Students and attendance
One of my challenges are those few students in each cohort that take advantage of missing class lectures and lab time. Our policy is they can miss up to 25% without being dropped from our program. Unfortunetly, a few will test that 25% each module and therefore get behind and suffer. This then requires the instructor to go above and beyond each module and get them up to speed, in which, the instuctor begins to burn out.
Norma,
This is an ongoing challenge for us all. It can be frustrating but as long as we know we have done everything we can to help those students then we will have done our job. At some point they have to realize it really is up to them if they want to be successful.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Tell me about it, we have those students who miss class for every little or big reason. And then when they return to class I work as fast and hard as possible to bring them up to date with class material, just so they can miss again the next day. Frustrating as it may be, I feel this is the one student I must not give up on and should persist. I use from text reminders, one on one tutoring, pep-talks, motivating words or phrases, etc.
Tracy,
After many years of teaching I have found some things never change and student complaints about grades are one of them. They don't come to class, don't study and don't apply the content and then wonder why they got a low grade. Surprise! This is why I like my older students because they and hungry since they know what the outcome will be if they work hard and apply themselves.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I agree with you too. the students should be in class no matter what. i have seen that when it is test time a few students are absent and then they dont come in to make up those tests and when they see their grades they want to make a fuss. i would always say if you cant be here to take a test then you get the grade you deserve. there are plenty of students that come in every single day and put forth the effort because they want this so bad. that was exactly how i was in college i went straight through my 2 years with perfect attendance and i have accomplished alot.
Robert,
I totally agree that this is a challenge. I have begun to enforce a no make up policy. On exams days, if a student is not present he/she will receive a zero for the exam, no excuses. I will only allow make up if we previously discussed the absence prior to the date of occurrence. I also do not slow down the speed of the class, because of the few students who choose to miss a great number of hours. If my students have begun to fall behind because of their absences, I require them to make an appointment with me outside of class time to seek some additional help. I have found on exam days I have perfect attendance, and I have noticed I have better overall attendance in my classes. Students really do not want to give up their personal time to get caught up.
I can certainly identify with this. We have the same policy with attendance. You literally have to go to the board and explain in basic, plain detail how their attendance directly effects their grade. I found that some students think 1 point and 1 percentage point are the same thing so, for them, they don't see direct impact. As an classroom Instructor and Program Director, my first question to students wh are failing or have failed a class, is "what was your attendance like?" More often then not, there attendance was extremely poor for that course and then I discuss what has been going on to make them miss class and show them on paper what that has done to their grade and suggest how they may improve next time.
Robert,
This is truly one of the challenges of being an instructor. You are fighting a challenge that isn't of your making. I wish you the best as you continue your effort to educate all of your students, even those that test the system.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
