Anthony Halter
T O P I C :
Lack of Motivation
Anthony Poses the Question. . . .
October 15, 2007
I have a student that has four assignments missing: two of which I handed back and told him to redo the assignments. We give the students the answers so they can check their work before they get to class and know which ones to ask questions about.
The two assignments I handed back to him had the equations written down and the answers with no work shown. On numerous occasions, it has been explained that he HAS TO SHOW HIS WORK. His reply to me is that he did it on his calculator. I told him he still has to show every step. The problem is that to qualify to take test B or C, he has to have all his assignments turned in. I have talked to him many times trying to motivate him, encourage him, inspire him,... nothing has worked. We are contacting his parents, but I thought some of you might have dealt with unmotivated students and might know some techniques that work.
Jessica Skordal answers....
October 25, 2007
If you will notice Anthony, I have pretty close to the same question as you do for my first post and ponder. I have found that the only thing you can do is contact the parents. I tried everything with my student. I tried to offer to tutor him after school, spend extra time going over the lesson, even teaching him note-taking skills. He didn't want anything to do with any of them. I found that when I contacted his parents about the issue, the issue was no longer an issue. If you are doing everything you can to make this student feel as if they have help available, then the only option is for you to contact the parent. The only suggestion I have for you is to maybe sit the kid down and ask him to show you, on paper, how he worked the problem out. If you see he can't do it, then you know there is a bigger problem then just calculator dependency. GOOD LUCK!!
Dr. Bowles responds....
October 25, 2007
Don't forget to document your efforts to help such students. Parents need to be aware that you have made every effort to help their child and that your parental contact is the result of your concern and the student's disregard for your help.
Sabrina Schaefer answers....
October 27, 2007
I have had trouble with students not turning in their work as well, or turning it in with no work shown. We have started to send home grade reports more often that show the student's grade and missing assignments. If a parent has not signed the report, then we call the parent and let them know what is going on. We usually call home anyway if the student has a D or F, which is usually due to the lack of turning in homework. Sometimes this has worked, but a lot of students are still not turning in homework in a timely fashion. Some students with punishments from the parents have shaped up, but there are some that still continue to do nothing. One parent told us their son was not going to play video games for nine weeks; he was so upset that he has started to turn in homework, and it is correct. That is motivation; take away something they really want.
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