What do you Think of Attendance Policies?

I have a small class this quarter--18 students. It's kind of nice, except on days like today. A few days ago, I had a class period where 6 or 7 people walked into class late. Two of them were over 10 minutes late. And so I had a talk with them. I told them that even though I didn't have an attendance policy, missing class and coming to class late would impact their grade. Just a little heads up to try to get them to change their behavior. Well, it didn't do much good. Today, when I came to class, there were 4 people on time to class. FOUR! Four more arrived late. It's so frustrating. And I had this really fun Wiki assignment planned that went really well in the other section that I teach. I was sort of able to do it with the students who came, but mostly, I spent the rest of the class brooding in a corner.

Toward the end of class, I told my students that tomorrow we would be having another little chat about attendance. "This is me when I'm angry," I told them. Of course, I looked and acted pretty similar to how I always look and act, with some small differences.

And so as I left class planning my "Come to Jesus" speech, I thought about announcing to the class before handing back their latest writing assignment that "nearly half of you are failing, and it's all because you have missed class." Sure, it's a little over the top and statisical stretch. And sure it's really because of a technicality that will have no bearing on their final grade. Nevertheless, it's true in a certain sense.

But when I checked my email after class, I learned that one of the students at our college died this week. And so perhaps half of my class was attending a funeral. So I may back off a little on the guilt. I haven't decided yet.

Days like this remind me how hard teaching is. This day could come back to bite me on the ass. Later in the class, when students are lost and frustrated and angry with me because they don't understand what's going on, it will probably be because they missed a day like today when we worked on concepts integral to the class. And of course, they won't see that as the problem. Instead, they'll assume that it's my fault, that I don't know what I'm talking about and that I need to "make my expectations clearer."

I wonder if students skipped class today because they saw the activity that was planned and determined it wasn't important. It goes back to my diss. in a way because the activity has its foundations in a different theory of learning from what many students are used to. And so I wonder if students thought to themselves, "if it's not lecture and it's not my essay, it must not be important." Hmm. I still haven't figured out how to create that shift in perspective, though.

Maybe I need one of those attendance policies that reads, "miss X days, I lower your grade X amount." Hell, at least then, they'll show up. And if they don't, well, they're screwed. The problem is, I really like Jan's advice of not creating policies that will paint you into a corner.

Check out my Smart Football Boots

The grass is green; the birds are chirping; and even though there's reports of snow this weekend, it's time to start thinking outdoor soccer. After last year, it had become painfully obvious (literally) that I would need some new soccer shoes this summer. Recently, at a sports store, I pointed out the shoes I wanted to Jen--the Adidas Copa Mundial, a high-end soccer shoe with a kangaroo leather upper (a lightweight and soft leather) and a solid sole plate, overall a great shoe for playing on hard ground. The Copa Mundial is basically the Mercedes Benz of soccer shoes. I just didn't want to shell out the big bucks for the Copas, which run from $90-110 at your average sports outlet. Nor did I want to spend $150 on my all-time personal favorite soccer shoes, the Lotto Stadio, a black kangaroo leather upper with a green sole. They're super comfortable and light-weight, a great shoe (the Ferrari of boots). I have a pair, but they just don't fit anymore, which makes me sad. :(

And so after some searching, I purchased these bad boys from Eurosport. And I got em for a steal. These aren't the Copas, but the only difference is the color. Copa Mundials are black with white stripes. Because they're pretty much the same shoe (same leather, same design, same components), typically these shoes, the Adidas Profi, run around $110 as well. I got them for just under $60. They're a little flashy for my taste, but I can deal with it to save $50.

I can't wait to give them a try this weekend. But if it's a little wet or snowy out, I might hold off a week on breaking them in. My old shoes will be a little better for wet conditions, and they're not too uncomfortable on soft ground.

New Orleans and the CCCCs

Well, I got a last-minute opportunity to go to CCCCs this year, and I had a great time. I met some new people, but I think the highlight for me was seeing old friends I haven't seen in quite awhile--people like Teryn, Marie, Keely, and the woman who was in JJ's Fem. Rhet. class who is now at Arizona. Argh. I'm terrible with names. Help me out here, folks. I also ran into Kelly at the airport. She's starting a new job this August, is almost finished with her dissertation, and has a baby girl. And of course Jan and Bob. But also Steve Lamos, who remembers me, strangely enough. Of course, I do wish that I would have been able to see all of you reading this blog while I was there, but such is life... Next year and many more to come, I hope.

After hearing these horrible stories about muggings in New Orleans, I cleaned out my wallet, took out extra credit cards, my voter's registration card, even my Blockbuster video membership card and packed off for my flight to Charlotte (that's right Wenatchee to Seattle to Charlotte to New Orleans, ugh!). It was all for nothing, though. Of course everything was fine. In fact, I felt pretty safe there most of the time, except for about a two-block walk back to my hotel in the dark one night. I was staying about 2 blocks from Burbon Street, where I had dinner on Thursday night at the Red Fish Grill. It was a pretty nice place, and I had a crayfish bisque and a shrimp and oyster risotto. Both of them were pretty good. The picture above is the view down Burbon Street. I imagine that this is what it looks like after about 5 or 6 drinks. :)

The conference was good. Here's the conference hotel. Harrod's casino is just to the left. You can't beat the free books, that's all I got to say. I even brought some back for a friend in Wenatchee, who encouraged me to go. And I saw some pretty good presentations--some bad ones too, but that's bound to happen, I think. I saw one of the featured sessions, and about half of the audience got up and left in the middle. It was pretty boring and covered a lot of well-trodden ground. I'm writing up the sessions that I saw for my colleagues out here. Let me know if you'd like me to send you a copy. I saw a couple of sessions on assessment, one on teacher training and one on cognition and something else I don't remember right now.