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Student Comments I Wish I Could Have Written Catherine Price -- 01/17/2005  Comment for: Addison HammillSemester Grade: F Addison exudes an intriguing sense of calm toward mathematics, considering that he has failed every test and quiz this term. While he has demonstrated a remarkable willingness to ask his female classmates for help on his assignments, the ironically named Addy has little sense of responsibility over his work—and even less understanding of what goes on in class! From a self-called "mental block" toward completing his homework to a remarkable inability to add, he has performed poorly on all counts. And when his clear lack of innate mathematical ability is combined with his low effort and carefree attitude, the result is a D- that is sure to haunt him when he applies to secondary schools. Have a great summer! Comment for: Benjamin Talbert Semester Grade: C- I would like to say that Benjamin had a successful year in math. However, that would be a lie. While he did have impressive energy, he focused most of it on passing notes to his friend Michael (diagrams of naked women, mostly, fashioned out of geometric shapes). When I called on him to answer questions, he often responded with incomprehensible beeping or animal noises. And on the rare occasions that Benjamin did communicate with words, they did not relate to math, such as when I asked him how many degrees there were inside of a quadrilateral and he put a tissue on his head, saying, “Look at me, I’m the Virgin Mary.” Benjamin’s inattentiveness in class, coupled with his newfound habit of cheating on tests and quizzes, has resulted in an unsatisfactory performance this year. I’m afraid he will have great difficulty in Algebra I. Comment for: Henri Hugenot-Bichet Semester Grade: B Henri is a strong math student, but his in-class conduct has left much to be desired. As the year progressed, Henri exhibited increasingly frequent aberrations from normal behavior, such as insisting on wearing a British military helmet and white plastic gloves during tests, and asking me questions with his eyelids turned inside out. His comments in class, while occasionally relevant, also crossed into the inappropriate, such as when he handed me his calculator with the number “5318008” on its screen, winked, and said, “Read this upside-down.” I understand that Henri has external stresses, including a hyphenated last name and a father who, having abandoned his family for Henri’s twenty-two-year-old SSAT tutor, now resides in a chateau in France. I also do appreciate Henri’s frequent (and surprisingly accurate) stock tips. Unfortunately, though, Henri’s grades have begun to slip, and I am concerned that he is putting more effort into his “ugly eye” technique than he is his schoolwork. Comment for: Merrill Lewis Semester Grade: A+ Merrill is a stellar math student; in fact, one might call her a little too good. With an interest in inverse hyperbolic functions that I have rarely seen in a 6th grader, Merrill exhibits a genuine excitement and enthusiasm toward the subject that, quite frankly, borders on irritating. Whether putting up paper signs on her desk that say, “Gone Factorin’,” or dancing gleefully around the room, postulating on the intuitive definition of limits, Merrill has annoyed both me and her fellow students with her constant, unyielding interest in mathematics. Her explanation of the fundamental theorem of calculus, while accurate, was just one on an innumerable list of insubordinations and, despite perfect scores on every homework assignment, test and quiz, Merrill did not earn many “popularity points” by telling a failing classmate that “66 is 99 upside-down.” Good luck in junior high. end of page 1 [ 1 ] read more ... [ 2 ] |
