There's only so much that I can do; I can encourage, I can cajole, I can try to persuade, and I can learn the student's perspective. Ultimately the student makes the decision. And if it's not the one that I was hoping for...what do I do with this student?
1 comment:
Monisha,
This is a response to your last few blogs; sorry I didn't get to them sooner. Many students have experienced school failure and do not see the connection between hard work and improved grades. There are a myriad of reasons for this. I have several ideas about approaches you can take.
First and very important is to get to know the student and to build upon their successes. For example if a student thoughtfully answers a question, you may point that out and indicate you think they would do a good job on their homework. Or, if they include a good illustration in their lab report but write an incomplete conclusion, you could encourage them to ask the teacher if they could redo the conclusion for additional points.
Also, you could check to see how they are doing in other classes. If they are doing well in another class, talk to that teacher and try to draw parallels between that work and the science work.
It sounds like you have been speaking to students about homework completion. Certainly asking students why they are not doing their homework is helpful. Follow up discussions in which you try to get them to see how they can eliminate excuses will help.
Finally, point out to them many of the jobs for the future involve science. Washtenaw Community College has two year programs that can lead to jobs, but you have to have a good grasp of science.
Carol Cramer
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