Senioritis is a policy choice
I am in my eighth year of teaching, and in six of those years,I have taught 12th graders. 12th graders are simultaneously one of the most exciting and frustrating groups to teach: first semester seniors are capable of having really thoughtful and interesting conversations, but come second semester, even the best students can become insufferable.
It’s hard to blame them, though: when I was a second-semester senior in high school, even as a very motivated student, I underwent a malaise that I’m sure drove my teachers nuts.
While I may not blame 12th graders, personally, the longer that I have taught, the more I have become convinced that senioritis is not an inevitability; in fact, it is an affliction peculiar to the United States. And as such, we must treat “senioritis” as nothing other than a policy choice–one that ought to be remedied.
As a teacher of seniors, you are supposed to maintain the illusion that senior year is important. I mean, I love civics, and I love teaching civics. But students know that practically, there is little chance I can fail them — it’s a required class, and few principals are going to let 12th graders not graduate because of a single class. And strong students know that, despite colleges’ threats, few are going to rescind admission over a B in a 12th grade class second semester.
