Observing the lives of over-achievers

So the classes I'm teaching for this student-teaching business are all "Honors." I had never heard of Honors Spanish--that kind of thing certainly wasn't around when I was in high school (though I recently saw that my alma mater is in fact now offering Honors language classes). Aside from giving me what is likely poor preparation for classroom management in the real world, I have learned some other things from these classes: namely, what it is to be a high-achiever.

During one class, I asked them to pass in a paper that went with a class activity--just designed to keep them on task, really. If they had something on there, they were going to get full credit. I was hurrying them to hand it in so we could move on, and took the paper of one boy who hadn't finished a couple of questions. "If you didn't finish, don't worry," I was saying. But as I took the paper away from him, he reached out after it, moaning in the Spanish he could muster: "No!!" he said--obviously distressed, reaching towards me the way you see people in movies reach out to a child who is being torn away from them. "Lost points!!" That was the moment I realized the students I was going to be working with were a little different.

I am not one of this crowd--I never was a 4.0er. So I've been learning from these students. Here are two patterns I've noticed about being a school-super-achiever.

1. Every point counts

These students will come to me the next class after I post the grades to an assignment (or, like in one case, send messenger with a note about the grade). Sometimes I post the assignment but don't get to filling in all the grades. This makes them freak out. Anything that could be construed as an error? It get asked about it immediately (like I said, the next class period at the latest). The mentor teacher I'm working with has a policy that they can re-do any assignment, making corrections. How many points would students need to miss to be motivated to keep working on the assignment, you may ask. Well, for some, the difference of one point is enough to go back over it. One point.

2. They advocate for themselves

This is related to the "every-point-counts" policy. A characteristic of these high-achieving students is that they ask. They ask about grades (as noted above). They come in before they miss a class (for, you know, things like out-of-state snowboard and skiing competitions, DECA competitions, debate tournaments, family trips to Germany, etc.) or right after. They raise their hands and ask me to explain again the things they don't understand (and correct the mistakes I make while teaching). They ask to go over the homework if it was particularly difficult. In short, they know how to advocate for themselves in class.

3. They're involved

As noted above, these students are busy and generally stressed out. They are involved in other advanced classes, in clubs, and so on. The Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate class (which I'm not allowed to teach) has two Sterling Scholars in it. In that and another class, there are a couple of students who have helped organize a rally against climate change. In Spanish 4, one day a girl was carrying an application to Harvard when she came into class. This kind of stuff isn't exactly a secret their success like the other points are. Still, a fair observation about the characteristics of this group.

4. They have family support

One night for homework, students wrote sentences using some grammar form about stuff their parents tell them, I think. I don't remember exactly. One of the students wrote something like: "Get good grades, or your parents will be mad." Another student came in after school briefly. Talking to him, it turns out his parents wanted him to go to this school for the International Baccalaureate program. A couple of students have Spanish language tutors. The parents of these high-achievers obviously have high expectations. I think that really does help them achieve like they do--but that it ads pressure at the same time, of course.