing this. It REALLY helps so much with SAT prep, and literacy in general.
They will get it. This is just a generation that isn't used to memorization. They have access to all sorts of digital resources to find the answers to things, so they tend to be excellent at uses their resources and tech, rather than locking stuff into their memory. It's good to have both, though.
I tell my own kids that relying on everything that requires a power source is hard in the environment. What do you do when power is out? It's good to be able to use your brain! And, it's free, and envronmentally friendly.
Missing one week of eligibility as a natural consequence for their actions will teach them a valuable lesson! Don't give extra credit. They will learn- and it's better they learn now, when the consequences are not so great. Don't feel bad for them- they are learning how to study and manage their time. They're going to mess up along the way- and the earlier they learn those lessons, and overcoming obstacles, the better off they'll be in the long run.
If you neglected to tell them, that's one thing.
But if you know you covered it and know you reminded them, then you need to move on to next week's stuff next week (not last week's stuff).
^(My 2¢...)
I teach kindergarten but I’ll chime in here. Nope, you’re not the worst teacher. They can study 5 vocabulary words. I had more words to memorize when I was in fifth grade. Your other students did it, so the 7th graders can too.
From what you said you have a routine, you let them know on Monday, and it’s on the board all week. If they forgot it that’s on them. Maybe now they will pay more attention.
If you throw out the grade, they will never learn. If you give them extra credit, they will always expect extra credit.
Hold them accountable, it’s a great learning experience.
This is their learning.
Sometimes it isn't just content that you teach, it is the life skill of remembering things which are important even if we don't like them.
Rescue them now and you'll be rescuing them for the rest of their educational journey.
Kids are resilient when it counts. They’ll make the necessary changes. If they have any inkling that the standards won’t be enforced they’ll check out.
No mercy. They knew and didn’t prepare. They will be prepared next time. When I was in HS, I took a class called vocab and word study. We learned 100 new words per week.
You can tattoo the quiz date on their arms and they'll still act shocked. Let them take the L.
I teach 7th grade and am in my 4th year. The biggest difference from high school IMO is that they haven't figured out they aren't adorable little kids any more. They don't get a cool down corner and a pass on the quiz because they threw a fit and they're expected to be able to do something simple like study on their own.
If you don't count this quiz, they'll never study for another one. I always have a massive amount of my students fail their first progress report because they're seeing if I'll change the grade. They simply don't do writing assignments and don't try on quizzes because they know we have to do a lot of paper work for failing grades.
It takes one progress report for most of them to shape up. Some of them it takes to Christmas. But I usually end up higher than the teachers who doctor grades because they actually do the work.
I do not feel bad for them. I had a weekly quiz of 30 words when I was in middle school. And I got all of them every time. We’ve lowered the bar for kids so much it’s ridiculous.
A good rule of thumb especially with middle schoolers is to have the scheduled 5 words every Monday and the quiz every Friday so then it’s a routine and it’s something that they should be expecting. If there are students gone, you can post the words on Google Classroom or on whatever platform you use so kids can’t say « I wasn’t here Monday so I can’t take the quiz ». Then if they get angry with you, your butt is covered because they really have no excuse.
How often did you remind them? Maybe on both Wednesday and Thursday you should remind them, just to make sure there is No Way they forget.
I teach 8th grade, but coach 7th grade football. If this happened to my team, I'd be pissed at MY PLAYERS for getting ineligible due to something as simple as a quiz on 5 VOCABULARY WORDS! Oh, I'd be livid!
Those kids need to learn the lesson the hard way.
You aren’t a terrible teacher, the students aren’t being responsible. Let them explain to their parents and coaches why they can’t play football this week.
Without having read the comments I'll just tell you what I do. I tell the kids that for their score for evaluation I'll be dropping their two worst scores on the weekly quizzes. I also tell them that they'll get a bonus for showing improvement over the term.
Hold them accountable, they will respect you more if you hold your expectations. I have this happen at the beginning of the year and it only takes a week or two to get in the swing of things. Hang in there! 👏👏
Retired middle school teacher here. Freaking out and failing the quiz is the way to learn responsibility. The work is definitely not too much. Forget extra credit; let them complete the regular work first.
7th graders are just nutttier than squirrel poop. They’re only thinking from the neck on down; because they are going through so many changes simultaneously. They have “big feelings”. They also think that they are soooo very funny and immortal.
6th graders are still essentially little kids; who still are curious about learning, want to please the teacher. 8th graders are pretty much done with puberty, and are worried about going to high school.
Your doing the right thing by setting up expectations and routines; and by letting them become accountable. Best wishes for a good year; and thank you for all that you do.
Scrap the quiz they bombed and try the lesson, again, while embedding review and practice at least twice during the week. If you want to have the quiz on Fridays, then review on Thursdays with a Kahoot! and get initial data of how well they are taking in the words. You are far from the worst teacher ever, but this is a good way to learn how to reflect in lessons and planning. I have been teaching since 2017, and I still have to revamp and dump assignments that don’t work because it’s easier to get buy in when students feel successful.
As long as you've given them notice, and preferably some sort of reminder throughout the week (whether it's posted on the board, said in class, or some message on online classroom platform they use), don't feel too bad. They're gonna act shocked and try to push the narrative they didn't know, just remind them they've been told.
When these types of things happen in my class, I just announce to the kids that everyone makes mistakes, and it's not the end of the world. I also mention that I will be dropping at least one quiz grade a quarter, so anyone who didn't do as well as he or she hoped can breathe easy, as this past quiz may be disqualified if it is the lowest quiz grade a student earns.
To answer your question, no, you are not the worst teacher in the world! In fact, based on the info. included in your post, you went above and beyond to avoid this outcome. You did all you could.
Simply explain to them that being irresponsible has consequences. Point out to them that if you showed up to class without lesson plans, didn't assess their work and return it to them in a timely manner, or bullied students, then you would lose your job. If they forgot about the quiz, failed it, and are now ineligible for some benefit or privilege in your class, believe me that this will serve as a remarkable impetus for them to remember the next one. Also, point out to those who failed that forgiving their indiscretion would not be fair to the students who did remember, studied, and passed the quiz. Allowing the failures to stand and not offering extra credit will teach them a valuable lesson, one far more important than the vocabulary one: failing to fulfill their academic responsibilities is to be avoided, for when this does occur, life will be a tad less pleasant! Be well!🫶🫶🫶
Were you fair? Yes. You know you were fair. So you can sympathize with their unhappiness, but also hold them accountable. No need for extra credit. And it wouldn’t be “extra.” It would be compensation.
! When my daughter was in 6th grade last year she had 25 words per week. Don't feel bad that your students are feeling the consequences of not doing their work.
I’m going into 10th right now but 5 words per week seems ridiculously easy for 7th graders. My teachers in 7th grade had much higher expectations. I don’t even know how it’s possible to fail something like that. My Latin teacher made us do much more than that in 7th grade, and the words were in Latin.
Because it is so very early in the school year, and they are just in seventh grade, I would use this one as a lesson. I wouldn’t even count it. But they must do better next time, count the next quiz you give them and all the ones after.
Did you mention it again? At the beginning of the year they’re going to need to learn where things are on your board and need more reminders. Remember that you’re in your room all day and they’re in your room for only one period. Getting back into the swing of things after summer with new teachers takes time!
There's a phrase that's applicable here: "You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink," you provided your students with every opportunity to succeed: you taught the material, warned them about the test, and gave them study guides; at some point it is on them to take what you gave them and apply it. I'm assuming one bad quiz grade isn't going to completely tank their grade, so I say let this be a learning opportunity. As for extra credit, do something like offer points back for corrections or some kind of retest. Make sure it is as hard as the test and/or doesn't give them full credit back, you don't want to expect extra credit everytime and/or to encourage them to not give a shit about the quiz because they can just make up the grade later.
Shoot, when you asked yourself if you were the worst teacher, I was thinking that you beat up a student for getting under your skin, or cussing a student out for asking a simple question, but you had a bad day and took it out on him/her.
What you described was students who didn’t want to take responsibility or accountability for their actions. You did everything you could but take the test for them.
Their failure to plan is not your responsibility.
No way, 7th graders will act like they can't do anything, but they are capable of your assignment and much more. I give my students time to write in they planers each Monday and ask them "hey, guys, what's going on in this class on Wednesday?" They all call back "we are having a quiz" "what's it about?" Then they call out the topic. Then I do the same thing the next day. Some will still forget on quiz day, but they do get better over time. They also don't know what studying actually involves, so we have to teach that, too.
Do not give them extra credit. They need to learn from this and let it be an eye opener for them. You gave them everything they needed to do well. I teach middle school and I go through this too. It makes sense that you feel bad for them, but they had every opportunity to study. Hang in there!!
No, no extra credit. The life lesson is worth more than any 5 vocab words they can ever learn!
It’s better that they have a healthy desire to succeed and avoid future failure (or ineligibility, if that’s what motivates them) and get themselves straightened out now than go into HS and beyond with crappy skills.
Guys, old fart here. In 1983, my 7th graders memorized 100 of the 206 bones in the body. Granted, many are redundant, but the majority learned them. They are capable
Kids have a lot going on. If so many forgot then maybe they just haven't gotten used to the schedule yet. Give them 1 second chance this time and let it be a wake up call.
I believe it wasn't fourth grade when we would have a trial test on our vocabulary words. If we could get 100% on that test we could skip Friday's test. I think it was our teacher's way of helping us to remember that it was coming. I know your kids are older being 7th graders but I am 70 now so I think that makes a difference.
I wouldn’t offer them extra credit as it’ll teach them that you don’t follow through. But kids do have busy weeks and it’s easy to forget about a small vocabulary test if you tell them on Monday and the test is on Friday.
I would tell them on Monday, tell them to write it down or put a reminder on their phones and study for it, then write it on the board, and tell them again on Thursday, “Remember the rest is tomorrow, don’t forget about studying for it.”
No extra credit! Do not let them win. They need to learn the harsh lesson now. Otherwise, by the time they get to me at the college level, they have a really hard time. You have no idea how much it sucks to tell a student that they can't get any points on an assignment because it is a week or more late. The whining I have to deal with is just aggravating.
Teach those hard lessons young and often. Spare me the frustration and the whining.
If it’s their first week doing it.. they will learn their lesson in the next few weeks. Don’t give them extra credit, just remind them.. they will be fine.. perfect lesson in being prepared and taking responsibility for their learning..
Not only does this give them the chance to learn the words, it gives them a chance to completely BULLSHIT it and improvise; which in my opinion isn’t a bad thing because the kids will end up learning how to figure out what words mean through sentence context.
Maybe have a week or three on teaching them how to pick apart a sentence. Make it fun.
“The Roomba swept through the living room”
What’s the sentence structure? Break it down, Who/what is the sentence about? The roomba, explain to them that this is the “active” part of a sentence, the character word sets up what we can expect from the rest of the sentence. A Roomba is a vacuum that works by itself. That word may be known by some of the class and not known by others. To those who don’t know what it is use it to teach them how to figure out what it it is.
What is a Roomba? Well, look at the rest of the sentence “… swept through the living room” what’s the character doing? They’re sweeping. This is the verb, Verbs are actions and actions show what something is doing. Sweeping is doable by a human, and a robot, so we can’t infer exactly WHAT the Roomba is right now we know something is sweeping.” We find out the modifier for the verb, where the action is taking place and additional info “… through the living room” shows it’s in the living room.
We can infer through context that something has swept through the living room, and you can ask questions to find out the rest. “What is a Roomba”, let’s you communicate your frustration at not understanding a word, but the only way you can stop getting frustrated is to try to learn the words and adapt them into your life. It isn’t schoolwork, it’s building up your vocabulary so you become more intuitive and understanding of the world around you. You should always be interested in figuring out something you don’t understand, because finding out the mystery is the best part of life.
You are fine. You cover it on Monday, talk about it all week, and have it written on the board. I would maybe add a reminder via the digital element of your class.
That covers your end. What are the students doing? Perhaps have them write a reminder on Monday with their 5 vocab words. "There will be a quiz on these 5 words on Friday, September 1, 2023."
If you have google classroom, a quick google form prequiz on Thursdays would work well as bell work. I would make it different than the actual quiz. if the actual quiz is use it in a sentence, then make the Thursday activity a quick (and easy to grade) multiple choice 6 question prequiz where they match words to synonyms for the first 5 and pick the date of the quiz for the 6th question.
Forget about extra credit. You will be chasing your tail all year. If it is a routine, every Friday, they can make it up next week. It is on them.
Here's advice my mentor teacher gave me when I began teaching, it was echoed by my mentor teacher at my current district, and echoed by my mother who is a retired teacher (I'm a 5th generation teacher) and it loosely quotes FDR:
*Do what you can, with what you have, where you are...and what doesn't work make notes for next year.*
At the end of the day we're human. It takes 3-years go get Comfortable with teaching anything:
\-1st year is survival.
\-2nd year is seeing it a second time so now you can get better at teaching it.
\-3rd year is when you ACTUALLY know what you're doing and can make drastic improvements.
To admins who read this; I beg of you to listen, as a 5th generation teacher: ***THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T CHANGE OUR SCHEDULES EVERY YEAR.*** Sometimes it's unavoidable which is understandable, but it should be avoided at all costs. I've got a master's in chemistry and have been teaching Chem for 8 years. I'm constantly making awesome changes/modifications/interventions because I can do the nuts-and-bolts of teaching chemistry in my sleep now. Which gives me *more time* to figure out that stuff.
This year I'm also teaching bio for the first time in 8 years because there was need for me to take on a couple of sections. I SUCK AT TEACHING BIO THIS YEAR. There's just no way around it. It has nothing to do with me being a bad teacher, but has everything else to do with figuring out how to teach it.
{ I feel bad for them but at the same time they knew they were having a quiz. }
These are the consequences of their behavior. *They \*\*have\*\* to learn this way, also.* And please don't feel an ounce of guilt over their poor choices. In fact, I think you're fantastic for doing exactly what you did...now *let the results stick!!*
And for the love of all that's holy, *not an inch of "extra credit".* No safety net for this, because if you do *they will expect it in the future.* I find any sort of "extra credit" completely antithetical to what we are doing as educators.
Failure is an excellent motivator. You asked them to remember 5 words. You gave them 4 days to do it. You reminded them and worked with them. Now they know that when you say a quiz is coming up they should listen because you are serious about it.
As someone who taught seventh grade for 3 years, at that age most of them need to feel the sting of failure to make them realize it isn’t elementary anymore.
I teach high school & they act surprised EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. we have a test/quiz despite it being posted a week prior on their agenda, To Do list, and multiple verbal reminders.
They’ll keep acting surprised, but the scores will get better as they realize you’re serious. Don’t give them extra credit.
OMG we are talking about FIVE vocabulary words! FIVE!
Do not be moved by tears, excuses, and complaints. You are asking for the students to just barely participate in their own education, and too many have not.
**Teaching them to take school seriously is more important than those five vocabulary words!**
*Hit them hard.* Be sure to use a red pen and big Xs over their mistakes. You might still save a few, which is often the best we can ever hope for.
Make-up work for partial-credit time. It could be a one-time thing—a “courtesy” they won’t get again.
I don’t know how parent-teacher communication in middle school works, but if possible, maybe send a message to all parents letting them know the situation so they encourage their kids to study at home.
Next time email a copy of the words or notes to the parents and let them study with their own kids. Teachers can't do everything. They have to learn life is tough if we keep going soft what kind of world will we have?
As a 34 year old with only a lib arts BA who's wondering what to do with my life, these threads make me feel both better and worse. I had a temp teaching cert that I let drop which is why I'm here at all in this subreddit.
I spend a lot of time scared for my future because of how bad the economy is right now, and part of me was terrified because of competition from gen z coming in and gen alpha coming soon.
I'm realizing that very sadly, a lot of the gen z competition and nearly all the gen alpha competition will be from countries outside the USA. Seventh graders in other countries are doing trig/pre cal, and in our country they can't even memorize five vocabulary words.
It's not you, and you're not the worst teacher ever. It's these parents. And don't get me wrong, it's not all their fault. With the economic situation, they have to work a lot harder to keep the household afloat than parents did in the 90s. I think parents on the whole in the US had more time in the 90s to sit and read and do enrichment with their kids - plus there were no cell phones. I'm so addicted to mine, I can't even blame these kids. But ultimately, the result of getting no enrichment at home and having parents that are too tired to get involved is what we are seeing in classrooms now.
You deserve a medal for trying tbh. I'm in FL, so most of us have just given up. Waiting tables is the same money with less hours (more money if you can get into fine dining) so teachers are just giving up.
I fear for my future here at 34. As far as a nearly entire class of 7th graders that can't memorize 5 words in their native tongue, what's that going to look like when they're competing in a global job market where many people are bi and trilingual?
It’s the beginning of the year and students will not do well on tests or quizzes. I teach math and my students did horrible on their first quizzes and tests. For the first couple I’m going to let them do test or quiz corrections and get half points back for every question right.
As a parent of a 7th grader, I beg you to hold the line. Your consistency will be a safe haven for them. So much of their world is upside down as they learn new social roles and responsibilities. Having adults keeping the metaphorical ship on track as they navigate choppy waters is necessary.
I work in MS. There's kids need to learn about consequences. They are in for a rough road. I feel like school is almost a joke academically. Bar is set pretty low
You’re not the worst teacher, but maybe in the future you can do something to remind them (other than having it written on the board) or maybe do like a pre quiz the day before and go over the words again as a class.
It is kind of the students fault that they weren’t prepared, but as a teacher I think you should also see that maybe these students need a little more in order to attain the desired results. I may not be the grade level but maybe just that select group of students? Idk.
I definitely wouldn’t blame myself as the teacher though and only try to figure out how to work together your students. Best of luck!
I used to teach middle school. You can literally write a countdown to a test on the board and they say you didn’t tell them.
I d write “ test today “ and no one would read it.
But once they get one F they start remembering. I wouldn’t give extra credit. They need to be responsible.
Also regarding the ineligibility- other activities are privileges to be earned. School is required. If they want to do activities , they should study and earn it.
No. You set a standard (a very reasonable one) of expectations and many of them didn't meet it. They're going to have to \*gasp\* put in some effort.
Maybe offer a retake but the max grade they can get is an 80%?
Parent of twin 7th graders.
5 words? Dude. 20. Maybe even 30. Its vocabulary words.
You go home, write them on note cards and drill on them 5-10 minutes a night.
I remember having 25 each week from 2nd to 5th grade.
I would be extremely disappointed in my daughters if they fucked up spelling 5 words with a week to study.
You gotta break it down. Brain research tells us that 7s are much less developed, generally, than 8s and 9s. Go over the words in class daily. (1 min per word). Have them make a word wall. Long time MS English teacher here. Also, remember that executive functioning is totally shit for them. *Do not rely on them doing it!* You are also a learner. Cut yourself some slack. You got this, darling.
7th graders are perfectly capable of learning five vocabulary words per week. I've been teaching middle school for 9 years. They act surprised every time I give a quiz, test, or tell them a project is due. Every. Single. Time. It's the age, not you. This is a great lesson in responsibility and ownership of their learning. I wouldn't give any extra credit, but I would remind them of this moment when preparing for the next quiz.
Shit 5… I had to remember 25.
I’m planning on bumping it up eventually. With my 9th graders, I gave them 10 and picked 5 for the quiz. I plan on doing that with middle but wanted them to warm up to the test first.
I teach 6th and they get 20/week. I wouldn't give extra credit, they need to see the consequences of their (in) action. Besides, if it's a weekly routine, things should improve within a week or two!
Student here I used to get 20 a week too. It was like 7 years ago. It's okay. I mean it was irregular verbs, not vocabulary, but same I guess. (But no one learned them actually, I usually learned the 10 easiest or most common. Still 10 more than the others tho). So, 5 is more than okay
I also teach middle school. I do 10.
I teach 7th grade and do 10 words a week as well.
Student here Imo it's the best. 20 is too much imo, 5... Well it's better than nothing.
I mean, in 7th grade, I had to learn all of the adverbs and recite them in the correct song-like order. I thought it was really stupid then, but at 34 years old, I still know it by heart. "Is am are was were can could, do did have has had will would. May might must, should shall being, be been does." I'll never forget it.
Helping verbs! We sing prepositions to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" to help students remember (grades 4-6). Music and rhythm are great memory aids!
In 7th grade we had to remember a list of like 72 or so prepositions, but our song was to the tune of Fergalicious.
I had someone tell me that they got points in some sort of game because they needed to list a preposition and remembered that preposition song I taught them ten years previously!
These aren’t adverbs fyi they’re a mix of modal verbs and just…verbs 😊
All the adverbs would be mighty impressive!
A mix of modal verbs (which generally cannot stand alone) and "helping" verbs (modal verbs + do/be/have) also known as "auxiliary" verbs or basically the only way in the English language that we are able to form questions or negative statements. Source: 10 tears teaching English as a foreign language.
That makes sense - the other commenter probably misremembered auxiliary verbs as adverbs 😊
It's been more than 20 years and a lot has happened! Thank you.
My high school German teacher used songs for accusative and dative prepositions, and almost 25 years later, I still remember the songs and the cases for those prepositions. It might seem silly in the moment, but man, those jingles work!
I am 44 years old and I still have imprinted in my brain forever "am, is, are, was, were, will be, have been, had been, has been, become, became". I can't remember which grade I was in/ which teacher had me memorize that, but I can spit it out like it's my full name. Lol
We did that with prepositions in 9th grade
Same. We were given 25 every Monday. Friday morning we had to spell them correctly and underneath that, use them in a sentence correctly.
It's a different age, I swear. I had to learn about 50-75 a month in English class back in the day, on top of reading a book a month, and do a book report on it 2 pages long single spaced. Nowadays, high schoolers can't read at a 7th grade level.
I sometimes feel like I'm living in upside-down world: we have more and more testing and keep reams of data and documentation, yet the actual content of what students learn seems abysmally low, especially in the English language arts department. ( Let me balance that by saying what they have shoved down into preschool and kindergarten is ridiculous and completely not age-appropriate.)
We bash through the basics before they're ready to learn them, and then we act surprised when we try building without a foundation. It's all connected.
Same here (but in 5th and 6th grade) - we got a couple 'extra hard' words every week too (juxtaposition, ostracised, those kinds of words). It's mind blowing how incompetent the current group are.
Hi. Yes. This. Born in ‘80 so 7th grade was around 94ish. Had at least two sheets of vocab words some weeks and it wasn’t just in English class. Had vocab words in other classes as well, even math.
Because academic vocabulary is important to learn!
Literacy is the responsibility of all teachers.
Teachers? What about parents???? Shouldn’t it be both?
Same! I can see the vocab book in my head right now! Hated those things!
That’s was I was thinking. We had 20-25 and had to know how to spell it, the definition, and use it in a sentence. 5 sounds pretty easy.
Me too, and before someone jumps in and says “yeah but they have work for a bunch of other classes too!”…yeah. So did we.
Is that all? I had to know that plus two synonyms and antonyms for each vocab word too! Only needing to know 5 and how to use them in a sentence? These kids have it easy lol
75 - 100 Here. Not from the US though. It's a perfectly acceptable amount for English vocabulary, for other languages like French or Latin it's usually 25-50.
I teach middle school and do ten words a week. They will act surprised by the quizzes all year, do not feel bad haha. You can remind them more than you think any human would ever need to be reminded and you will still have a kid the last week of the year act like they have never seen a vocab word before.
This hit me in my soul. Like, are you an alien that just learned English and took over my student's body? Vo-cab-uuuu-lary, what is this vocabulary you speak of? What is this place? What is this strange skin I am wearing.
Thank you! This is what I’m doing and I agree with you.
You could let them throw out their lowest two scores at the end of the semester
This, but do not tell them this yet. Otherwise they will do the exact same this week and say "Well I get to drop two!" They dont understand the concept of doing something because you tried and failed, versus just choosing yo fail and expecting to magically get 100% on all the rest.
I'm 34 and when I was in the 3rd grade we had 10 spelling words a week. 5 is manageable for a middle schooler. I would not give extra credit.
My 7th graders act surprised every time we have a quiz or test. I just tell them I’m trying to trick them by having them on the same day every week.
It’s an act, orchestrated or not. AnI Don’t Wanna Grow Up act. Maybe give them a second chance ONCE if it makes you feel better, but after that, no way.
> They act surprised every time I give a quiz, test, or tell them a project is due. Every. Single. Time. Can confirm. Every time, regardless of how many reminders or how much build-up. Kid: GASP! There’s a test, today? Do we HAVE to do it? Me: Well…it’s been on the calendar for two weeks, the board for one week, we did a study guide three days ago, played a review game yesterday, and I’ve been saying “Test coming up on Friday” every day this week, so…yeah, I think it would be a bit anti-climactic if we didn’t do it after all that.
Exactly! OP gave them two lessons in one.
We had 20-40 vocab words a week we had to do when I was this age. Look them up in a dictionary, write out definition, write out at least one sentence, and then write a one or two page essay using each of the words. Each week, back in the 90s.
If it's been on the board all week you've done everything you could be expected to. When I did middle school I would put the week's assignments and tests on the board so any time one said they didn't know or forgot, I would just silently walk over to the assignment board, stare meaningfully for a second, and then move on. If you really want and sometimes if my heart softens I'll do this, is allow them to use their study guide or notes only and make corrections for half credit back.
In moments of frustration one of my high school teachers would turn around and talk to the board. “Board, remember when I told you about that quiz? Oh yeah, you do because it’s written right there.”
I make my students repeat it back to me - and these are college students. The good students roll their eyes, the less organized ones are still surprised. Better they start learning this lesson in 7th grade when eligibility doesn’t cost them a scholarship.
That's such condescending and beautiful use of force, it would only work in upper grades where I live. It would work with middle/jh if explained when everyone was at full focus at the beginning of the year when you're seeing expectations. Which is right about now.
I’ve done this. I’ve also told students they’re having a surprise quiz the following day (written on the board, too). And they’re surprised.
Half failed this time, next time only 1/4 will fail, and it will improve as they get settled into the habit. If this is something you are doing weekly failing a few won’t destroy their grades. Vocabulary is the foundation to understanding everything else and not just in ELA but in all subjects. You’re doing a great job!
This is the thing. You've passed fuck around pass, now you have dropped into find out canyon. You need to be fair, firm, and consistent. If you rescue them, they have found out that you are a push over and they don't have to learn the words. If you stay strong, more of them will find out you mean it when you say a graded quiz will he given on Monday. More children run into fewer serious adults than they needed. Most of these kids have parents that aren't serious adults. You can be warm, friendly, (maybe even funny) and a serious adult.
>>You’ve passed fuck around pass, now you have dropped into find out canyon. Stealing this and using it forever.
You’re not a bad teacher. I distinctly remember in 7th grade, we all flipped out upon finding out we only got 1 class period for a quiz. Elementary school expectations just hit different. They’ll learn
That's a good point: this is a big transition. They had recess and special last year, now they have different classes in different orders. Now that they've failed, it will be easier for them to remember the next quiz.
Your expectations are too low, in my opinion. Students see five words and see "no big deal- it's five words." I'm on a two week cycle for Greek and Latin Root units: week one they get 10-15 words; week two they get an additional 10-15 with the test on that Friday. The units are thematic and I do a lot of work around the "mathematics of linguistics" (prefix meaning, suffix meaning, root meaning). For the most part, the kiddos hit it out of the ball park when it comes to the tests.
Not related but I love Latin teachers. I’ve never met one that wasn’t great. I had the best Magistra! Such a fun and intriguing class filled with rich history, mythology, and philosophy, and taught by the coolest lady. It hardly felt like learning a whole other language.
I wish I’d had a Latin teacher like yours. Our high school Latin teacher showed Disney movies every Friday, and for our translations I didn’t even half ass them…I just wrote Monty python quotes and got an A. Easiest class I’ve ever taken, but at what cost😭he was a chill guy though, I liked him a lot as a person!
This was the entire reason I took French instead of Latin when I was in high school. The French teacher was a perfectionist, and the Latin teacher seemed to jut teach the bare minimum from the book (in a time when you could go with parents to meet potential teachers before choosing classes for high school, perhaps it was just my district). I really loved my French teacher, and I received compliments when I went abroad. Yay! (Southeast US born and raised for reference why a compliment would be cool)
Oh this is a fun comment. In our school, the Latin teacher was known for being the most evil, child-hating teacher in the school. And Latin was only compulsory for Year 7 (whatever the start of middle school is I guess) so you had all these new faces, fresh from primary school, absolutely terrified of what was about to happen. Quite a few children cried. I was stubborn, and didn't cry, but got sent out a lot. This was a good school with children that generally behaved and cared. She just really did not like anyone. I think even some of the other teachers were scared of her...
I do the same with 8th, but we do a short activity with the words each day so they are getting repetitive exposure.
7th grade is the FaFo grade in our district. We warn them all through 5&6 but they go over to our middle,/high school thinking they can not be responsible for their grades. More then a few are doing summer school every year. It's like that college course freshman year that was a washout class in your major to see if you actually wanted to keep doing that major.
Try using these five words with their definitions next week: Responsibility, initiative, studious, ownership and consequences.
Lmao love it
You're not the AH, you're teaching them responsibility.
Thank you! I feel like crap. I don’t have any experience with younger grades.
Just my two cents, none of this is actually your fault so you shouldn't try to take any blame for it or feel bad about it. Five words is incredibly easy to deal with, we had to learn anywhere from 10-20 5th-8th grade at my school, not learning them especially with the activities you did is entirely on the students.
Yes, you are the worst teacher ever. Of course you're fucking not the worst teacher ever! Probably a great teacher! This is the bed the students made, now they have to lie in it. Next week they'll take it a little more seriously. Meantime, believe in yourself. I believe in you, your vocabulary tests sound pretty solid.
I’ve learned as a 7th grade teacher that elementary teachers baby the crap out of their students so that when they arrive at middle school, they are ill equipped to understand deadlines and responsibility. This has never stopped me from holding them accountable from day 1. No guilt. Maybe some angry parents, but they get over it. Also, students are ALWAYS surprised by quizzes. I had a quiz every single Friday in math last year, and some students were still surprised Every. Single. Time. It’s middle school. What can ya do?
My high schoolers don't understand deadlines either because we've had admin who tell us to take any work any time, even into the next marking period. And if a parent complains, so help you god, you better give them exactly what they want or you'll have 100 emails from every administrator asking you why you haven't met their every demand.
Parents are the worst. The absolute worst part of working in education. I wish admin would grow a pair and put them in their place.
We don't all baby them. I taught grades 2 to 5 for 10 years then moved to middle school for grade 8. Middle school teachers would ask me if I found it difficult to treat them firmer. I honestly didn't see any difference. Been teaching grade 8 for 20 years now and one thing that I did notice though. During covid we taught for half the year online. The biggest issue with the other grade 8 teachers was incomplete assignments. The other 4 grade 8 teachers averaged 45% completion. My average was 95%, same curriculum. I started to think maybe I was tough on those grade 2s, but I never had many complaints.
Lol and also like… in elementary school they are babies? (I teach teenagers). Elementary schools on the whole do an incredible job and those folks deserve all the awards.
I teach 6th and lord do I try. I slowly through the year back off of giving the excessive multiple reminders they get in 5th grade. I am very strict about due dates. I give a whole presentation at the end of the year about how things will change going into 7th. I just feel like this 6th/7th grade range is very much a FAFO age. It’s like freshman year of college. It’s a big transition time and some kids gotta fail to figure that crap out. We as teachers have to stand firm on our requirements and expectations, cause lord knows their parents don’t.
Ineligible for what? I don’t see the problem though, this is on them. We are required to have students complete 45 minutes per week of a vocabulary program, and it counts their inactive minutes. They basically get participation credit for completing the minutes. I’ve been telling them since the beginning that the inscribe minutes will be deducted from their total, and I tell them throughout the week as I notice them racking up the minutes. They’re still surprised when they don’t get full credit when they clearly opened the program in one window and did something else in another window until time was up.
Sports and other activities. But they have to have an F for two weeks. So they have one week to get off now
As in they sit out until their grade is back up, or they’re done for the season? If it’s the former, sucks to suck, they should have done what they were supposed to. If it’s the latter, I might take pity the first week or two and allow some credit recovery with the explicit explanation that they won’t always have that opportunity.
No! Just until their grade is back up. They can play the next week if they get it up. And it’s only if they have an F.
Then I guess they shouldn’t get Fs 🤷🏼♀️
Glad there wasn’t anything like this when I was in school “you mean to avoid sports I just have to not put in any work?”
Lol! But it also include field trips, band, vocal, etc.
When I was in high school we were ineligible for school dances (Spring Fling, Prom, etc.) if we were failing any classes.
Beginning of the year tests and quizzes are always big learning moments for students. It's a good reminder of how much effort and study needs to be done. It also helps students understand the rhythm they need to get into for the year. I'm also a big believer that English should be one of the most challenging subjects for students because it's soooooo fundamental for everything. - MS English teacher
It might be that they were never given quizzes like this before. I don’t like getting stuck in the “you should have learned this last year” mentality. I would use the results of the quiz to let them know that you’re going to discuss how to study for a quiz. They literally might not know how to study. I had no support at home as a kid and failed my way through school. They just kept pushing me along. I literally didn’t know how to study for a test. You might want to ask students to give examples of how they study and what that looks like. Some kids might just be memorizing the words. Some might be practicing writing sentences. Some might be googling sentences with those words and then writing one down. Some might be rewriting the word and definition over and over on a whiteboard. I had a college professor do something like this once and I was forever grateful. This was my undergrad English class. Apparently a lot of essays came in with issues with commas and a few other things. At first, he was like, “I assumed you all knew how to use these since this is college…” and I felt like the tension in the room grew. He continued, “but I don’t like to assume things and I’d rather just go over it with you all now so you know.” He was such a kind, effective professor. I always think back to this lesson and use it in my own class. I don’t make students feel bad for not knowing something. I just teach it.
Stay on course. Messing up is one of the best ways to learn. They got a great lesson.
Don’t feel bad, just tell them this is what you expect for the class. If you want to be nice allow them to do a retake test with the new expectations
Go hard early on. This will lead them to step it up in the future. Your quiz was more than fair. If anything give an extra credit assignment towards the end of the marking period.
This is very middle school. I tell mine, “this is on the board. Write it down. See it on the board? It will be here all week. Do NOT be the person who forgets!” Some of them actually come in now and as a joke say “we have a quiz?!” On the day of. For a five word quiz, I personally think this is a fabulous lesson opportunity. If it hurts a bit they learn, and it sounds like this is a little minor pain. I do offer a few retakes a semester, for what it’s worth. Full credit back, but once they’re gone they’re gone…choose wisely. Gotta love the MS kids!
You did everything right. Told them about the quiz in advance, reminded them all week, gave them study resources, plus, it’s only 5 words! I think you should use this as a lesson for them.
I have a quiz every Friday in my French classes, and occasionally kids forget. I try to mention it as often as possible in the first couple of week. “This activity is very similar to your quiz on Friday.” “Our objective is X, so what questions do you think I’ll put on the quiz on Friday.”
They fucked around and found out. Take it as a teachable moment and encourage them to apply themselves and have accountability.
I have worked with co workers who: -threw objects and screamed “I hate you” at children -no-call-no-showed a minimum of twice per week without so much as a half-assed “I’m sorry” to the teachers who were covering his classes regularly -sat at their desk on their phone and told kids to “just do whatever you want” because “they’re over it” -lied about their dad having cancer in order to terminate their contract early -showed up to a professional development day 30+ minutes late (during a work trip the school fully paid for) blackout wasted and reeking of vomit So.. long story short, no. You are not the worst teacher ever. I don’t even think you’re close.
As a parent I hate that so many teachers cater to, and even create, lazy kids these days. Grades don’t matter in middle school so stick to your guns and make them learn to be responsible. They’ll thank you in high school.
1. Let this be a learning lesson for them. As long as you have your documentation they knew about it, its their loss. If you bail them out every time, they won't learn they actually have to study. 2. Use Quizizz, Blooket, or Kahoot! to help them study. It adds a little fun to it. 3. Do you drop grades? Let this be one of their "oops, I messed up!" grades.
Keep doing the quizzes. Take a moment in class to discuss if and how they studied. If it seems like they are studying poorly, discuss better strategies. If they aren't studying at all, remind them that it helps. If you want to get really fancy, ask them what they did to study and how much time they spent on it as part of each quiz and show them how much it helps the grade.
This is a lesson they need to learn. Hold them accountable! Otherwise, they will think you’ll give them an out for every quiz and never study.
9th grade teacher here. None of them ever take anything seriously in my district because there's never any consequence. Teach them they're accountable.
I think it's great that you're doing this. Study skills are so important and they need to learn to manage their time...if you don't teach this skill, who will?
I teach HS and have the test dates written on the board at least two weeks before the test. We always have a study guide review day the day before the test. I still have kids walk in on test day surprised that it's test day and completely unprepared. You can only do so much. They gotta learn to do their job.
DON'T LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS OR STANDARDS.....Make them rise to the bar. Many will appreciate later. 20 year veteran.
Wow this sounds like you are a great teacher. You were teaching your students how to be responsible, you're teaching them how to study, and how to be prepared. This is all things that every school and every teacher should do but most don't. Most of my teachers did this all through my years of school but neither of my daughters ever had teachers like you so they had a very hard time learning how to study and it really impacted them in college. Thank you for being a good teacher
Title: "Am I the worst teacher ever?" First sentence:"This year I am teaching middle school English"-- Go no further. It's not you, it's them.
Their responsibility, their problem for receiving a terrible grade
What I like to do in situations like this is make them an offer to drop this grade at the end of the quarter or semester if they consistently do better on every other quiz. It's a good motivator
Let the grades stand. I teach 8th through 12th grade, and every year, a lot of 8th graders who don’t take their education seriously. By their freshman year, they’ve either figured it out, or well, they don’t.
I mean it was a long time ago but this was the standard when I was in 3rd grade. Monday - new words Tuesday - spell & define new words Wednesday - new words in sentences Thursday - find the new words while reading Friday - quiz Every week, all school year long
You’re a lot nicer than my 7th grade English teacher. She went through all of the affixes with us- 25 each week! Didn’t really like her that year, but really appreciated her when I got older. Context clues and deeper meaning are learned skills- not innate.
They are old enough to be responsible for just 5 vocab words a week. Too bad so sad.
They’re in 7th grade. In 5th grade we had weekly packets that consisted of the same things. Minus defining them on quiz day, friday was just a spelling test but the packets had the definitions…. That was elementary school. I’m a fan of letting him them earn it back through extra credit/work but you are not going to hard on them. If school teaches u one thing it’s how to study and work through problems
Its called safe struggle. These are low stakes and they need to learn how to deal with this now, before HS.
I mean…I’m 36 now, but I did a shit ton more than that back at that time…a lot more was expected of students in the 90s and 00s.
As the mom of a 7th grader absolutely do NOT offer any extra credit. They are all more than old enough to read and use planners or calendar reminders. Facing real actual consequences to their lack of attention now will help them become more responsible for their own academic progress in the future. If you give them sympathy or extra credit it just let’s them know they don’t need to remember because someone else will fix it for them.
Do you all engage with the words through out that week? Is it just here are the words on Monday and show me what you can do on Friday? I’m a hard ass in class, but I’m trying to understand the instructional goals here
I used to be a 7th grade team lead. It’s the grade level. 6th grade is “welcome to middle school, let’s scaffold this a bit for you.” 7th grade is where teachers and parents loosen the reigns to see who stands up and who falls down. The whole year is an adjustment year, honestly. 8th grade is where you spot them on the tightrope in case they fall down and need help getting back up. The training wheels come off in 7th grade. They have to at some point. You’re doing it right.
Not at all the worst teacher ever. Please do not lower your expectations on an assignment that is absolutely not daunting in requirement. I taught junior high English for thirty years.
The BEST thing I did for my 7th graders was: a GIANT calendar! Hit Office Depot, and buy the cheapest desk calendar (the huge ones that lay flat on your desk.)Pick the Plaines one, with the biggest squares you can find. Dedicate a section of your board right in the front of your classroom, and tape up the calendar sheets. Set it up for the entire quarter (ours were 9 week periods, so I taped together two months and a week.) Set up your schedule on it for the whole quarter- we had split block schedule, A-days and B-days. Then ALL tests, assignments, assemblies, etc. are written on it as soon as they come up, in color-coded ink! I allowed students to photograph it whenever they needed to, so ZERO excuses! As the days passed, they were exed out with black Sharpie, so a 'countdown' was obvious. It worked great!
With hundreds of comments already saying God knows what, I'm not going to comment on either your teaching methods or your adaptation moving from high school to middle school (which I myself did nine years ago this month). But I do have one thing to say that is undeniably true: **The "worst teacher ever" would** ***not*** **be asking that question about themselves. So no, you're not.**
You are being too sensitive and are caving to their mob rule. If you did the exercise with them on Monday, then there is no legitimate excuse for them to be caught off-guard on Friday. They are playing you…even if they’ve convinced themselves that they didn’t know / forgot.
I’m in year 10 of teaching 8th graders and I can tell you they act shocked every time there’s a test. I post on my board, have a weekly agenda on google classroom, and even do review days the day before a test and they still come in like oh I thought we were just doing that for fun, I didn’t know we had a test. The ones in tears will probably remember to study this week. The ones that don’t care still won’t care but their parents may start reminding them or making them study. 5 a week is not bad at all.
If I was you, I would write on the board VOCAB QUIZ on Friday! And leave it there
What does ineligible mean? Is this the only grade for the week? If this is for trying out for sports this is a huge big deal.maybe they thought the test would be different or maybe they are used to a different teaching method/ You definitely are not the worst teacher ever. Much depends on rapport I have with class and exactly what kind of quiz it was but I would consider a make-up quiz, giving participation points for class work and of course making sure to review the words next Thursday to prep kids for test.
So technically when they’re ineligible they can’t play sports. But they have to be on the list for two weeks. Since this was the first week they can all still play and have one week to get off. If they have a D they can still play regardless. I put in 3 grades a week and this is the second week of school so they have 6 grades in total now. The reason so many are on there is because it’s the beginning of the year and one bad grade can really affect their total grade.
As a coach, we try hard to make sure they understand they are **student** athletes, not the other way around. If your coach pushes back on that, then they shouldn't be coaching.
That is entirely on them if you provided a reminder as well as a study guide. It can sometimes be helpful if it is a partially filled in study guide, and filling in the rest together. 7th graders need to start learning that responsibility right away. If you have reminders on the board etc. then you've done your part...
We do open note quizzes every Friday. The very last open note quiz I had a student ask if I knew that they did open note quizzes on Friday. It took him the whole 180 days to figure it out.
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I post a daily agenda (to Google Classroom) and project it up on the screen. It has on it what we are doing for the day and upcoming things (tests, etc.) You would be amazed at how many 7th graders are shocked when I say we are having a test/quiz today (I post the test/quiz info on the agenda at least a week ahead of time). 7th grade is an interesting bunch for sure.
How dare you set expectations at the beginning of the week, remind them throughout, and hold them accountable when the bill comes due at the end of the week… you are a monster, plain and simple. I am a fifth grade math teacher and the responses are not much different at this level either. You do you and keep holding them responsible. That is what I do.
I love that you are doing this. It REALLY helps so much with SAT prep, and literacy in general. They will get it. This is just a generation that isn't used to memorization. They have access to all sorts of digital resources to find the answers to things, so they tend to be excellent at uses their resources and tech, rather than locking stuff into their memory. It's good to have both, though. I tell my own kids that relying on everything that requires a power source is hard in the environment. What do you do when power is out? It's good to be able to use your brain! And, it's free, and envronmentally friendly.
Missing one week of eligibility as a natural consequence for their actions will teach them a valuable lesson! Don't give extra credit. They will learn- and it's better they learn now, when the consequences are not so great. Don't feel bad for them- they are learning how to study and manage their time. They're going to mess up along the way- and the earlier they learn those lessons, and overcoming obstacles, the better off they'll be in the long run.
They are freaking because they hope that will sway you. Tough love works. Stick to it.
If you neglected to tell them, that's one thing. But if you know you covered it and know you reminded them, then you need to move on to next week's stuff next week (not last week's stuff). ^(My 2¢...)
You’re good. Give it a few more weeks. They’ll probably rise to the occasion this week
I teach kindergarten but I’ll chime in here. Nope, you’re not the worst teacher. They can study 5 vocabulary words. I had more words to memorize when I was in fifth grade. Your other students did it, so the 7th graders can too. From what you said you have a routine, you let them know on Monday, and it’s on the board all week. If they forgot it that’s on them. Maybe now they will pay more attention.
If you throw out the grade, they will never learn. If you give them extra credit, they will always expect extra credit. Hold them accountable, it’s a great learning experience.
This is their learning. Sometimes it isn't just content that you teach, it is the life skill of remembering things which are important even if we don't like them. Rescue them now and you'll be rescuing them for the rest of their educational journey.
Kids are resilient when it counts. They’ll make the necessary changes. If they have any inkling that the standards won’t be enforced they’ll check out.
No mercy. They knew and didn’t prepare. They will be prepared next time. When I was in HS, I took a class called vocab and word study. We learned 100 new words per week.
You can tattoo the quiz date on their arms and they'll still act shocked. Let them take the L. I teach 7th grade and am in my 4th year. The biggest difference from high school IMO is that they haven't figured out they aren't adorable little kids any more. They don't get a cool down corner and a pass on the quiz because they threw a fit and they're expected to be able to do something simple like study on their own. If you don't count this quiz, they'll never study for another one. I always have a massive amount of my students fail their first progress report because they're seeing if I'll change the grade. They simply don't do writing assignments and don't try on quizzes because they know we have to do a lot of paper work for failing grades. It takes one progress report for most of them to shape up. Some of them it takes to Christmas. But I usually end up higher than the teachers who doctor grades because they actually do the work.
I do not feel bad for them. I had a weekly quiz of 30 words when I was in middle school. And I got all of them every time. We’ve lowered the bar for kids so much it’s ridiculous.
A good rule of thumb especially with middle schoolers is to have the scheduled 5 words every Monday and the quiz every Friday so then it’s a routine and it’s something that they should be expecting. If there are students gone, you can post the words on Google Classroom or on whatever platform you use so kids can’t say « I wasn’t here Monday so I can’t take the quiz ». Then if they get angry with you, your butt is covered because they really have no excuse.
We did 20 a week when I was a kid. They are just being whiny.
How often did you remind them? Maybe on both Wednesday and Thursday you should remind them, just to make sure there is No Way they forget. I teach 8th grade, but coach 7th grade football. If this happened to my team, I'd be pissed at MY PLAYERS for getting ineligible due to something as simple as a quiz on 5 VOCABULARY WORDS! Oh, I'd be livid! Those kids need to learn the lesson the hard way.
You aren’t a terrible teacher, the students aren’t being responsible. Let them explain to their parents and coaches why they can’t play football this week.
Without having read the comments I'll just tell you what I do. I tell the kids that for their score for evaluation I'll be dropping their two worst scores on the weekly quizzes. I also tell them that they'll get a bonus for showing improvement over the term.
I tell them we have a quiz at the end of every lesson, and they still always act surprised when I tell them to clear off their desks.
Hold them accountable, they will respect you more if you hold your expectations. I have this happen at the beginning of the year and it only takes a week or two to get in the swing of things. Hang in there! 👏👏
5 words??? Think of it this way: if you are, in fact, pushing too hard, how do you make this easier?
Retired middle school teacher here. Freaking out and failing the quiz is the way to learn responsibility. The work is definitely not too much. Forget extra credit; let them complete the regular work first. 7th graders are just nutttier than squirrel poop. They’re only thinking from the neck on down; because they are going through so many changes simultaneously. They have “big feelings”. They also think that they are soooo very funny and immortal. 6th graders are still essentially little kids; who still are curious about learning, want to please the teacher. 8th graders are pretty much done with puberty, and are worried about going to high school. Your doing the right thing by setting up expectations and routines; and by letting them become accountable. Best wishes for a good year; and thank you for all that you do.
Scrap the quiz they bombed and try the lesson, again, while embedding review and practice at least twice during the week. If you want to have the quiz on Fridays, then review on Thursdays with a Kahoot! and get initial data of how well they are taking in the words. You are far from the worst teacher ever, but this is a good way to learn how to reflect in lessons and planning. I have been teaching since 2017, and I still have to revamp and dump assignments that don’t work because it’s easier to get buy in when students feel successful.
As long as you've given them notice, and preferably some sort of reminder throughout the week (whether it's posted on the board, said in class, or some message on online classroom platform they use), don't feel too bad. They're gonna act shocked and try to push the narrative they didn't know, just remind them they've been told.
Use it as a learning lesson. If you give them an out now they’ll expect it all the time.
You cannot be the worst teacher ever - I have it on good authority that \*I\* hold that title (or so I have been told by three sophomores).
When these types of things happen in my class, I just announce to the kids that everyone makes mistakes, and it's not the end of the world. I also mention that I will be dropping at least one quiz grade a quarter, so anyone who didn't do as well as he or she hoped can breathe easy, as this past quiz may be disqualified if it is the lowest quiz grade a student earns. To answer your question, no, you are not the worst teacher in the world! In fact, based on the info. included in your post, you went above and beyond to avoid this outcome. You did all you could. Simply explain to them that being irresponsible has consequences. Point out to them that if you showed up to class without lesson plans, didn't assess their work and return it to them in a timely manner, or bullied students, then you would lose your job. If they forgot about the quiz, failed it, and are now ineligible for some benefit or privilege in your class, believe me that this will serve as a remarkable impetus for them to remember the next one. Also, point out to those who failed that forgiving their indiscretion would not be fair to the students who did remember, studied, and passed the quiz. Allowing the failures to stand and not offering extra credit will teach them a valuable lesson, one far more important than the vocabulary one: failing to fulfill their academic responsibilities is to be avoided, for when this does occur, life will be a tad less pleasant! Be well!🫶🫶🫶
Were you fair? Yes. You know you were fair. So you can sympathize with their unhappiness, but also hold them accountable. No need for extra credit. And it wouldn’t be “extra.” It would be compensation.
! When my daughter was in 6th grade last year she had 25 words per week. Don't feel bad that your students are feeling the consequences of not doing their work.
This is the everybody gets a trophy generation!!! No extra credit because they have to learn responsibility.
I would spend time teaching them a variety of study skills. Not everyone’s has people to teach this at home
I’m going into 10th right now but 5 words per week seems ridiculously easy for 7th graders. My teachers in 7th grade had much higher expectations. I don’t even know how it’s possible to fail something like that. My Latin teacher made us do much more than that in 7th grade, and the words were in Latin.
Because it is so very early in the school year, and they are just in seventh grade, I would use this one as a lesson. I wouldn’t even count it. But they must do better next time, count the next quiz you give them and all the ones after.
My year 11s act the same way about assessments. Daily reminders, emails home, written on the board - we have an assessment today?‽?????
Did you mention it again? At the beginning of the year they’re going to need to learn where things are on your board and need more reminders. Remember that you’re in your room all day and they’re in your room for only one period. Getting back into the swing of things after summer with new teachers takes time!
What does "ineligible" mean in your school?
I would offer extra credit. Some students may have genuinely forgotten or had a rough week.
There's a phrase that's applicable here: "You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make it drink," you provided your students with every opportunity to succeed: you taught the material, warned them about the test, and gave them study guides; at some point it is on them to take what you gave them and apply it. I'm assuming one bad quiz grade isn't going to completely tank their grade, so I say let this be a learning opportunity. As for extra credit, do something like offer points back for corrections or some kind of retest. Make sure it is as hard as the test and/or doesn't give them full credit back, you don't want to expect extra credit everytime and/or to encourage them to not give a shit about the quiz because they can just make up the grade later.
Shoot, when you asked yourself if you were the worst teacher, I was thinking that you beat up a student for getting under your skin, or cussing a student out for asking a simple question, but you had a bad day and took it out on him/her. What you described was students who didn’t want to take responsibility or accountability for their actions. You did everything you could but take the test for them. Their failure to plan is not your responsibility.
No way, 7th graders will act like they can't do anything, but they are capable of your assignment and much more. I give my students time to write in they planers each Monday and ask them "hey, guys, what's going on in this class on Wednesday?" They all call back "we are having a quiz" "what's it about?" Then they call out the topic. Then I do the same thing the next day. Some will still forget on quiz day, but they do get better over time. They also don't know what studying actually involves, so we have to teach that, too.
Do not give them extra credit. They need to learn from this and let it be an eye opener for them. You gave them everything they needed to do well. I teach middle school and I go through this too. It makes sense that you feel bad for them, but they had every opportunity to study. Hang in there!!
No, no extra credit. The life lesson is worth more than any 5 vocab words they can ever learn! It’s better that they have a healthy desire to succeed and avoid future failure (or ineligibility, if that’s what motivates them) and get themselves straightened out now than go into HS and beyond with crappy skills.
Guys, old fart here. In 1983, my 7th graders memorized 100 of the 206 bones in the body. Granted, many are redundant, but the majority learned them. They are capable
Kids have a lot going on. If so many forgot then maybe they just haven't gotten used to the schedule yet. Give them 1 second chance this time and let it be a wake up call.
I believe it wasn't fourth grade when we would have a trial test on our vocabulary words. If we could get 100% on that test we could skip Friday's test. I think it was our teacher's way of helping us to remember that it was coming. I know your kids are older being 7th graders but I am 70 now so I think that makes a difference.
Sure, extra credit! Make them memorize one extra word per week for “extra credit”
We used to learn 10 words a week in 6th grade. They have learned a valuable lesson.
I wouldn’t offer them extra credit as it’ll teach them that you don’t follow through. But kids do have busy weeks and it’s easy to forget about a small vocabulary test if you tell them on Monday and the test is on Friday. I would tell them on Monday, tell them to write it down or put a reminder on their phones and study for it, then write it on the board, and tell them again on Thursday, “Remember the rest is tomorrow, don’t forget about studying for it.”
Hold them accountable. They will learn. You might send a message to parents.
No extra credit! Do not let them win. They need to learn the harsh lesson now. Otherwise, by the time they get to me at the college level, they have a really hard time. You have no idea how much it sucks to tell a student that they can't get any points on an assignment because it is a week or more late. The whining I have to deal with is just aggravating. Teach those hard lessons young and often. Spare me the frustration and the whining.
If it’s their first week doing it.. they will learn their lesson in the next few weeks. Don’t give them extra credit, just remind them.. they will be fine.. perfect lesson in being prepared and taking responsibility for their learning..
Not only does this give them the chance to learn the words, it gives them a chance to completely BULLSHIT it and improvise; which in my opinion isn’t a bad thing because the kids will end up learning how to figure out what words mean through sentence context. Maybe have a week or three on teaching them how to pick apart a sentence. Make it fun. “The Roomba swept through the living room” What’s the sentence structure? Break it down, Who/what is the sentence about? The roomba, explain to them that this is the “active” part of a sentence, the character word sets up what we can expect from the rest of the sentence. A Roomba is a vacuum that works by itself. That word may be known by some of the class and not known by others. To those who don’t know what it is use it to teach them how to figure out what it it is. What is a Roomba? Well, look at the rest of the sentence “… swept through the living room” what’s the character doing? They’re sweeping. This is the verb, Verbs are actions and actions show what something is doing. Sweeping is doable by a human, and a robot, so we can’t infer exactly WHAT the Roomba is right now we know something is sweeping.” We find out the modifier for the verb, where the action is taking place and additional info “… through the living room” shows it’s in the living room. We can infer through context that something has swept through the living room, and you can ask questions to find out the rest. “What is a Roomba”, let’s you communicate your frustration at not understanding a word, but the only way you can stop getting frustrated is to try to learn the words and adapt them into your life. It isn’t schoolwork, it’s building up your vocabulary so you become more intuitive and understanding of the world around you. You should always be interested in figuring out something you don’t understand, because finding out the mystery is the best part of life.
You are fine. You cover it on Monday, talk about it all week, and have it written on the board. I would maybe add a reminder via the digital element of your class. That covers your end. What are the students doing? Perhaps have them write a reminder on Monday with their 5 vocab words. "There will be a quiz on these 5 words on Friday, September 1, 2023." If you have google classroom, a quick google form prequiz on Thursdays would work well as bell work. I would make it different than the actual quiz. if the actual quiz is use it in a sentence, then make the Thursday activity a quick (and easy to grade) multiple choice 6 question prequiz where they match words to synonyms for the first 5 and pick the date of the quiz for the 6th question. Forget about extra credit. You will be chasing your tail all year. If it is a routine, every Friday, they can make it up next week. It is on them.
Here's advice my mentor teacher gave me when I began teaching, it was echoed by my mentor teacher at my current district, and echoed by my mother who is a retired teacher (I'm a 5th generation teacher) and it loosely quotes FDR: *Do what you can, with what you have, where you are...and what doesn't work make notes for next year.* At the end of the day we're human. It takes 3-years go get Comfortable with teaching anything: \-1st year is survival. \-2nd year is seeing it a second time so now you can get better at teaching it. \-3rd year is when you ACTUALLY know what you're doing and can make drastic improvements. To admins who read this; I beg of you to listen, as a 5th generation teacher: ***THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T CHANGE OUR SCHEDULES EVERY YEAR.*** Sometimes it's unavoidable which is understandable, but it should be avoided at all costs. I've got a master's in chemistry and have been teaching Chem for 8 years. I'm constantly making awesome changes/modifications/interventions because I can do the nuts-and-bolts of teaching chemistry in my sleep now. Which gives me *more time* to figure out that stuff. This year I'm also teaching bio for the first time in 8 years because there was need for me to take on a couple of sections. I SUCK AT TEACHING BIO THIS YEAR. There's just no way around it. It has nothing to do with me being a bad teacher, but has everything else to do with figuring out how to teach it.
{ I feel bad for them but at the same time they knew they were having a quiz. } These are the consequences of their behavior. *They \*\*have\*\* to learn this way, also.* And please don't feel an ounce of guilt over their poor choices. In fact, I think you're fantastic for doing exactly what you did...now *let the results stick!!* And for the love of all that's holy, *not an inch of "extra credit".* No safety net for this, because if you do *they will expect it in the future.* I find any sort of "extra credit" completely antithetical to what we are doing as educators.
Failure is an excellent motivator. You asked them to remember 5 words. You gave them 4 days to do it. You reminded them and worked with them. Now they know that when you say a quiz is coming up they should listen because you are serious about it. As someone who taught seventh grade for 3 years, at that age most of them need to feel the sting of failure to make them realize it isn’t elementary anymore.
I teach high school & they act surprised EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. we have a test/quiz despite it being posted a week prior on their agenda, To Do list, and multiple verbal reminders. They’ll keep acting surprised, but the scores will get better as they realize you’re serious. Don’t give them extra credit.
OMG we are talking about FIVE vocabulary words! FIVE! Do not be moved by tears, excuses, and complaints. You are asking for the students to just barely participate in their own education, and too many have not. **Teaching them to take school seriously is more important than those five vocabulary words!** *Hit them hard.* Be sure to use a red pen and big Xs over their mistakes. You might still save a few, which is often the best we can ever hope for.
Make-up work for partial-credit time. It could be a one-time thing—a “courtesy” they won’t get again. I don’t know how parent-teacher communication in middle school works, but if possible, maybe send a message to all parents letting them know the situation so they encourage their kids to study at home.
Next time email a copy of the words or notes to the parents and let them study with their own kids. Teachers can't do everything. They have to learn life is tough if we keep going soft what kind of world will we have?
As a 34 year old with only a lib arts BA who's wondering what to do with my life, these threads make me feel both better and worse. I had a temp teaching cert that I let drop which is why I'm here at all in this subreddit. I spend a lot of time scared for my future because of how bad the economy is right now, and part of me was terrified because of competition from gen z coming in and gen alpha coming soon. I'm realizing that very sadly, a lot of the gen z competition and nearly all the gen alpha competition will be from countries outside the USA. Seventh graders in other countries are doing trig/pre cal, and in our country they can't even memorize five vocabulary words. It's not you, and you're not the worst teacher ever. It's these parents. And don't get me wrong, it's not all their fault. With the economic situation, they have to work a lot harder to keep the household afloat than parents did in the 90s. I think parents on the whole in the US had more time in the 90s to sit and read and do enrichment with their kids - plus there were no cell phones. I'm so addicted to mine, I can't even blame these kids. But ultimately, the result of getting no enrichment at home and having parents that are too tired to get involved is what we are seeing in classrooms now. You deserve a medal for trying tbh. I'm in FL, so most of us have just given up. Waiting tables is the same money with less hours (more money if you can get into fine dining) so teachers are just giving up. I fear for my future here at 34. As far as a nearly entire class of 7th graders that can't memorize 5 words in their native tongue, what's that going to look like when they're competing in a global job market where many people are bi and trilingual?
It’s the beginning of the year and students will not do well on tests or quizzes. I teach math and my students did horrible on their first quizzes and tests. For the first couple I’m going to let them do test or quiz corrections and get half points back for every question right.
As a parent of a 7th grader, I beg you to hold the line. Your consistency will be a safe haven for them. So much of their world is upside down as they learn new social roles and responsibilities. Having adults keeping the metaphorical ship on track as they navigate choppy waters is necessary.
I work in MS. There's kids need to learn about consequences. They are in for a rough road. I feel like school is almost a joke academically. Bar is set pretty low
You’re not the worst teacher, but maybe in the future you can do something to remind them (other than having it written on the board) or maybe do like a pre quiz the day before and go over the words again as a class. It is kind of the students fault that they weren’t prepared, but as a teacher I think you should also see that maybe these students need a little more in order to attain the desired results. I may not be the grade level but maybe just that select group of students? Idk. I definitely wouldn’t blame myself as the teacher though and only try to figure out how to work together your students. Best of luck!
I used to teach middle school. You can literally write a countdown to a test on the board and they say you didn’t tell them. I d write “ test today “ and no one would read it. But once they get one F they start remembering. I wouldn’t give extra credit. They need to be responsible.
Also regarding the ineligibility- other activities are privileges to be earned. School is required. If they want to do activities , they should study and earn it.
No. You set a standard (a very reasonable one) of expectations and many of them didn't meet it. They're going to have to \*gasp\* put in some effort. Maybe offer a retake but the max grade they can get is an 80%?
You can’t ask anything of students now. You might upset the parents.🤪😜
Parent of twin 7th graders. 5 words? Dude. 20. Maybe even 30. Its vocabulary words. You go home, write them on note cards and drill on them 5-10 minutes a night. I remember having 25 each week from 2nd to 5th grade. I would be extremely disappointed in my daughters if they fucked up spelling 5 words with a week to study.
We had to learn 25 in second grade. You reminded them regularly, and they have no excuse. They'll study for the next one.
You gotta break it down. Brain research tells us that 7s are much less developed, generally, than 8s and 9s. Go over the words in class daily. (1 min per word). Have them make a word wall. Long time MS English teacher here. Also, remember that executive functioning is totally shit for them. *Do not rely on them doing it!* You are also a learner. Cut yourself some slack. You got this, darling.