Classroom Management: What Would You Do? - Unit 7

Scenario: A learner in your class has sporadic attendance which prevents them from making any progress in their learning…How would you address this situation

What would I do in this scenario? What would you do? These are my thoughts in regards to what my response would be if I was the teacher in this situation.

Firstly, I am assuming this is an adult class. Second of all, I would hope that at the beginning of the course I, along with my students, would have come up with classroom “rules” outlining the importance of attending class and giving clear communication if attendance is unattainable. Assuming these things, I would proceed with having a conversation with the student. I would ask the student to stay after class (in a discrete way). I would ask the student what was going on and the reason for their poor attendance. 

If their response would be something along the lines of honestly unable to attend class because for example a sick child, a job, their own health problems etc. I would either suggest the student find a different job, find childcare etc. or drop the class for this season. Language learning takes time and great effort, if they are unwilling to participate in that way it would be better for them to drop. Perhaps I would suggest a course that was more flexible with its timing, maybe finding an online course or tutoring outlet or suggest a book that could help the student move along in their language study without having to commit to a certain amount of time in a week. 

If the response would be more along the lines of that they slept in, they forgot, a friend wanted to hang out with them etc. I would first ask the student about their desire to learn English and how serious they are. If they do not have a huge drive to learn English, perhaps they should not be in the class or they should wait for another time when they are willing to focus more on language learning. I would also be willing to set up or send out reminders for them of the class or work out time management and scheduling.

Depending on the response of the student, I would conclude the conversation by together creating an action plan to aid the student. We could work out steps to finding a child care or applying for another job. We could set up a plan that consists of reminders of attending class on time. Again, depending on the attitude of the student, I would suggest to the student a period of probation and maybe to schedule another meeting in a few weeks to evaluate how things are going. 

These are a few ideas and a lot of my response would depend on the situation but the main thing would be to communicate, communicate, communicate! In any relationship, communication is so important. I would want to clearly communicate to the student how I value them as a person, how I value my classroom, and I value their success. Communicating these things softens some of the confrontation that has to occur and encourages the student to respond kindly and responsibly.

For more resources look up these:

B, J. (2013, March 31). The Golden Rules: 10 Tips for Expert ESL Classroom Management. Retrieved from https://busyteacher.org/15100-expert-esl-classroom-management-10-golden-tips.html

Long, S. (2015, May 19). ESL Classroom Management Strategies. Retrieved from https://www.reachtoteachrecruiting.com/blog/ESL-classroom-management

Patton, S. (2018, May 04). Classroom Management Strategies for ESL Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.gooverseas.com/blog/classroom-management-strategies-for-esl-teachers