The student who did not do homework!

 Hi new teachers,

I taught the primary years, in an Indian school with a national curriculum many years ago. The former teacher, before leaving had told me that there was a parent who was very good with art and craft and if I ever needed anything for any activity, I could ask her. 

In class, I gave some homework to the students which I asked for the next day. One student told me very hesitatingly that her work was not done as she had gone out with her parents the previous evening. I told her in a kind tone that it does not matter and that she can submit the work the next day. The student did submit the work the next day. This happened a couple of times.

In the meantime, I contacted the parent who came to school. I informed her that her name had been given by the former teacher and I wanted to know what her particular areas of expertise were. She then told me that the former teacher was very strict and her daughter was terrified of her. She would refuse to go to school on the days her homework was not done. But since the time I started teaching, her daughter would tell her 'Don't worry mummy,  I will tell Ms.Radha that I could not do the work because we went out. She will understand'. The mother thanked me and said that I had made a big difference to her daughter's experience of schooling. She also said that she told the former teacher that she was good with art and craft hoping that she would go easy on her daughter. 

What should we do when students don't submit work? Should they be given a consequence? Will permitting them to submit late wreak havoc and not let them develop their time and self management skills? Many teachers believe in the latter.

My experience says otherwise. This is what I have learned over the years:

1. You need to know your students. If a student generally submits on time, but once or twice has not submitted, then it is not something you need to take up.

2. If a student has a pattern of submitting late or not submitting, check if the student has learning challenges. Most of time, it is these students who are not able to access the content and don't submit. You would ask, "Why did they not approach me? I would have helped". Maybe it is difficult for them to accept that they cant access the content, maybe they want to save face in front of peers, maybe it is easier for them to ignore the work. Hence, it is good to scaffold the task and/or chunk it so it becomes more accessible. Some students work well if they are provided space for writing after every question or a table format rather than writing in paragraphs. If you are giving students sources to refer to for a task, it is good to have brief audio-visual short sources as that is easy to understand. Coordinate with the learning support department to find out how you can help the student. 

3. Even after you do all of the above, it is likely that the student may not submit the work. It could be that the student is not able to manage their time well. Time management is something that has to be taught. Every student does not develop it on their own. You or your counsellors can teach for ex. 'the urgent, important, not urgent, not important matrix'. Any time management technique has to be taught from a very young age for it to become a skill that the student practices. If you have very large pieces of work, have internal deadlines and give it to students one chunk at a time.

4. Other factors that prevent the student from submitting work could be that the student could have anxiety. Anxiety is very under-rated and teachers often tell students not to be anxious. But it does not work like that. Ask the anxious student. Anxiety is real and it is problematic. Students do not have any control over it. Anxiety is one of the reasons students procrastinate and don't submit work. Socio-emotional issues at home or school, self-worth and self-esteem issues, unrealistic parent or teacher expectations are other reasons. Rather than get upset that the student is always delaying the work, find the root cause of the problem. Reminders help. Parents need to know what is happening so when sending reminders to students, email parents as well. Take parents into confidence, get help from the school counsellors. 

One thing that has worked for me is, if  students do not do the task after reminders, I ask them to complete the work in class. I plan my class such that while other students are working on a task, these students who have not submitted, sit separately at the back of the class and finish the work. Or I ask them to meet me during lunch or after school and I sit with them while they complete the work.

5. Another thing that works is, I decide deadlines with the student. They tell me when is a good time to submit a project or a research task, something that takes long to work on. If as a class, all students feel overwhelmed that they have submissions from many subjects at the same time (maybe because the students procrastinated and did not realise that the tasks will pile up), I negotiate an extension. Some teachers will not move their deadline but if some other teachers do, it will all balance out in the end with the students getting some pressure off.

Of course, if you are negotiating deadlines, you need to be mindful that the school deadlines are not affected and that you have planned your deadlines much earlier to enable you to grant extensions.

Negotiating is an important skill. Students will not despair thinking that there is no way out. One of the reason suicides happen is when students think there is no way out and all doors are closed. Negotiation gives hope that a door can be opened. Parents should negotiate too and not be unyielding.

We need to reflect that most of us as adults often don't have time or self management. How many of us have missed a deadline or asked or an extension? How many times we have complained that the work is too much and we are not able to manage? These children are so much younger than us and need all the help they can get. But when it comes to them, we say, "this is preparation for life and life is not easy so they have to deal with this and learn". A different rule for the students and a different one for us!!

I would like to end by saying what we already know... students will remember you not for the content that you teach, but for your kindness, empathy, your care, your concern. Just like the example shared at the beginning of this blog.


Cheers!!

#relationships,#behaviour,#school,#testing,#learning,#leaders,#teacher-student relationships, #myp, #newteachers,#teaching,#assessments,#students,#learning support,#ib,#homework

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