The sweet kids

Every class I have had so far (a whopping total of one completed and two in process) has had a certain type of student that I find the most difficult to teach-The sweet kid who tries really hard but is a godawful writer. I can take variations of this type-bad writers who were not sweet or did not try hard were easy to handle (Fail). Ok writers who tried hard and improved-Cs to As. But continuously giving Ds to a really nice kid who comes to my office every week and emails me trying to get help bothers me. I find myself wanting to pass them even if they have not hit the C level quality of work. I have fought against the urge, but I do think I passed one person last semester who really should not have passed. I feel more experienced now (I know I am still a total newbie though).
I suppose it bothers me the most because it makes me feel like a horrid teacher. If a student is putting in the effort-coming to your office, multiple drafts of each paper, emailing thesis statements, coming to every class-and STILL not improving then I cannot help but think it reflects back on you more than them. But, I suppose I am a work in progress as well and all I can do is try to become a better teacher. I never give up on these kids and am always patient to try to explain things many different ways and give many different examples and read through any rough material they already have written. I have asked for advice from multiple other teachers. I suppose, ultimately, I will also have to accept that some kids just will not get it no matter how much time and explanations you give them. That not every kid is going to be able to understand how to create a sophisticated thesis or carry and develop an intelligent argument for a 5-6 page paper.

I suppose I just needed somewhere to vent-I just got another email from my sweet but terrible writer kid and I am desperately trying to search for a way to explain why her thesis statement possibilities are only D or C level still in a way that will improve her abilities.