Disappointments

So far, I haven't lost my temper or let the kids get to me. There have been a couple of SERIOUS LOOKS and "it's in your best interest to pay attention" moments. And one group will come in for class tomorrow and find I've assigned seats to combat the chronic chatting problem. But nothing worse than that.

But I have faced my first major disappointment. And of course it's in a group of kids who are super-smart and capable. Their first project was due last week, and the majority the class failed to turn it in on time. I gave the project -- a brief, 5-minute presentation -- a week in advance and gave them class time to hop on the computers and do research. Of those that did turn it in, several failed to follow the instructions that (I thought) were clearly given and were explained even further on the rubric that came with the instructions.

And I just don't get it. In high school, yes, I was a overachiever who would've died rather than turn anything in late and hated getting anything below an A. And I get that not everyone is like that. But I cannot figure out why kids who are smart and perfectly able don't care. I've been told it's not my fault, but it's still frustrating, and I've spent the weekend trying to figure out how to communicate to them that they could've done so much better than they did.