Taking Responsibility: Who Signs Off on Learning?
In three decades of classroom teaching, I was a participant in hundreds of parent meetings convened because there were concerns about a student's academic performance. These meetings invariably ended by creating an action plan, with everyone present making promises about What Will Happen Next.
More often than not, parents and teachers agreed to additional duties: Daily planner checks at home. Weekly written progress reports from school listing current grades, missing assignments and "citizenship." Parent signatures on all completed homework. Often this campaign began with a supervised locker and backpack clean-out, the so-called "fresh start."
The only person not wholeheartedly embracing all this taking of responsibility for learning? The student.
I remember one meeting in particular. I was surprised when I got the notification because D was one of my favorite students (yes, teachers have favorite students). He was a smart, articulate kid with a deadpan sense of humor (a big plus when you're in the 7th grade), a consistently strong performer.
His parents were distraught, however. D had become so irresponsible and scattered! He left his lunch and gym
More often than not, parents and teachers agreed to additional duties: Daily planner checks at home. Weekly written progress reports from school listing current grades, missing assignments and "citizenship." Parent signatures on all completed homework. Often this campaign began with a supervised locker and backpack clean-out, the so-called "fresh start."
The only person not wholeheartedly embracing all this taking of responsibility for learning? The student.
I remember one meeting in particular. I was surprised when I got the notification because D was one of my favorite students (yes, teachers have favorite students). He was a smart, articulate kid with a deadpan sense of humor (a big plus when you're in the 7th grade), a consistently strong performer.
His parents were distraught, however. D had become so irresponsible and scattered! He left his lunch and gym
