Personal Accountability

[Mr. H]

Am I missing something or do most students completely lacking in the area of personal accountability? I am tired of seeing students who come to class without their books, notebooks and/or writing utensil of choice. I am saddened that many students don't come to class with assignments completed or have only completed an assignment aiming for the least amount of points they can 'earn' without failing. Where on EARTH did they acquire this attitude of "I-don't-give-a-sh*t"?? How did they get to be so LAZY?! Have we, as educators, lowered the bar so much as to permit this behavior? :confused:

[Mr. H]

What is with this Helicopter Parenting? There was this perspective student teacher in my program when I was getting credentialed whose FATHER called in to try and see if he couldn't sign a note or something because his little princess hadn't completed some paperwork for the application to the school by the deadline THAT HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY BEEN EXTENDED. I just have no patience for it. I can understand if a student is mentally deficient and can't take care of themselves because of some physical or emotional imbalance but the majority of students don't fall under these categories! I'm tired of the cop-outs. "my little angel has AD/HD, so he should be able to slack off in your class and still be able to play on the schools ball team." WHAT??!! Since when is THIS whole idea even appropriate and how does it maintain the best interest of the student??!! I am convinced that AD/HD is something that we ALL have to some varying degree. I know I had it and I didn't have any special allowances and my parents and teachers held me accountable for everything that everyone else was doing. SO WTF?

[Chocolate_New_Orleans]

careful, your Chocolate_new_orleans is showing ;)

and unfortunately, you are right on the money with your observations.

I don't give averages out until after they are set (for progress reports or report cards) I will, however, tell them what they are missing. When I tell them what they are missing and they ask what their current grade is, that is a round about way for them to try and figure out the minimum they need to do to 'not fail'

By me not telling them, they are forced into doing all of it.

[BLBO]

I don't give averages out until after they are set (for progress reports or report cards)

Do you let your students know their scores on individual assignments, quizzes, and tests?

[Chocolate_New_Orleans]

I give every test back to them. They could figure it out for themselves, but they don't. About 2 weeks before grades are due, I go down the roll, and say

Steve Andrews, you are missing HW# 1, 4, 6
Ben Benjamin, you are missing HW# 2
Cathy Cathington, you are all caught up.


My point in why I won't tell them what their grade is after what they are missing, because Andrews will turn in HW#1 and say, "what's that bring me up to" which means, "If I have a good enough grade, I won't do #4 and #6"

if they then say, "How do I know how I'm doing", I tell them, I tell you what you need to do your best, not what you need to do to skim by."

[Unregistered]

It is very understandable why you are upset over this, but you should not dwell on it. Start with a new policy saying that if you don't have your book (or whatever) you may go get it, but your preparation/behavior/participation grade will go down. This can also go down if homework is not handed in on time, etc. I personally do not accept late homework (small assignments) other larger assignments have 20% deduction each day up to two days only, then it is a zero. If you don't like to do this, then just go to town on the preparation/behvior/participation grade at the end of each day, week, month, quarter, or whatever works for you and your class.

[Mrs. P.]

On the first day of class, I go over ALL of the classroom rules and my own
personal expectations of ALL of my students. I make it VERY clear that it
is NOT open for discussion nor will it be changed.

Despite my "rules" etc., my students respect me and actually like me.
They know they can count on me to help them in any way I can. I
have actually tutored them in subjects they are not taking with me.

:

[Nyxan]

I teach 8th grade, kids who hate to be held accountable for anything. Last year, about 3/4 of the way through the year I was just as disgusted by the lack of attention to preparedness. I teach English and writing. The number of students who did not have a pencil was absolutely shocking!

I instituted a new policy. Each day I assigned 5 points as a class preparation grade. I would deduct 2 points for a missing pencil or book. If the studnet had to go back to their locker for their homework or a worksheet, I would also deduct points. Within a week the lack of preparation ended. I still had one or two chronic offenders, but everyone got it through their adorable little heads that I meant it when I told the students they needed to be ready for class.

Ultimately, the students started turning each other in for violations. I liked the change and will start the year with this process next year.

For those of you concerned that it takes a lot of paperwork, it doesn't. In my seating chart I keep track of which students are absent. In the student's column I just write a "p" if they didn't bring a pencil, "b" for a missing book, or "ws" for a missing worksheet. I just add those up at the end of each marking period. It is as large as a test grade (I grade using total points.) and the students really see an impact, either good or bad, to their average.

Best of Luck,
Ilka

[blueyes]

i tend to do the same thing - i teach Middle School and 10th grade English - yup, i know what your thinking - it can be done - it's tricky - anyway -

i will let them know like you said about 2 weeks before what they are missing - i will not give them thier grade - they get thier tests, homeworks, projects, etc. back - they can use a calculator and figure it out themselves - i have other things to do -

i work in a private boarding school, and we do monthly grades - and i will not tell them what they got for the month. they will get thier report card, people work hard to do the work, they can wait a day or two - because if i give it to them they lawyer, and manipulate for something better.

also - as someone else mentioned - i also take points off for not being prepared for class, be it homework, books, pen, etc. i don't always let them go to thier locker - sometimes that can be an all day affair -

just my 2 cents! :)


I give every test back to them. They could figure it out for themselves, but they don't. About 2 weeks before grades are due, I go down the roll, and say

Steve Andrews, you are missing HW# 1, 4, 6
Ben Benjamin, you are missing HW# 2
Cathy Cathington, you are all caught up.


My point in why I won't tell them what their grade is after what they are missing, because Andrews will turn in HW#1 and say, "what's that bring me up to" which means, "If I have a good enough grade, I won't do #4 and #6"

if they then say, "How do I know how I'm doing", I tell them, I tell you what you need to do your best, not what you need to do to skim by."

[Mr. H]

I start every unit out with my expectations... My complaint is that regardless of what we tell them, every year they seem to do less and less of what is expected. I have A students who settle for B's because they are too lazy to work. It's more a question of sociology, I guess. I can try to motivate them until I'm blue in the face, but in the end, THEY need to be the ones trying harder and putting forth an effort in lieu of ME fighting for them to achieve their potentials.

[bioteach200]

It IS hard to try and teach the kids personal responsibility/accountability!

I post their grades after every test (about every 2 weeks or so)...so my kids know what they are getting, and know what they are missing.

If a kid comes us and asks me, "If I do reinforce 7-1 and 8-3, will that make me pass?" I say, "So basically, you are asking me, in so many words, 'What is the LEAST amount of effort I can give and still squeak by?' "

Sometimes I get no reply...for those that actually say "Yes." I simply reply what he/she is missing and if he/she has ANY HOPE of passing my class, they better make an attitude check.

That works for me...I now get very few students that come up and ask me that question.

[annettemcd]

I think that the lesson of being accountable and responsible is the greatest lesson that can be taught to students. My children have attended a very small school with less than 150 students in the high school. Everyone knows everyone else and so it is common for students to give excuses and for teachers to take the easy road and just accept the excuses. I have seen good students graduate and then not be successful because they are so use to a lax attitude about responsibility. The young person goes to college and finds that professors will not accept lame excuses and, instead of learning a lesson, he/she fails and drops out of college. I think that the high school has greatly failed those students. Even if the students have learned the subject matter in their classes, without understanding responsibility and accountability, they are destined to fail.

The only thing that keeps some of the students working up to any kind of standard at my children's school is the desire to be eligible for extra-curricular activities including athletics, mainly basketball. Students' grades are compiled weekly and if the student has any Fs or has below a C average, they are not eligible to play sports or to take part in extra-curricular activities in the coming week. It is a shame that it is not the desire for academic excellence that drives many of the students, but the desire to be able to play sports.

I do have to admit that I am sort of a helicopter parent myself, but I try to be sure that what I am doing is trying to be sure that my children have as many opportunities available to them as possible. I try to not make excuses for them, but to make sure that there are no roadblocks in front of them. I make it clear to the school what I want for my children.

My children also know that I have higher standards than the school does. My son was overheard once at a meeting about the eligibility policy to say to a friend that if his GPA was below a C average or if he had an F, being eligible to play basketball was the very least of his worries since he may not survive the experience.

There has to be consequences for being irresponsible. As a parent, I have no problem with teachers deducting points for a student not being prepared or not handing in assignments on time as long as the rules are made clear and are applied with an even hand. Those are the questions I always ask when I hear a student complain about a penalty. "Did the teacher tell you the rule and is he/she fair?" If the answer is, "Yes," I say, "Tough; live with it." I do not care how good my children's average is if there are any zeros. In my mind, there is no excuse for a zero, since it means that the assignment was not handed in.

[Unregistered]

I hate bad attitudes. I let the student know that, too. No effort and a bad attitude = a bad participation grade in my book.

[jamiejones]

careful, your Chocolate_new_orleans is showing ;)

and unfortunately, you are right on the money with your observations.

I don't give averages out until after they are set (for progress reports or report cards) I will, however, tell them what they are missing. When I tell them what they are missing and they ask what their current grade is, that is a round about way for them to try and figure out the minimum they need to do to 'not fail'

By me not telling them, they are forced into doing all of it.

As a fairly new teacher, I have bought into this idea of student ownership of their grades way too much. I have been almost guilted into the idea that every week or every other week we should show students their grades in our classes. In fact, my school requires this as a hidden rule if you will. See, every other week grades are printed and given to the homeroom teachers to discuss with the kids in homeroom time. Then, at the 4.5 week progress report time, the grades are mailed home. The last straw is that our school uses STI for the electronic grade book and part of our upgraded package is that students and parents can go on their website and see all their current grades. What a nightmare! Since we upgraded to that new package about midway through this past school year, I have noticed a tremendous change in attitude. Talk about the helicopter parents! Now I have parents e-mailing me or calling every other day because they have access to all the grades. What if little Johnny turned something in late? Now parents expect me to stop what I'm doing and grade that stuff immediately because they are monitoring their grade! UGH!

At least I can control how much of this I invite on myself. I'm notorious now for giving in and telling kids their grade, especiallly because of the internet access. I just assumed well, they can look it up anyway. I suspect even this new trend will wear off by the start of this year. They'll already be too lazy to go and look it up themselves, huh?

[joseph.stevens7]

A positive attitude is very important in students to me as well!

[Unregistered]

I found a solution for my high school students:

If a student is missing a writing utensil, I supply one - but the student has to forefit both their shoes for the class.

If they are missing paper, they ahve to get paper from the recycling bin in my class (usually old worksheets or extra copies) and use the back side.

In either case, they get 3 "excuses" a grading period, and after that, they forefit 7 minutes of their lunch time to me. (I just make a mark in a special column next to their names in the grade book).

[Unregistered]

I just add those up at the end of each marking period. It is as large as a test grade (I grade using total points.) and the students really see an impact, either good or bad, to their average.



How does this show what they know in your classroom? Shouldn't grades show how students understand the material and not whether or not they can remember to bring a pencil to class? I'm all for student accountability, but I don't think rewarding with points is the best way to go about increasing it in the classroom. Something I would feel more comfortable with is using a student's sense of class pride to increase student accountability. Perhaps pitting one class versus another class to see who could go the longest without forgetting their materials for bragging rights.

[annettemcd]

As a parent, I like to see grades posted on the internet. I use it to check on my child, not to bother teachers. Luckily, my daughter is a perfectionist and not only wants an A, she wants 100%, if she can get it. I did watch her grades and questioned any zeros or missing grades especially.

All of her classes have a participation score, usually 10 points/week. My daughter suffered from missing two classes per week because of a college course which required her to leave high school early on those two days. She had to do extra credit reports to make up for missing participation points. Though the teacher was willing to work with her and not schedule labs or tests on either of the days which she missed, it was her responsibility to make up what was missed. She could not just skip the work. She worked hard and was able to get an A in that class.

I do not agree with the statement that grades should only be about the subject matter. In high school students need to learn that you have to be prepared to learn and being prepared is worth something. It is also an easy way to get points, so it is in the student's favor, not working against the student to give points for class participation including coming to class prepared. No studying required, just remember to come to class prepared and you earn points! What could be easier?