Brain Dead

No not me, silly. My kids on the other hand...

I was struggling with the fact that about 10 of my students flat out failed my class. Quite possibly the easiest class you will ever take. The way I describe it, if you are there and on task, you will earn 70% of your grade. If you do alright on the tests, you will have a B at least. Instead of giving out 10 failing grades, I gave out "I" (for incomplete) and had kids make up the work. Essentially, they went through the motions to earn a "D".

How do I feel about this? 

Torn. Sure, I think they were smart enough to pass but apparently they weren't smart enough to do it the first time. Plus, they can be a pain. Why should they deserve a 2nd chance?

Thanks to Teacher W. I'm settled. When you are 14, you can't control your environment and your prefrontal cortex is still developing. Teacher W. plainly put it, "well, it's like brain damage. the decision making part of your brain is just not there yet." Ok, I buy that. At some point between being 14 and 15 that part grows and they understand that even if it is not fun, you gotta play the game of school.