The fourth chapter of Fires in the Bathroom, by Kathleen Cushman, focused on developing an environment that supports success. Often times, it seems as if students become instantly overwhelmed upon entering high school. A piece of advice from the book says, "Remember, your class is just one of the many obligations we have" (66). Students have upwards to seven classes that they are trying to succeed in, not to mention familial responsibilities, jobs, sports, and extra curricular activities. Stretching the students too thin can be detrimental to their success, not just in your class, but if they feel overwhelmed they might give up all together.
In high school, I remember distinctly having the thought, "Wow, does Mrs. ______ really think that we have time to finish all of that before tomorrow? We do have other classes!" When this happened my parents would tell me to get over it. What would I do? I would finish all the work, but I can guarantee you that I did not put 100% effort into it, most likely I focused on the subjects I enjoyed and short-changed math and science. For obvious reasons, this is destructive to a students' learning as it can snowball quickly and result in the underdevelopment of certain subjects. However, I do believe homework is necessary and I do think that a little stress can be productive and that other skills can be formed and applied to the "real world" by experiencing troubling circumstances; teachers should be aware that there is a fine line between challenging and overwhelming.
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