I subbed in an 8th grade English classroom today, but I was asked to cover an ELL (English Language Learners) class during my prep period. They were taking practice tests for those lovely standardized tests. One of the students was trying to convince me that he had completed his work, when I was fully aware that he had not even attempted the constructed response questions and had only finished the multiple choice section. Keep in mind that this is a 7th grade Mexican student. This is how our conversation went:
Me: You know, the writing portion is probably the most important.
Student: Yeah, but I hate it. Its so boring.
Me: Yeah, but if you don't write very well, I can guarantee you that you'll be doing a lot more boring things when you grow up.
Student: Well, I want to do construction when I grow up. I like it and I don't need to be good at writing to do that.
Me: What are you going to do when you fall and break your leg and can't work for a month? How are you going to make money to live on?
Student: Thats easy, you just go to the government and they give you money.
Its amazing how fast they learn.
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Interesting conversation with your student! I think there's a pervasive sense of entitlement in the population- low income in particular.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an exciting day of quad riding too. I hope your shiny new vehicle is OK! I'm glad you didn't get hurt.