what would you do?

[jessen100]

Ok so pretend you are in class, and the students are doing some sort of worksheet, as you walk around and answer questions that they have. Then suddenly you notice that one student repeatedly keeps looking at a piece of paper in the back of his textbook. As you stroll on by to see what it is, it turns out to be a list of the classes grades from the previous test.

what would you do?

[Otaku]

I guess my goal for that student would be to try and take the focus off the previous scores. Maybe through positive reinforcement of their progress and/or encouragement on their work.

That said and all, I think it's ironic that a J-student would be focused on a grade, despite them being passed onto the next grade no matter how bad it is...

[jessen100]

the entire classes grades. meaning all of his classmates grades are the issue.

[Otaku]

Still, I think if a student is looking at any grades, they are most likely thinking too much about it. In the big picture of that student and their entire life, that piece of paper with a couple of numbers on it is insignificant. Hence, suggesting shifting their attention onto something more positive and productive.

That or, the student glancing at the test scores wasn't even an issue and they were referencing it for some other reason altogether.

[Paul]

Is it possible that the teacher gave the test scores to all of the kids in the class?

[jessen100]

no.



.

[Paul]

Ok then you I would think that your options are limited. (These suggestions are only if you are 100% sure that he has something that he shouldnt have and are 100% sure that he wasnt given the paper in question from any teacher)

Me I might walk up to the particular kid in question bend down so only he can hear me open the textbook to the back page where the scores were and politely ask him where he got it from, giving him my patented look that says "You know, I know you have something here that you shouldnt have. Fess up and things will go much easier for you" Give him a chance to answer, then quietly take the paper from him and make nothing out of the issue after that. Burn the test score sheet at your convenience.

Or take the test scores and give it to the teacher and let them deal with it.

I would venture a small wager, like maybe the price of a can of cheap beer, that if you just tell the teacher about what you saw odds are they will do nothing about it. You gotta give'em proof, because they don't want to believe that little Taro did something they shouldn't have even though they KNOW that they are amongst a bunch of immoral little pick pockets and liars.

Or do nothing, because in the long run you know as well as I do that probably nothing substantial is going to come out of it.

Oh lastly whatever you decide to do I would highly recommend staying away from any type of outward confrontation about it. Keep it either between you and the student or let the teacher deal with it.

[Paul]

Still, I think if a student is looking at any grades, they are most likely thinking too much about it. In the big picture of that student and their entire life, that piece of paper with a couple of numbers on it is insignificant. Hence, suggesting shifting their attention onto something more positive and productive.

That or, the student glancing at the test scores wasn't even an issue and they were referencing it for some other reason altogether.

I agree about the thinking too much about it part here yet to alot of kids the scores, theirs and their classmates, represent something very important to some of them.

What their class standing is, how they compare to others in the class, etc etc etc. There is plenty of competition between the kids here, particularly the ones at the top of the class, fighting for their class standing or seiki-ji.

In my experience I know very few kids here that actually think about the fact that they are going to get passed no matter if they perform or not. More that they are, particularly the one's with better grades anyway, concerned about not failing and need to know what their standing is amongst their peers to feel a level of comfort that they are not too far behind.

Then there are the kids that would take that information and bully the ones with the lower scores and make them feel like shit. Hopefully that isnt the case here.

[Otaku]

Fair enuf, if you try and think back at when we were in school, while we thought life was hard then, we know now it was very simplitic to the responsibilities of being an adult: bills, relationships, emotional rollercoasters, marriage, kids, etc.

A test score is pretty much what a piece of candy is for a 5 year old - the representation of their life as a whole. I, also, totally agree that students here in Japan don't slack just because they are passed onto the next grade whether they suck or succeed.

However, what I was saying about shifting the student's attention to something more productive is that you, as the teacher with life experience, can look at the situation, analyze and determine whether a student's certain situation is important in the 'big picture'. Now, you could argue that the test score was a determining factor in the student's self-confidence for the rest of their life, but if you play the odds, chances are it's something that will be forgotten in a month.

Hence, aim to change the perspective of the student's future motivation for studying.

Just my two cents...

[Paul]

I dont disagree with you at all about working to attempt to shift the focus onto something more positive.

I just believe that it is more of a system wide problem and something that the students themselves may find as a foreign idea.