Solving student tardiness
It is best to check attendance at the beginning of the class period. A student should also be made to know that whether he/she is not in class yet, the class will start and that he/she is responsible for what he/she has missed. Lastly, any homework is to be collected at the beginning of the class period.
Fraternidad,
Like your style. You are setting the standard for your class and holding the students accountable for their own progress and success in the class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I also like your style. Myself and many other instructors do the same thing right after the bell rings. We have some that actually start an activity right after roll call and a habitually late student will find out quickly that its to his/her advantage to be on time to hear the instructions.
Steven,
Good way to manage a behavior and let the student decide about the consequences of coming in late on a regular basis. They see they need to be there and be prepared if they are going to be successful in the class.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I have tried do this . Take roll then start a new project. The problem I have is the late student will require me to show them all that they have missed. And that in turn takes away from the other students that showed up on time.
Greg,
When students show up late they lose professional points. Also, at times I do not admit them to class until the first break. I do this to send a message but also to let the other students know that I respect them for being on time and I will not let one or two late students disrupt the learning of others. It is a matter of respect and those tardy students have chosen to disrespect their classmates.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Hello,
I agree that attendance should be taken at the beginning of the class period, but I also take it again at the end to make sure students aren't skipping out early.
Melissa
Melissa,
Your comment made me smile because this spring I had a three hour class with six students enrolled. I had one student that would frequently not come back after the break. When I confronted him about it he claimed he was there and when that didn't work he wondered how I knew he was gone. Really? Talk about the lack of thinking that was going on. There were only six students in the class, I can count and I did count. He did not pass and I'm not sure he yet understands how he was caught leaving class early. Not to sure about his future.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I've had several students like that in my four-hour classes. The most blatant was a student who would sign in at the beginning of class and immediately slip out. However, in addition to the regular sign-in roll, I also have a seating chart sign-in. (It's a great help in learning names, in efficiently handing back papers during a break, quickly rechecking roll, and notifying the student who left the flash drive in the computer that it's safe.) When he asked me why I'd marked him absent, he seemed astounded to learn that attendance meant really being there, not just signing in. I have some unpleasant ideas about his future!
Dixie,
Had a similar experience this past spring in a class of six students. The class ran for 3 hours and this student would leave most days at the first break. When I confronted him about his leaving the class he was surprised that I noticed. I felt insulted because he was giving me no credit for being able to count to six nor notice and empty chair. His future is going to be shaky at best because he is a con all the way. By the way he did not past the course so he has the choice of not moving forward in his classes are sitting with me for another session. Not sure what his call will be.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Our school has a policy regarding attendance and tardiness. If you miss too much time or are late too many times you automatically fail the class. I wish I could say this solves the problem, it doesn't. It does however allow the instructor to enforce the rules without being the bad guy. rules are rules and MOST students understand that.
Thomas,
This is such an important part of career development and it is sad that attendance is such a big issue with students but it is. I have the same problem with my students and yet they want to be given an A in the course since they paid tuition to attend. This is not how real life works as we know and they need to realize. Keep up your effort as does make a difference as you mention to some students that are there to develop their career skills and be successful in their workplace.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
That is the way we pretty much do things at our campus , each student is held responsible for their attendance , class starts soon after the roll call and any information missed must be their responsibility to find from their reading material or missed assignments from other students .
Antonio,
This is a good point that students need to understand early in their college career. Their success depends on them. They have to put forth the effort needed to be successful and just because they paid tuition does not mean they have bought an A.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Caron,
It is essential the understand about their participation in classes because this carries over to their success in the workplace. Keep up the good work as you help them to develop into professionals that employers want to hire.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Our campus is VERY strict on attendance. The student can't pass if he or she is late more than 7 times per 3 week course. Also they don't pass if they miss over 12 hours. Each week we try to give them a progress report that shows attendance tardies and class and lab grades. We council them and try to see why they miss. Many times its late night jobs but many times, a roommate might tell me its a video game.
Marvin,
When I hear excuses like this from my students it makes me sad because I know that being in school is not their highest priority. Until they make learning number one they are not going to enjoy the success they want and will not be able to move closer to their career goals. This is where individual accountability has to come into play.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Give a quiz at the beginning of class and do not allow anyone who is tardy to take the quiz. Another way we solve this problem is through incentive. We give 100 professional points as 5% of their grade and students will lose professional points if they are tardy or absent. If they are on time and present, they get to keep these points.
Traci,
Good model to increase student responsibility and accountability. My students earn Professional Points in my classes just like yours. They are earned in the areas of being on time, attendance and meeting deadlines. The very same things they will need to do when they are in the workplace. They have to understand that excuses are not available when they are working. Performance is expected and is rewarded.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Early in my teaching career I put together a simple class exercise to get a particular point across and make the subject more fun. At the end of the exercise a particular female student who was habitually tardy or absent said to me "Now this makes April stay in school" (name changed to protect the innocent:>)I was shocked that this was all she needed to motivate her to attend. Not that this works for all but it really motivated me to examine my teaching methods and find more ways to get that type of response. Needless to say I have now developed more exercises than class time allows.
