Definition of racist
(Entry 1 of 2): of, relating to, or characterized by racism: such as
a: having, reflecting, or fostering the belief that race (see RACE entry 1 sense 1a) is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racist
As a new teacher, I was eager, motivated, and energized; and I was in equal measures terrified, overwhelmed, and paralyzed. [Years later I would come to learn that I had ADHD, which did not help matters – but that is a story for another time.] The veteran teachers eyed me with contempt and suspicion. It seemed that new teachers came and went, and the seasoned teachers had learned to not invest, to not go out of their way, to not get too interested in one more temporary blip of a new person in their midst. For the most part, the attitude of the established teachers was neutral – not trying to sabotage the new kid, but certainly not going our of their way to help. Of course I did get some guidance from the department chair and the administrator with oversight responsibility over the department – and from the school system new teacher orientation – but for the most part I was left to my own devices.
The one teacher who did make it a point to help me was, it turned out, a second-year teacher. This was someone, who like me had come to teaching as a second career, and who had a life both before teaching and very much outside of teaching. I was overwhelmed by the attention [did not know about my ADHD at the time] but also glad to have someone willing to help me to navigate the sheer bureaucracy, politics, and pettiness of a large diverse high school in a sprawling public school system.
I don’t remember any good advice this self-appointed mentor and self-anointed guide gave me. I am sure that there were helpful bits of wisdom, shared lesson plans, and well-meaning cautionary tales. Perhaps I was the recipient of this goodwill because this teacher saw something of herself in me, and she sought me out to garner an ally and a friend.
The one critical lesson I did learn from my eager protector concerned grading – the general categories, i.e. participation, classwork, tests, projects, homework, quizzes, and so on – and specifically the percentage and weight allotted to each category. The single most important and critical advice I received as a new teacher was to make the homework grade 25% of the overall grade. The reasoning for this, you may ask? The answer could well have been the singular defining point of my teaching career. The logic and principle behind assigned one quarter of the grade to homework was that – and I am essentially quoting here – they will never do the homework, so you have a built-in reason to fail them, because they will never reasonably be able to earn anything more than a C – which was roughly 70-75%.
My response to this sage advice was to assign 10% of the overall grade to homework. My reasoning for this is best described as a multiple choice question on a teacher test
- you can never be sure the student is the one actually doing the homework assignment
- the student may have a job after school
- the student may be involved in extra-curricular activities
- the student may be taking care of siblings
- the student may be caring for a parent
- the student may be living in a dangerous environment
- the student may be unhoused
- the student may be disorganized
- the student may not care to do homework
- all of the above
- any of the above
- any number of things you haven’t thought of.
Moreover, I figured that my logic was fair, just, and equitable. I felt strongly that a student should not be punished for living conditions beyond their control that might have an adverse affect on their ability to complete a homework assignment. Provided they were engaged in class – the only time and place that I felt I had any control and influence over – all students had access to earning up to a full 90% or a grade of a high B or at a minimum a low A. Which is very respectable and would not preclude the student from achieving educational success. If, however, a student had the benefit of a positive, stable, and supportive home life, then the student had access to earning up to the full 100%. In that moment, I resolved to not make it my life’s work to stand in the way of anyone’s success. Certainly, I resolved to not institute policies in my classroom specifically targeted to anyone who might come to me with a disadvantage. In the case of high school students, a majority of whom are under the age of 16 and therefore deemed to be dependent on the adults around them, I certainly was not going to punish students for their less-than-perfect home lives.
America, and in particular the idea of the American Dream, is rife with stories of raising oneself up by one’s bootstraps, of overcoming adversity, of prevailing over hardship. The experience with my *mentor* put me staunchly on the side of always striving at worst to being neutral and at best to being a help to those in my sphere of influence. To deliberately devise a marking scheme that would guarantee *they* would fail – and I would have the missing homework assignments to prove it – seemed to me unnecessarily cruel, an abuse of power, and dumbfounding. I did not then, I do not now, and I cannot imagine a time when I would ever systematically act to hurt another.
It’s 2,833 days since Joe and I talked.