Teenisms

January 22, 2016

Day 208 as an Oklahoma Teacher

      What are teenisms? This is a word that my husband and I coined when we started to hear our teenagers at home say crazy ideas. It hasn't occurred as much with the two that we have in the house right now, but when there were four other teens in the house, the teenisms were flying. One child told us that "I've seen it all, done it all, and know it all." This was coming from a child who didn't have a full-time job, who was living in our house, and who hadn't paid any bills. Another child thought that anyone could write a check even though there was no money in the bank. I know that some people write hot checks, but my husband and I never did.
       Well, this week I have heard some comments that I would like to call seniorisms. Senioritis causes seniorisms to happen to students when they are almost at the end of their public school education. My students are only half way through the year, but some of them think that they are finished with the class.  A couple of the comments that I have heard over the past two weeks include "Since we have been admitted to college, it doesn't matter what kind of grade we receive this semester or we only needed to pass the first semester and not the second semester." My students are coming up with some wild conjecture, and the only medicine that can be given to them is a dose of reality. I won't be surprised if a few end up on the failing list. The school counselor visited the class and told them they need this class to graduate, and that colleges look at all the grades to determine if a student should receive a scholarship. I hope this dose of reality cures them of their illness.