With the end of first quarter coming this week, I find myself more relaxed than last year at this time. My advanced placement students appear to work hard: keeping up with the faster pace I have set for them. My Honors Chemistry classes appear to be progressing: finally getting with the program after a slow start.

I am especially happy with my lower level Chemistry class. They have proven to be well behaved and willing to work hard, if not always consistently or successfully. It has been my observation that most of these “slower” students lack the self confidence that is standard in the honors children. They regularly seek confirmation that they are doing things correctly, need to have the simplest concept reinforced frequently, and require repeated reminders of what is due and when it is due. Many of them are fine in class, but the moment the bell rings and they leave the room, Chemistry is forgotten until they get their seats the next day. This is not due to laziness, but to a serious lack of focus. I worry about many of them. They seem to be well meaning but are significantly incompetent. Several are, in my mind, totally unemployable. I can’t imagine how they could hold down the most menial job for any length of time.

Some of these children have essentially failed at almost everything they have tried in school. They have been told they are slow, dumb, or lazy by many frustrated teachers who have been charged with their education. This frustration comes from unrealistic expectations by their teachers. I entered into this arrangement with very low expectations, generating work and assessments that are significantly more basic that I have ever used before. They don’t know the difference, except they are experiencing better than normal success. The premise is that success breeds more success while frustration breeds more frustration. My hope is that in the future they will develop the confidence to master more difficult work.

The key to making this method work is not to let the students know that you are modifying their work in any way. As far as they are concerned, they are doing the same work the regular classes are doing—they are just going through it more slowly. While I am careful not to compare the lower students to the regular or honors classes, when they make mistakes on their work I tell them not to worry—I say that the “honors” students make the same mistakes, and then re-teach the material.

Now it’s time to enjoy the rest of my Columbus Day vacation.