I was just wondering how you handle a student who doesnt finish their work (all of it) in a timely manner. The only reason she is not finishing is because she is playing around and not focusing (no id. issues with focusing) I really want to start grading her on the work she does in the time frame. Is this too harsh? She misses recess to complete her work and doesnt really care if she misses it. I have talked to her mom and she thinks its a joke. Let me know what you all think about me grading her work as is. Oh, she is in second grade.
I have 5 sitting here finishing up the work for the same reasons! Tomorrow, if it is not finished, they miss our "fun friday" activity. And the work goes home as homework...yes, it is the same ones as last week...I do know missing out on "fun" stuff is enough incentive most of the time. As far as grading, in second grade, my students do not really understand care/understand what the grading means. yes. the star kids love their %100, but in general, I am not sure grading the work as is will really help with the problem? JMHO
Start sending unfinished work home to be completed and signed. Then the mom will no longer think it's a joke.
Is the work that is being assigned independent work that you are using as an assessment or practice? I have given some students a strip or set of problems from a worksheet. When they finish these, they trade in their set for the next set. Having less to finish motivates some students. I've also done reward systems for students. When they complete an assignment, they get a sticker or star. After so many stickers, they get to pick a prize.
I have a student with the same issue, except that his mom & dad are as perplexed as I am. He can do the work, but almost refuses to work independently, even if he is sitting at my teacher table while I work with someone else!!! We've been dealing with this since August, so by now, he knows what he needs to do, yet he still does not do it. This occurs in reading, math, science, and social studies! Ugh. Part of me feels that, if I send the work home, it would not be fair to the students who actually did their work if I gave him full credit. I can't keep him in from recess - that's the one "duty" I have & can't get out of. I have sent the work to his enrichment classes when I have meetings during my planning period, and I have kept him in the classroom when I don't, but he still doesn't finish it. It does not take 3 hours to complete a drill sheet with 30 math problems on it! (My grandson, also in 1st, is expected to complete that many in 2 minutes!) I have tried bribing with stickers, etc., to no avail. I'm looking for other options, but it's looking more and more like he will need to receive the grades he actually earned. BTW, he is not Special Ed, has no accommodations, and benchmarks exactly at grade level.
if you have the ability to do this in my grade one class we have Catch up class - noted on the schedule by a bottle of ketchup(which the kids think is funny) there is a box for unfinished work one day a week for us it's thursdays the kids go to computers, those who are not done stay behind and catch up. if they miss the whole computer time so be it. It's better than keeping them in at recess in my opinion. Kids need not only exercise but social interactions that recess provides so we try to avoid taking away recess
If it becomes a huge problem and a student doesn't finish simply because he/she spent work time playing, then I make him/her stay in during recess (believe me I hate to do that). If it's a slower worker, I give him/her extra time. After work has stayed in their cubbies a day or two, I send it home to be completed and then returned.
THIRTY problems in first grade?? I mean I give a Math facts quiz every week with 50 problems and time them for 2 1/2 minutes, but if they don't finish they just don't finish. Is this the kind of thing you're talking about or do you typically give them this many problems to work? I teach second grade and if there are more than 15 problems I only assign evens or odds. I know this is not what you want to hear, but some kids are just naturally slow movers. Can you just look at the problems he HAS completed to make an assessment of whether or not he has mastered something?
some ideas Take away school birthday parties, field trips, any fun programs. If you are lucky enough to be able to keep kids after school and have parents come and pick them up late each day do that. Is there a dad involved? Grade the work she has done, if it doesn't measure up, let the mother know her child will be in 2nd again next year.
Keep in mind a teacher's primary job is to teach academic skills. Getting students to complete their work in a timely manner is secondary to that and a means to an end. Where is this student in terms of actual reading and math skills? That's the important question. Can she easily do the work she is not doing or is the issue that she takes longer because she is not proficient in the skills needed to complete the task? Note that many students will become frustrated and then give up when they struggle with a task. To an adult, this looks like "playing around."
Hello again, just an update and answers to your questions. We took a math test and she had 5 problems done in 30 min. ( 20 problem test filled with various types of math problems) I was watching her to see what was distracting her and here is what I saw...1. She scratched off all her finger nail polish, she played with her hair and (how do I say this without offending anyone..) she played with herself with her pencil. Yes that is her biggest distraction. Her mom knows she does this and I'm not too sure what to do except tell her to focus. Know when she did get to the other side she had a hard time figuring out a problem. I told her to move on and do the problems she knows but she couldnt. She started to get up set so I let her take a break. Once I read the question to her she understood. So in total it took an hour. (she got a 90) Will another school allow this? I guess I'm hyper sensitive because a previous parent came back to another teacher complaining that their child can't get the work done in time (by their new school standards) and there' s a problem with how we are doing things, maybe giving kids too much time?
