Pride: Measure Twice and Cut Once
When my
father was a child, he and his brother lived with their mother in
his grandfather’s home. To teach his two
grandsons the value of work, his grandfather offered each boy a nickel if they
mowed the lawns and clipped the bushes weekly.
During the depression, each boy could see a movie at the Tower Theater,
and enjoy a bag of popcorn and a coke with their nickel. With their ticket stub in hand, they
could cross the street and purchase a hotdog and a drink for lunch, all valuable
commodities. The lesson was also to
teach the boys that a job done was well was worth the time spent. When the boys completed their tasks, they
would ask their grandfather to inspect their work. He would point out the strips of lawn left
uncut. (My husband calls these lawn-hawks, Mohawk haircuts for lawns.) The boys
were instructed to cut the lawn again from another direction before retrieving
their grandfather. He would find the
bushes that were uncut and they would return to work. After a time, the two boys learned to take
pride in their work and pay attention to the details before calling their
grandfather. Each weekend, they cut the lawn twice in different directions to
ensure that no “lawn-hawks” existed. In
today’s world, parents and teachers are often in such a hurry that they forget
to take the time and require that a child complete a task correctly. Teachers might recognize the value of having
students’ revise their essays, but shirk at the idea of correcting each essay
at least twice. Who could blame them
with over forty students in each of class? How do we promote a sense of pride
in ones work to students who are also handicapped with demands from all sides?
Shop
teachers promote the idea that students measure twice and cut once to avoid
costly mistakes. This is an idea that
other teachers and parents need to promote.
Spending time writing and rewriting compositions and checking
mathematical problems for simple mistakes will improve a student
performance. Perhaps like my great
grandfather, teachers and parents will have to withhold reward until a child
has not only completed a task, but completed a task correctly. Students reach whatever expectations adults
hold them to. If teachers and parents
hold students accountable to a high level of performance, they will achieve
it. Yes, it will be difficult, but it
can be done.
During my
teaching career, the teachers in my department demanded that students achieved
a minimum level on all writing assignments to receive any credit. Any student could rewrite a paper for a higher
score, but those students who performed lower than an established writing goal
were required to revise it until they reached the minimum score. There was a significant improvement in the
students writing. Yes, teachers had to
work harder. Yes, some parents
complained to the principal, but overall the policy improved struggling
students’ scores.
What about
on end of the year tests where students cannot retake the test? Once students
understand that substandard work isn’t appropriate, they begin to spend more
time on their first draft. Since most of
these tests are untimed, encourage students to take their time, proof-read
their essays and revise not only for technical errors but for content before
submitting. After one such test, one of
my former students commented that even after he did this he wished the state
recognized that writing is a process and if he had had an opportunity to
revisit his essay two of three days later, he could have improved it because he
would have seen it with new eyes. There
is some wisdom to that, but the test is what it is.
As a
teacher, I hope they skills they develop in my class have a longer effect than
an end of the year test. I hope they
recognize that doing a job well may mean they take the time to do it right
whether it is writing an essay, repairing an engine, or mowing the grass.
