Mal ,'Serenity'
[NAFDA] "There will be an occasional happy, so that it might be crushed under the boot of the writer." From Zorro to Angel (including Wonderfalls, The Inside and Drive), this is where Buffistas come to anoint themselves in the bloodbath. Oh, and help us get Terriers dvds!
Lisa, what kind of yoga does your teacher do?
I don't have one teacher in particular but I go to this studio
which offers a variety of style classes. I mostly do a hatha class and vinyasa/vinyasa flow/hot vinyasa. I've also done the astanga which is a little too regimented for me but is sometimes a good challenge.
oh, kat, one of the teachers I love there just had twins (well his wife did). Identical twin girls.
Emmett is bummed because the magazine project he worked on for school (on baseball) only got him an A-minus. I explained that merely meeting all the requirements and doing them well is what an A-minus is for, and that you have to do something extra, above-and-beyond what is required to get that A or A-plus.
It's tough to see him sad about it because he did work hard on it and was proud of it, but at the same time this is exactly why he's an A-minus/B-plus student. He never does more than what's asked of him. And I had suggested a couple things for the project that I know would've put him over the top (doing some simple baseball statistics formulas, and drawing his own art) but he wouldn't do it. It would've been about an hour's more work but since it wasn't in the project description he didn't want to do it.
Worse, his friend and classmate Alex also did a baseball magazine and got an A-plus.
I'd have thought that A of any sort would indicate excellent work.
I'd have thought that A of any sort would indicate excellent work.Yep, this. Sometimes going beyond is what moves an A- to a solid A, but sometimes it's just the depth of the argument/stance, etc. I give very few solid A grades, so my students have come to view their A-s with justifiable pride.
ETA:
The standards may be different for his age, however. What grade is he in now? He's in middle school, right? In that case, I think you may be right. Effort usually is what keeps an A- from an A n those years.
I'm sorry he's bummed, but you're absolutely right about the doing-everything-right vs. doing-something-extra. Would it work to explain it in baseball terms? I mean, not baseball report terms, but actual baseball terms -- the guy who's good enough to be the leadoff hitter on his team, vs. the guy who's already got that spot sewn up, but does the extra training to be the star even if he doesn't have to?
Only, without the steroids.
He's in middle school, right? In that case, I think you may be right. Effort usually is what keeps an A- from an A n those years.
I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Earlier this year he did a project on Mexico and he got an A-minus and his mom was annoyed that he didn't ask her more about it (since she lived there for a year). Similarly, on his magazine project he didn't ask his dad (a former magazine editor) how to make his magazine better.
I'm sorry he's bummed, but you're absolutely right about the doing-everything-right vs. doing-something-extra. Would it work to explain it in baseball terms? I mean, not baseball report terms, but actual baseball terms -- the guy who's good enough to be the leadoff hitter on his team, vs. the guy who's already got that spot sewn up, but does the extra training to be the star even if he doesn't have to?
I'm not sure what the baseball equivalent is except maybe the baserunner who takes the extra base whenever the defense is lackadaisical. The killer instinct to exploit an opportunity. Or possibly Curt Schilling's blood sock triumph. The difference between being good in the playoffs and being legendary.
I'll try those.
Or possibly Curt Schilling's blood sock triumph. The difference between being good in the playoffs and being legendary.
Does he know how much homework Schilling does? The man S.T.U.D.I.E.S his opponents. I swear I've seen him sitting in the duggout with a laptop. And then he plays with both skill and heart.
I doubt you guys were watching the Diamondbacks in the Baby-Backs years, when they'd brought up that red-headed kid Chad Tracy a couple years before he should have been ready to play Major League third base. One of his first games, he reached so far over the rails to catch a fly ball, grounds crew had to catch him before he face-planted on the other side. That's going beyond "what you are supposed to do". I dunno if Tracy as a mature player is going to reach legendary skill level, but he's got epic heart. Would that help?
I have tried the yoga. I don't know how I feel about it yet. Though my ambivalence may be directly proportional to how much I suck at it. We'll see how it goes in the coming weeks.
We'll see how it goes in the coming weeks.
I found that while improving my flexibility was slow (but steady), what I noticed happened quickly was a real improvement in the balance pose that I could be proud of.
No wonder my students think I'm a tough grader -- there's no way I'd give an A (of any kind) to a student that just met the requirements, even if they did them well. I reserve As for the people that went above and beyond and showed they'd know how to transport what I'd been trying to teach them to different situations. In my defense, I make this very clear, and give them examples before they hand in any work. Of course, my classes of law students are filled with over-achievers, so the rewards have to be proportionally different.