My syllabus states that I will start the class on time. If you come in late, that disrupts the class, so please quietly take a seat. It is your responsibility to find out what you missed from your classmates. You are paying for this class, and I want you to get your money's worth. If you are here from start to finish, your grade will reflect that. If you are frequently late or leave early, your grade will reflect that as well.
I also give a quiz first thing every Monday. If they are late, they can't make up the quiz and will lose the points.
I don't believe in babying my students. I will treat them as adults and I expect them to behave accordingly. -Jeanne
I like your forwardness on the topic of being late and missing class time. I feel that giving stricter guidelines is what will make the difference. I have used the points system and feel that it can also make a difference with attendance and assignments. I believe that the students should take the course start time and end time serious. If they miss time they are missing out on valuable information and skill practice needed to succeed in the work place.
Hi Marian,
At my campus, we are not allowed to grade class participation or dock points for tardiness, so this is my solution. So far, I haven't had problems with starting my classes on time. I'm not strict with my students at all; there's plenty of levity in my classes. But I think if you want students to respect your rules, you have to make it clear that there are consequences that you will enforce. Basically, if you treat your students as adults deserving of your respect, they will treat you and your classroom with respect as well. -Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
I concur! Great points made!
Patricia
I agree with this assessment of the student population in adult education. This is one of the reasons that online education is so popular; I can take classes when I have time and don't have to worry about meeting a school's schedule. I was working full-time while I took online classes and I was never late for my job.
So how do I convince my administrators that we need to come to some type of agreement on a new type of attendance policy? And what would be the rules?
Hi Paul,
Are you speaking about an attendance policy for students that take classes in seat/at school? If so, you can adopt an attendance policy very similar to my institution's policy. If they go over 8 hours of missed time for a class, they are withdrawn from the class. An absence counts as 2 hours and a tardy/early departure counts as 1 hour.
Patricia
I really like this approach. The problem is, there is no final exam in my class; instead they write a business plan. I can't let them be exempt from that project. Any suggestions as to what else I could offer?
Hi Beth,
Give timed quizzes on the hour of the class and do not allow for makeup quizzes.
Patricia
If I have a class that seems to be having a problem with people arriving late (including coming back late from breaks), I use "quick quizzes".....very simply, I hand out index cards and have them answer a question or two over something we have just covered -- usually those present get 100% -- folks walking in late can easily see that they have missed a quiz and take a zero. This has really helped get them to class on time!
If i have a clast that seems to be having problem with arriving to class on time, I use a similar system. If it is a day with a scheduled quiz, the quiz is given at the begining of the class. This has really helped in getting students to my class on time. Based on expectations discussed with students at the begining of the courses, missed scheduled quizzes cannot be made up and earns a zero.
