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I recently recieved this email from a teacher at a school I've been working with as they transition to Standards Referenced Grading. I think it's a pretty universal concern and I'm happy to provide some thoughts on the topic. Got a question I can help with? Just REPLY TO THIS EMAIL or shoot me a message at Facebook.com/Edunators, or on Twitter @MarkClementsEdu.
Hey Mark,
Hope you are well. We are looking for general resources on supporting students who refuse to work. Anything you recommend? We are trying to treat refusal as a negative behavior rather than punish with low scores.”
-John (Middle School teacher, name changed).
You’re right to treat it as a behavioral one, not an academic one. Task completion is behavior and since ultimately behavior is a form of communication, we have to ask “What is this student telling us by not doing the work?” or put differently “Why aren’t they doing the work assigned?”
The simplest answer is because the task assigned is NOWHERE NEAR as compelling as whatever else they’re choosing to do, such as talk to friends, etc. To paraphrase Rick Wormeli “We know the old saying ‘You can lead a horse to water’ but the question isn’t ‘how do we make him drink’ but rather ‘how do we make him THIRSTY.’”
Teachers don’t like to hear it, but sometimes the problem is the assignment itself. We need to make assignments relevant however possible, make real world connections, connections to previous learning (scaffolding), explain why it’s important to future learning, etc. Check out Dave Burgess’ “hooks” as a means of making the material more compelling. Especially with middle school kids, anything that is novel, gross, taboo, funny or incorporates talking and movement is more likely to get finished. Providing choice whenever possible also increases the likelihood assignments are completed.
Assignments that are perceived as boring or irrelevant will always lead students choose something else, especially if the task is difficult. John Hattie actually cites “boredom” as having a negative impact on student achievement - even more so than depression.
If your principal handed you a worksheet of one-digit addition problems at your next faculty meeting and said “Do this” with no further instruction, you wouldn’t see the point or understand why, but the task would be simple/quick enough that you’d go ahead and do it with a puzzled look on your face. However, if that same principal handed you forty pages of advanced calculus, you’d probably have a few more questions. Sadly to many of our students, the “grade level” coursework we hand them feels like our principal handing us copious amounts of advanced mathematics - out of context, and too difficult to apply sustained effort or even attempt.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE and see how relationships, relevance, scafolding and especially feedback can drastically reduce the frequency of students refusing to complete assignments.
Need a different idea? Check out....
“Raise your hand if you believe that social promotion is the problem with education in this country and should be stopped immediately?”
I reluctantly started to raise my hand, as did about a hundred or so other teachers in the room.
“Then why do we do it every 47 minutes every time a bell rings? DING! And students move to the next class on their schedule whether they learned the days objective or not, whether they did the assignment to the best of their ability or ignored it completely. We promote them.”
And with that, a light bulb went off above my head as the little teacher inside me shouted “Eureka!” and began frantically writing in my notebook and texting my principal about my latest and greatest idea to motivate reluctant learners.
How do you do it? READ MORE HERE!
Got a question I can help with? Shoot me an email and let me know the obstacle of learning your school is facing and hopefully I can help. Feel free to send it my way on Facebook as well or via Twitter @MarkClementsEdu using #Edunators.
More Edunating Stuff!
The Edunators Podcast Episode #6: Why Mark Hates It When Teacher's Say "In the Real World". (AUDIO 15:08)
The End of Snow Days? #SnowThankYou #SaveOurSnowDays (VIDEO 2:42)
 I offer FREE 30 minute consultations to help you or your colleagues overcome their biggest obstacles to student learning. Let me know how I can help you and your students focus on learning and be great today!
-Mark
markclements@Edunators.com
www.edunators.com
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