Today I had a first, a student refused to partake in a assignment I had given to the class. They did not make a single effort. This has never happened to me. I have had students complain or be lazy but to not even try to look like they were doing something. It threw me off a little bit. This student also happens to be deaf. At first, I went up to her/him with the interpreter and asked if s/he knew what they were supposed to be doing and had the right supplies (it was a simple writing assignment to reflect on their last project). S/he said that they did and I walked away to give him/her some time to get started. Still nothing. I went back and asked if they were having trouble starting and gave some prompts that would help to get started. S/he said that they had nothing to write about. I continued to ask him/her question to try to spark some reflection but was met with a refusal to write continually saying they had nothing to write about. By the time this was over, the rest of the class had finished their brief reflections and I needed to move on. Now I had seen some resistance before from this student but never direct refusal. S/he is a very talented artist but does not seem to push themselves. I have a feeling s/he was not enjoying the assignments and maybe does not feel challenged enough. I plan on talking to her/him tomorrow.
I talked to the student today and my suspicion was right. S/he feels like they have done these exercises before and is above that level, therefore frustrated and bored with the class. We discussed how it is okay to be frustrated with the class but not to refuse to do work. We agreed that I would try to challenge her/him more. This just shows how important it is to differentiate even at the beginning of the year.
I talked to the student today and my suspicion was right. S/he feels like they have done these exercises before and is above that level, therefore frustrated and bored with the class. We discussed how it is okay to be frustrated with the class but not to refuse to do work. We agreed that I would try to challenge her/him more. This just shows how important it is to differentiate even at the beginning of the year.