What Do You Do With Student Who Don't Want To Work

Let's start with this.  

There is no silver bullet and I still have kids in my class that choose not to work.  No matter how much I talk to them, try to inspire them, or even threaten them.  They just choose not to do the work. 

But there are those students in which I am able to break through their wall and start to see some progress.  Those are the ones we need to invest our time and energy into. 

As the saying goes you can lead a horse to water but you can not make it drink.  But what we can do is make the horse thirsty so hopefully it will eventually decide to drink. 

So what does that look like in my classroom?

I start by having a real conversation with students asking them, "What is the lowest grade you can have in the class and be happy?"

Then I let them know I am there to help them with their goal.

If no progress is made I then let them know that I can't force them to work but I need to call home to make sure their parents know what is going on because I don't want to be held accountable for lack of motivation.

I then have occasional talks with them revisiting the topic to see if anything has changed. 

I provide them plenty of opportunity to make up any missing work.

In some occasions I create a contest with another student to see who can do the most work for the day. 

Once again, none of these is the silver bullet but I have seen kids turn it around.  

To get more detail on what I do watch my latest video by clicking the image above. 

Also if you would like any help in the classroom or with classroom management I offer a course and mentoring.  Just click on the link below to set up a time to meet to see how I can best help you.  

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