Problems with being on time
One issue that seems to plague the school that I teach is getting students in the class on time. It seems that it is an issue within the whole facilty and that the students (mostly 18 - 25) are not used to being made to be on time. Is there a way to get them in and keep them motivated to come to class on time without being to aggressive in enforcing this measure?
Hi Randy,
The entire facility must be focused on starting on time. This requirement needs to be campus wide. Secondly, I believe that you need to be agressive in starting on time. You are training these individuals to be professionals so there are expectations that go with the training and timely attendance is one of them. By allowing some students to come in late with no consequences a clear message is sent to the students that do come on time and that is it doesn't really matter when you come to class. This causes problems with class management and student respect.
Gary
In my class I have the students sign in for each class which is a requirement at our school since we have a mandatory 80% attendance. All my students know that if they are not in class by 15 minutes after the class has started, they cannot sign in for that day, PERIOD! I even go a step further by putting the sign in book away. This lets everyone know that you must be on time. In fact I had a student show up 30 minutes late and tried to sign in the other day. I gently told him that he was too late, but he was still welcome to participate in class. He was slightly embarrased but understood. Plus, since the class saw this, they saw that I do enforce this rule.
Exactly. At my school, we are agressive in enforceing timeliness. Arrive late and your seat in a lab is given to another student. We are very lab oriented and this can cause a delay in a student's course completion. Of course, we work with students that have unavoidable problems but generally this enforces the importance to be on time.
Punctuality has been an issue in my past classes thus I emphasize the importance of punctuality in the workforce. I explain that part of professionalism is conducting themselves appropriately in all situations. Students must realize that they must take school as seriously as they would a job. Also, I emphasize that I would allow the students to use me as a professional reference when applying for positions; which ultimately motivates the students to be on time.
Randy,
Punctuality is indeed an issue with the age group you mentioned. In having worked in film for a number of years there is a magical thing called a "closed set" in that if you don't make the "call time", the deadline for arrival, then you are locked out and are not allowed in until a break in the action happens. I have been known to lock the door the day after I give my ONE INSTANCE of not making the call time story. It is amazing how some students get in line.
The other thing I do is to review test questions or topics prior to class and ONLY prior to class start times to hopefully encourage the late students to get to class before the required start time.
Both have been met with a modicum of success in that some folks are just plain lazy and there is no fixing that.
To these characters I ask "If you were an employer, would YOU pay someone to do what you did today?" to try and put a real world dollar value to their actions.
Good luck,
Brad
Hi Amber,
You made a number of very good points. I think the big key point of all of this is your being a reference for your students. As you mentioned if they are absent and tardy frequently that doesn't give you much to work with when it comes to writing a reference. You can only speak about what you know and being on time and a good worker is a must.
Gary
I am teaching a three hour class in the evenings. I found that some students who signed in at the beginning of class were leaving early, during the last break. We have gone to signing the attendance sheet at the end of class, which has eliminated the problem.
Thanks.
Hello Sir,
I feel that the awareness of rules is definitely essential. However, since learning is emotional, and since the course addresses something that the students have a passion for, having the information provided to the students so that it is clear that they are heading closer to their goal of success will help with the self motivation. Also informing students that they will learn a new fact every five minutes in your course lets them get a feel of the speed of the course. This should be an indicator that coming to class late too many times will cause the student to be behind in their goal.
Hi James,
You make a number of good points. The key is to keep their focus on progress that is being made and how that progress can be maintained.
Gary
I find that from the beginning when explaining attendance policies, if you could also explain the rate of new information provided lets students know how much they can expect to be behind in their learning over cumulative time helps. Couple this by keeping a steady pace of information exposes this reality for them.
James D.
Hi Craig,
You hit on something that I think is a problem with many (not all) of the younger students today. You mentioned your late student was only slightly embarrassed. I am finding a shrug your shoulders - "oh well" attitude more and more prevalent. I don't see how anyone gets away with it in the professional world; although I do think many employers are becoming more lax about such attitudes and unfortunately this reinforces to this new up and coming workforce that they can get away with it.
Generally I believe students will rise to expectations. I just don't think that we (society in general, not just educators) advocate personal responsibility as we once did.
I realize teaching students personal responsibility isn't our reason for teaching the classes we teach, but if we can help instill it in the students, we will have done for them a great service.
I think I have mastered this problem. I started out teaching a Saturday 8 am class. OUCH! Getting them on time was quite the challenge. I implemented the pop quiz. No big surprise here. Only thing is... I give it w/in the first 15 minutes. If you come late - you do not get to take it at all. If you arrive 5 minutes late you have 10 to finish it. My students have been coming to class on time and prepared! I have also noticed other faculty members have taken to my method. I make it a vocabulary quiz for the material we are going to cover. I just want to know they have read and are familiar w/the terms. I do not expect perfection. I have told them it is an easy was to control their final grade.
I think you have asked one of the most intelligent questions I have seen on this forum. You want an answer that deals with the positive aspects of attending class.
I preview some of my classes. I tell them "Please be on time tomorrow because ..." I try not to overuse this. There are days that I absolutely need them to be on time. I get good results this way. If I did it all the time, the effect would be lessened.
I'm not a fan of negativity. It is easy to threaten punishment, but I would rather dangle a reward.
For instance, I often speak about their jobs after graduation. I could say that they will get fired for absences. Instead, I point to all the money they will earn for just showing up and applying the skills they are learning.
All of my students are paying top dollar to attend our school. I am doing something wrong if I have to fight them to attend.
Honey is always better than vinegar. And there are less tears.
Hi Vipan,
Great suggestions for getting students to class on time. Having taught on Saturdays myself I know of which you speak in terms of getting the students there on time. You offer a way of earning points and getting the class started on time. I am sure your students appreciate your efforts even though at times they may groan as they try to make it to class on time on a weekend day.
Gary
Hi Stephen,
Well said on all topics. You have a great approach because you are building a positive foundation for your students. Yes, honey does work better than vinegar as you have evidenced in your classes.
Gary
For every 1 hour of time missed is one point off overall attendance grade.
Hi Pam,
I had a questions about the loss of a point for each hour of time missed. How much does the total attendance points contribute to the final grade? Is it enough to catch the attention of the students so they will adhere to the attendance polices?
Gary
An easy pop quiz given at the beginning of class has helped with my students . Those on time get an easy boost to their grade and the others get a zero .
Focusing the students attention to the need of getting to class on time is indeed difficult. My approach is discuss this issue with students individually explaining dissruption to whole class by late arrivals and ask for their support. Constant attention to this seems to work best, although I am never totally satisfied with the results, and I certainly do not favor any form of penalties tied to grades.
