What is even more frustrating though is the same students that have to miss class excessively for other obligations cannot make it to school earlier, stay late or come in on Saturday. Instead teachers are asked to create projects for these students to make up the hours they missed. So I plan lessons with your skills in mind, I plan stations for your needs, I create the best lesson I can every SINGLE day and now I need to create a project for the students that could not make it to those lessons. More work for the teacher. Create the project, monitor the project and grade the project. I feel bad asking this question, but why does the teacher have more work because the student did not come to class? I planned the lessons you did not show up to. These students loose the opportunity to learn from their peers and contribute to the classroom environment. Maybe the solution is to send them to alternative school. If we let them make up their credit at the end, we are reinforcing their actions to skip. If we denied credit, discussed options, and sent students to school settings that met their needs, we might help the student, the school, and the teacher?
As frustrated as I am to create these projects, I will. Personally, I think many of our students are doing everything they can to get to school. They have more responsibility than even I do in my life. If they can come on a Saturday or can successfully complete a project, I am willing to give them credit as long as they had already passed the class. For now they are my students and as their teacher I want to help them be successful. If it is creating alternative assignments for students with special needs or additional responsibilities, I will help. But as an institution we need to think about what is really in the best interest of the students and how we can support their needs.