|
去让自己收获成功的必备条件 Day One 第一天 The very first day of class, I walked in and addressed my students. 在课程开始的第一天，我走进教室，给我的学生作课前讲话。 “You will be graded on your homework, weekly quizzes and two exams. I do not play favorites, I do not grant extensions, and I do not grade on a curve.” "你们的成绩由3部分组成：作业成绩，每周小测以及两场考试。我不会偏心，不会允许作业延期，也不会按照正态给分。" One hand shot up “Is it true that less than half of your students pass?” 一个学生举手提问道：“听说你的课程只有不足一半的学生可以顺利通过，这是真的吗?" “Yes, that’s true. Last semester out of 17 students, 5 earned a B or better. You are welcome to switch sections if you want.” "是的，就是这样。上个学期，这门课一共有17名学生，只有5个人拿到了B或者更好的成绩。如果你现在想要选择其他的老师，我也不会反对。” Four of the students got up and left, but Albert, somewhat surprisingly remained. Albert was one of my students last semester. Last semester he wasn’t doing too well, and I told him he may be better off dropping the class - but he stuck it out to the end, and earned a D for his efforts. 听完我说的话之后，有4名学生起身离开。但让我有点意外的是，艾伯特竟留了下来。他是我上学期课程的一名学生。那时他表现得并不好，我也曾告诉他，退课对他来说也许更好——但他还是坚持到了学期末，并最终通过努力只得到D的成绩。 I spoke to him after class again today, and he assured me this semester was going to be different. He was determined to do better. 今天，在课后我又一次找他谈话，他对我保证这学期的表现会有所不同。他决心比上学期做得更好。 Albert came in for office hours, frequently emailed me for help and struggled with the material. He did better, but continued to have difficulty with some of the same concepts he had struggled with the previous semester. 之后，他时不时地在办公时间来找我，也经常通过邮件来寻求帮助，请教一些材料上不明白的问题。他确实比上学期有所进步，但和之前一样，对于一些同样的概念他还是很难理解。 In the end, things did turn out differently. Instead of a D, Albert had earned a C, when a B was required to continue to the next level. He would have to repeat Introduction to Computer Science for a third time. 最终，他的期末成绩确实有所不同。这一次他得到了C，比先前的D进步了。然而，如果想要进入到下一个等级的学习，他必须得到B，这也意味着，这次他还是没有通过课程，他必须第三次选修“计算机概论"这门课。 The Next Semester 下一个学期 The following semester I had a batch of 15 students - Albert among them. I gave them the usual speech, a few switched sections, but Albert stayed in his seat. I pulled him aside after class. 又到了新的一学期，这次有15名学生选修了这门课——艾伯特依旧是其中的一位。按照惯例，我作了课前讲话，有几名学生选择了离开，但艾伯特同往常一样留了下来。课后，我又一次把他拉到一旁。 “Albert, I hope you understand the situation. You could easily pass this class if you took a different section. You know that I grade strictly, I don’t accept late work, and I don’t grade on a curve. Are you sure you want to remain in my section - or would you rather switch?” "艾伯特，我希望你能清楚地了解自己的情况。如果你选择其他的老师，将会很容易地通过这门课。你知道，我评判严格，不会接受迟交的作业，也不会按照正态给分。你确定还要呆在我的课堂上，或者你想要选择其他的老师?" “You know, I appreciate your concern Sid. I’ll think about it” he said. 他回答道：”你知道的，我非常感谢你对我的关心。我会认真考虑的。" The next week he was back in class - my class. Albert was in my section to stay, but I wasn’t going to go easy on him just because it was his third time. In some ways, I was even harder on him. He was focused and tried hard, but he was no model student. His grades fluctuated from Ds to Bs, and I had to have the old mid-semester “Do you want to drop out?” talk with him once again. Once again, he opted to stay for the whole semester rather than take the incomplete. 然而，在下一周的课堂上，我还是见到了他的身影，他最终还是选择了留在我的班上。但我并没有打算因此而对他放松要求。在某种意义上来说，我对他更严格了。我经常关注他的举动，他也确实很努力，但还是成不了模范学生。他的平时成绩总在D和B之间摇摆不定。我不得不在期中又一次找他谈话，"你是否想要退课?"。然而他像前两学期一样，还是拒绝了我的建议。他选择了学完整个学期的课程，而不愿半途放弃。 Finally, this was to be his semester - he barely earned his B. I was proud of him - and a bit relieved I wouldn’t have him repeating my class a fourth time. 最终，这学期末他勉强得到了一个B。我为他感到骄傲，除此以外，还有一点的欣慰，因为他终于可以不用第四次出现在我的课堂上了。 My Class Grows 更多的身影 After Albert made it out of my class, something interesting happened. A couple semesters later my section started to grow, and I soon had to turn people away because my section was full. 在艾伯特顺利地通过这门课程，从我的课堂上离开之后，有趣的事情发生了。两个学期之后，我的班上出现了越来越多的学生，很快地，我不得不因为选课人数的限制而拒绝一些同学。 Why would people continue to sign up for my section when they knew they I was a harsh grader, and they stood a better chance of passing in a different class? I asked them, and learned that Albert had recommended me. Apparently, he was doing well in the upper level courses and when people asked him why, he told them he had learned a lot from being my student. 为什么还是有那么多的学生愿意选择我的课堂，即便他们已经了解到我是一名严格的老师，而且他们完全可以选择其他更容易让他们通过课程的老师?我问过我的学生这个问题，他们告诉我，那是因为艾伯特曾经向他们推荐过我。显然，艾伯特在他的高级课程中表现得很好，当其他同学询问他原因时，他告诉他们，那是因为他从我的课堂中学到了很多。 I had to go find out for myself what was going on. 我必须自己去寻找艾伯特会如此推荐我的原因。 Why didn’t you just switch? 你为什么就是不愿意换一个老师教? I learned that Albert wasn’t just doing well in courses - he was now tutoring undergraduates in computer science. I caught up with him one day, and asked him for the full story. 我了解到，艾伯特不仅仅只是在课堂上表现得很好——他现在已经是本科生计算机课程的一名老师了。有一天我在路上遇到他，并询问了他当初如此坚定地不换老师，并如此推荐我的原因。 He told me that as classmates struggled in the higher level classes, he was so thankful I had been hard on him and forced him to really learn the introductory material without passing him along. By letting him struggle, when he actually passed my course he knew he was ready for the next level, and that confidence helped motivate him in future classes. Because I was so harsh on him in his introductory courses, it didn’t faze him when later professors were strict with deadlines, because he was already used to it. 他告诉我说，当他的同学都在更高级的课程中拼了命地学习时，他很感激我能够在基础的课程中对他严格要求，而不是随便放他通过，让他有机会真正地掌握那些计算机最基本的入门知识。虽然我的严格曾让他努力了很久，但是当他顺利通过课程时，他清楚地知道自己完全作好了准备去迎接更高级的课程，也正是这种信心在未来的学习中一直激励着他。因为在概论课程中我曾对他如此严厉，以至于在后来的课程中即使有教授对截止时间非常苛刻，他也没感到担忧，因为他早已习惯了这么一套紧张的学习模式。 “I appreciate that, but you didn’t need three semesters to learn that. Why didn’t you just switch sections your second semester instead of repeating my section over and over?” I asked him. “I gave you the chance to switch twice, and you know you could have passed in a different section.” 我问他：“我很欣赏你的这种态度，但是你并不需要花费3学期的时间来收获这种信心。在第二学期的时候，你为什么不选择换一个老师来教，而是要一次次地走进我的课堂?我给了你两次机会去重新选择，你也知道，如果你真的那么做了，你会轻而易举地通过课程。" “I know,” he said, ” but I needed to know that I had what it takes.” 他回答道：“我知道，但是我必须确定，自己已经拥有了成功所需的必要条件。” “If you can find a path with no obstacles,it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” - Frank A. Clark “如果你可以找到一条没有任何障碍的路，那么很有可能这条路并不能带你通向任何地方”——Frank A. Clark Conclusion 结论 Albert may have learned a thing or two about computer science from me, but I learned a valuable life lesson from him. He already knew the value of hard work and persistence, but having him as my student has taught me that when you expect the best out of people, they’ll give you their best. People don’t want to be coddled, and they don’t want rewards they don’t deserve. 艾伯特也许从我的课堂中学习到了一些有关计算机方面有用的知识，但是我却从他的身上学到了人生中宝贵的一课。他已经知道辛勤工作和坚持不懈的价值所在，除此以外，作为我的学生他还让我明白，当你由衷地期待别人做得最好的时候，别人也会向你表现出他们最好的一面。人们不想要没有缘由的溺爱，也不需要那些并不属于他们的奖赏。 Just like Albert, many of us have the potential to accomplish great things, and will willingly struggle against obstacles time and time again. 就像艾伯特那样，我们当中的很多人都具备成功的潜质，也愿意一次次地接受困难的挑战。 We struggle because we believe the journey is worth it. 我们拼搏努力，因为我们相信，我们的所有付出都是值得的。 We struggle because we want to improve ourselves. 我们拼搏努力，因为我们渴望提升我们自己。 We struggle because we know we have what it takes. 我们拼搏努力，因为我们知道，我们已经具备了成功所需的必要条件。 |
|
|
