Monday, March 15, 2010

Accountability and ESL students

Big day - do or die day. All my students today needed to hand in their "School of the Future" assignment. As my school is being torn down and replaced with a new school in only 2 years time, I thought it would be a fun assignment to draw the new school in Sketchup, and to include a 1 page write up about it. I told them that they could have the weekend if I got both write up and sketch in by Monday at the start of class. They wanted to be treated as adults so I told them there would be a penalty for late work.



One student didn't take his deadline seriously. He didn't do a write up, though he was capable of doing so. He tried to laugh it off, but I insisted that this was a required element. When I said I needed to phone his parents, he gave me the number, but told me that this would not be worth my while as they don't speak english.



I was left with no choice. I showed him our school's "I" letter - a letter we send home to students in danger of failing a course for incomplete work. I filled it out in under 2 minutes for him. I then showed him Google Translate. I translated the letter into the language his parents spoke, had him sign it, I signed it, and circled the date. When I asked him to read what it said and describe it in English, his jaw dropped, and he said "ooooh this says I am not doing well in the course, and I am going to get a bad grade!" I wonder if he was so aghast because I found a way to contact his parents, or if for the first time he understood in his own language what was happening to his grades.



I expect the form back tomorrow, along with his missing assignment.



If I had to wait for a translator to be available, and for the parents to be available, it could take days, or perhaps a week for everyone's schedule to jive. In order for this student to feel the immediate effects of his poor choice, I needed a way to inform his parents immediately; this is necessary for the student to learn from his poor choices.

2 comments:

spaguyswife said...

As you know accountability has always been the one struggle we've had with you know who! It makes such a huge difference when you find a way for them to "get it". Nicely done, I'm sure this student will think twice before putting off another assignment.

Brian Kuhn said...

Hey James - great assignment. I'd love you and your students to visit these posts of mine about school design and contribute your/their ideas.

What should secondary schools look like in the future? http://shift2future.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-should-secondary-schools-look-like.html

Schools of the Future http://shift2future.blogspot.com/2010/01/schools-of-future.html

I'd be interested in reading some of their work on this assignment. Maybe you could post it somewhere?