How do I deal with a student not bringing an assignment when that day's lesson is contingent on everyone having completed his or her homework?
In university, I have learned to take responsibility for my own education. As a teacher I will be the one responsible when a student does not complete an assignment. Should I be flexible and give him or her time to finish it. Maybe this student cannot tell me why he or she missed class. For instance, a student had to take their mother to the hospital because she was severely beaten. What should the student do while the others are working with their homework? Can I attach him or her to another group?
Here is a funny poem:
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/013.html
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Flexibility in the classroom is essential. As teachers it is necessary to foresee and prepare for these types of situations; our lessons should be adaptable! However, students need to carry some responsibility for their own learning. Every situation will be different!
ReplyDeleteThere are always going to be extreme circumstances where a student can’t get something done on time for a very good reason, but I think that those circumstances will usually be made obvious by a doctor’s note or a talk from the counsellor or some explanation.
ReplyDeleteBarring those special cases, I do think that concrete deadlines should be enforced in the classroom, maybe with a penalty of X% deducted each day for a late assignment. Learning to adhere to schedules is one of the most applicable skills you can learn in school, and I don’t think laziness should be explained away.
In my Grade 8 journalism class, the teacher told me that the cut off for all the late assignments was Monday, and since I hadn’t done more than half of the classwork, I would be failing. Monday came around and I hadn’t done anything. On Thursday, I plopped half a semester of assignments down on her desk and I got an A in the class.
Not a great example, despite how happy I was with the outcome.
I think Moss hints at an important point in his response. We need to be consistent. If we enforce strict penalties for late assignments then that needs to be clearly outlined at the start of the semester and adhered to through the school year. Students need to know the expectations and consequences. A clear outline of the due dates for assignments is a good idea. Maybe another idea is to utilize technology and have all due dates available on a class website, so that students can always access due dates from home.
ReplyDeleteI think that if something is due and is required as preparation for an activity that will be done in class, the student should buddy up with students that have a knowledge of what's going on for the activity. Depending on the circumstances, I think that the student should be given the benefit of the doubt or penalized for not having the assignment completed. I agree that in high school, a teacher needs to have some sort of flexibility, but still exert control over situations. Students need to have responsibility for their actions and they are definitely at the age for realizing that responsibility. If they refuse to illustrate responsibility, then they should be penalized.
ReplyDeleteThe principal of responsibility is a crucial one, but some reasoned judgement on the part of the instructor is also setting a good example. This goes to demonstrating good character. If the teacher is harsh an unyielding what does that say? On the other hand getting off 'scott free' doens't say anything usefull either.
ReplyDeleteI think you need to clearly outline your expectations at the beginning and if you say that you will not accept any late assignments stick to it. Learning time management and how valuable it is to meet deadlines is an important life skill to teach or students.
ReplyDeleteOf course if there is an extreme circumstance like the exampled used orignially then you can give an extension, but without I would stick to your original agreement for late assignments.
I agree with Tara that you have to be consistent with the timelines that you've given the students, but I also think that you have to lead by example. If your students have written a test, or handed in an assignment, you need to return it to them with your constructive comments in a reasonable amount of time. If it takes you forever to get the marking done, the students will be less likely to respect you, or your deadlines.
ReplyDeleteI think you need to set a clear standard at the outset, but you need to be attuned to personal cases which may be exceptional. At the end of the day, its not just the outcomes that matter. If a student seems to be having issues with responsibility, and you've already stated that x% will be deducted, as Moss suggested, then you probably have the leeway to go ahead and make it clear that the penalty is in place.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, some students are going through heavy personal issues as well as getting their heads wrapped around responsibility. The key to me seems to be involvement. If you investigate with students as to why assignments are late, that goes a long way in figuring out how to handle the situation.