Nachdem ich gestern mich schon über Montage ausgelassen habe, kommt heute noch ein typisches Montagsproblem. Meine Kursteilnehmer kommen im Allgemeinen regelmäßig zum Unterricht, was sicher auch daran liegt, dass ich Schüler, die mehr als einen oder zwei Tage unentschuldigt fehlen, kontaktiere.
Aber Montags kommen üblicherweise die wenigsten. Ich will gar nicht darüber spekulieren, warum das so ist, es ist einfach so, Anwesenheitspflicht hin oder her. Letzte Woche hatte ich mit fünf (von zwölf) Teilnehmern einen besonderen Tiefpunkt erreicht, zwei davon gingen auch noch früher.
Ich bin dann immer unsicher, ob ich einen solchen Tag zum reinen Wiederholen nutzen oder wie geplant weitermachen soll. Theoretisch müssen die Lerner ja selbstständig nachholen, was sie verpassen. Praktisch sind die wenigsten dazu in der Lage und es hilft niemandem, wenn die Mehrheit der Klasse große Lücken im Lehrstoff hat. Wiedereinmal heißt es, den Mittelweg suchen und finden.
Since I already spouted off yesterday about my trouble with Mondays, here is another Monday specific problem. Generally, my classes have a good attendance record, which I’m pretty sure is partly due to the fact that I contact participants when they are missing more than one or two days without letting me know.
Monday is traditionally the day with the lowest attendance. I don’t want to speculate on the reasons why, it just is, compulsory attendance or no. Last week was a low point with five (of twelve) course participants present, two of whom left early.
I’m always unsure whether to use such a day purely for repetition and whether to plough on as planned. Theoretically the learners should catch up independently what they’ve missed. Practically though, most of them have difficulties doing that and nobody is helped when the majority of the class has large learning gaps. Once again, looking for and finding a middle ground is called for.
You’ve certainly got problems here. I’m sure your students have too. It’s going to get harder before it gets easier again – she said – cheerfully.
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Here’s to hoping!
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Maybe do a last week’s recap on Mondays? Repetition, like you said.
It is fantastic that you care, not many teachers do anymore – these days.
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Thank you.
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May I suggest an open forum day, where they can ask questions, have conversations etc … if it’s a fun day it rewards those who made the effort and those who miss it might be more inclined to attend 🙂
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Basically a good idea – except that I teach people with very basic skills and open discussions completely overtax them.
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ouch maybe split the class to have one on one chats with someone of equal skill? Or read out children’s books or watch a child’s cartoon. Just so that they can hear and see very basic fun things …
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You have great ideas. Except … Corona. All my ideas for working in groups, in pairs etc. are not allowed at present. The only possible teaching happens in the old-fashioned way of the teacher standing in front and facing the class. If I go to check on something written or similar, I have to put on a mask (I wear a shield up front, which is not very efficient, but better than nothing , we also open all the windows for 5 minutes every 20 minutes, which is great with snow or cold rain outside). It is very frustrating and limiting and I am trying to find ways to make it work but a lot of my old stand-byes are not allowed and most of my material for individual work stays in the cupboard.
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wow it sounds tough, what would online teachers do? Those open windows with snow and rain sounds rugged!
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I think online teachers face completely different challenges. I took a few courses but it’s just not applicable for my kind of students. But I don’t want to sound so negative, I actually still enjoy teaching them and I think they are learning. It just would be more fun (and a lot warmer) with all the COVID-rules.
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sorry I was trying to think of solutions but sounds like you’ve tried them all … maybe go outside and play in the snow 🙂
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😊
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