The no zero concept is interesting to me because I have more than just a few students who outright refuse to do certain assignments. I have 2-5 students PER CLASS PERIOD who outright will not do homework... period. Even if given class time, study hall, whatever... they just won't. I've given extensions, spoken to them, provided class time to work, and some continue to just not do it. What's the solution to that? Harassing them (as noted above) does nothing, they don't really care. These kids have a goal in mind... "D-" ... "Passing". That's all. And even that goal isn't rock solid, because for the classes where "passing is too much work" they let themselves fail, and wait until the following semester or year for "an easier teacher" of the subject. Bleh.
Part of me would love to switch to this, perhaps with a 2-4-6 for larger projects. I have so many students who have As on the work they've done but are still failing due to the sheer quantity of missing assignments. This semester, they've turned in the 10 point quiz but skipped the 100 point research project.
For me, there is a huge difference in "0" because a student refuses to do work and "0" because there are barriers (language, learning disabilities) that prevent them from being able to do the work.
No lie, MrsC. And somehow the system has got to have room to bust the lazy ones without screwing over the ones who are simply swamped beyond capacity.
This caught my attention too. Having worked many years on the border we were not supposed to teach in Spanish either, but there were many available accommodations. There are also many teaching strategies that you can do that will benefit all students (many of them fall into Sheltered Instruction or ESL Instruction strategies). Also, does the child demonstrate some effort? If there is effort but she still isnt making the grade she definitely needs a 504 plan-fast.
