On any given day, five to ten of my students will be absent. My school has an attendance incentive in place - be at school, on time, every day for a week, and wear jeans (instead of uniform pants) on Friday. Still, absenteeism, and sometimes truancy, remains a problem.
Because I can't keep up with all the students who are absent, and I don't want to take class time away from my other students to catch them up, I designed a student-run make-up work system. I used a hot glue gun to attach five folders to the wall in the back of the room (Monday through Thursday, and Last Week.) I also attached a small white board above it. Every afternoon, I put any hand-outs or work sheets in the pocket folders, and write important notes about the lesson on the white board. Students are then responsible for going to the make-up work folder, getting what they need and asking their group members for help in completing the assignments.
There is another folder in the back of the room to turn in made-up assignments. I accept late work at any time during the grading period, although I don't necessarily give full credit. My policy is 10% a day, not including 2 extra days for excused absences. Also, if a student has a family crisis of some kind and cannot complete an assignment on time, I tell them to come explain the situation to me and we may be able to work out an extension, depending on the circumstances (i.e., baseball practice is not an excuse for late work.)
Because so many of my students are "at risk" for dropping out of high school or failing their freshman years, I think it's crucial to teach them responsibility by means of working with them rather than against them. Have a rigid policy that doesn't allow for make-up work or late work sets kids who may have difficult home lives up for failure. Many of my students care for younger siblings or family members while their parents or guardians are working late to make ends meet. Are they necessarily "irresponsible" if they don't get their homework done? No, but they do need to learn how to balance their responsibilities. Teaching in a school like mine may mean teaching life skills, such as prioritizing and multi-tasking, in addition to literacy and writing instruction. Compassion is also critical for teaching students to be successful.
Because I can't keep up with all the students who are absent, and I don't want to take class time away from my other students to catch them up, I designed a student-run make-up work system. I used a hot glue gun to attach five folders to the wall in the back of the room (Monday through Thursday, and Last Week.) I also attached a small white board above it. Every afternoon, I put any hand-outs or work sheets in the pocket folders, and write important notes about the lesson on the white board. Students are then responsible for going to the make-up work folder, getting what they need and asking their group members for help in completing the assignments.
There is another folder in the back of the room to turn in made-up assignments. I accept late work at any time during the grading period, although I don't necessarily give full credit. My policy is 10% a day, not including 2 extra days for excused absences. Also, if a student has a family crisis of some kind and cannot complete an assignment on time, I tell them to come explain the situation to me and we may be able to work out an extension, depending on the circumstances (i.e., baseball practice is not an excuse for late work.)
Because so many of my students are "at risk" for dropping out of high school or failing their freshman years, I think it's crucial to teach them responsibility by means of working with them rather than against them. Have a rigid policy that doesn't allow for make-up work or late work sets kids who may have difficult home lives up for failure. Many of my students care for younger siblings or family members while their parents or guardians are working late to make ends meet. Are they necessarily "irresponsible" if they don't get their homework done? No, but they do need to learn how to balance their responsibilities. Teaching in a school like mine may mean teaching life skills, such as prioritizing and multi-tasking, in addition to literacy and writing instruction. Compassion is also critical for teaching students to be successful.
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