Don’t Accept Underachievement
Teachers want their students to produce high-quality work. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of making this a child choice. It usually happens like this:
A child submits an assignment that is disorganized and incomplete.
The teacher says, "If you hand it in this way, the mark will be an F."
Remember that "If....then...." statements are choices. What the teacher has actually said is, "If you don’t mind getting an F, then handing in your work disorganized and incomplete is one of the choices you get to make in school." This allows the child the option of underachieving as long as he or she is willing to put up with low marks. As we all know, many children don’t care about marks and are very willing to take a failing grade if it means that they don’t have to complete their assignments.
In real discipline, children are required to work up to their level of capability. When they hand in substandard work, the teacher hands it back and insists it be redone. However, this requires a great deal of support from parents. Children don’t like having demands placed upon them and will frequently complain to their parents about how "tough" their teachers are. All too often, parents react by telling the teacher to take it easy on the child. Instead, parents must give their support to teachers who insist that children do high-quality work. It may not please the children now, but it is in their best interests in the future. Children learn best when parents and teachers work as partners.
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