Addressing D and F.
Teachers feel like the problem isn’t that kids don’t show up… it’s executive functioning and proximity. Kids are just not finishing and submitting often.
Teachers are feeling like they need PERMISSION to take class time to check in with students. It’s very hard to get the struggling students to reach out during office hours. And talking to kids who are “in front of you” in class is really hard b/c teachers are doing so much tech juggling and teaching.
So, a couple ideas:
1. Make time EACH CLASS PERIOD to touch base with kids on D/F list. You can do this either by having daily reading time (book love/independent reading) or “daily drafts” (some opening write either in response to an article/video/cartoon or something else. Think Gallagher/Kittle). Yes, this is “against” the district’s idea that you are “synchronous” the whole time. This DOES align with all flex learning models. You can schedule “work time” where you pull kids into class. The class doesn’t know you’re calling in only the Ds and Fs.
2. Do it Right Now. When you talk to a kid about missing work, ask them to complete it RIGHT NOW and exempt them from whatever else you’re doing (of course there will be some times you can’t do this) (you can use co-teacher or Lit Lab to help with this, too.)
3. You have the power! Just providing them “more time” to get in work might not work. You might need to exempt kids from formative work. Think about ALL kids in F range as Jenn Jaczyk kids.Get the kids to do the KEY formative and the summative stuff. You have permission to be flexible with due dates and EXMP grades (keep a deadline). You have the power to allow to allow summative re-takes (until district decides later). You have the permission to let formatives go (meaning, allow kids to get a poor grade or 50% or whatever) if they are doing well on summatives.
4. Full Day check in. It’s OK to take a whole day every couple weeks for “extension activity” so you can check in with struggling students. Check in with all kids at the beginning, assign a TASK, then send them away to work while you KEEP all kids who are struggling. Work with them as a group and/or 1:1 to help them manage the missing work. Also… you can ask the Lit Lab to come in to be with the kids who are getting As, Bs, Cs. YOU take the day to work with kids to manage their missing work.
5. Enforced Office hours. The days before a summative, I send emails to parents and kids to meet with me during office hours. If a kid misses a summative, I send the email and say “you must come on Tuesday at 1:30 to TAKE the test.” Parents are cc-ed.
6. Lit Lab Wednesdays. Let Lit Lab take your successful kids. You work the entire period with the D/F list. (You can also send 1-3 kids to work with the Lit Lab teacher just to get summatives. Even if the assignment is not COMPLETE, it’s at least started. It’s OK if kids don’t get what’s in TODAY’s Class.)
7. Low Weight (like “0.1” weight) for assignments in TAC. It’s a pain to keep up with the grading, but it helps show the trend of “not doing work” to parents/counselors. Some teachers say that they are currently doing lots of this kind of thing, but are planning on reducing it as the semester goes on.