What is a school to do with students who elect to fail? I have a student in one of my classes who shows no interest in completing any work. Worse yet, he doesn’t really have opinions. A slightly more enthusiastic shrug of the shoulders shows his penchant for music. On Monday, the daily topic asked for an opinion on education (it relates to Siddhartha). He only manage to give me “it’s…”
Come in after school to complete some work? How about during break or lunch tomorrow? Next week? How about we turn this class into a study hall so you can work on other classes you can pass? None of these have worked.
He’s not a distraction and he’s not bringing anyone else down with him. He shows up just about every day. He just doesn’t do anything.
Email at my school was alive with a related topic just last week. Though intriguing, we didn’t reach any tenable or practical solutions. What can school systems do to reach kids like that? And what about those that are more active and aggressive about their discontent? What do we do for those kids who actually have animosity toward the system?