How do you remotivate a student who should be making A's but is failing? In one class he's not even turning in his homework; he says the teacher doesn't ask for it. I asked him if maybe he just didn't hear the teacher ask for the HW, and he said, as he sits 2nd in the row, he'd notice if the kids behind him were turning in their HW. Also this teacher has a reputation for being mean: yelling at the class and calling kids stupid. Last week during the after school program the students in my son's group discussed this with their adult leader. She said she was going to get the vice-principal involved.
Last Monday I saw an assignment in my son's binder that was due today. I only glanced at it and thought it was an extra credit assignment, so I wan't too worried (not that he doesn't need the points) when I suddenly remembered about it last night shortly before bedtime. So my son started working on it, stayed up late. This morning I could barely get him out of bed, & he lay on the couch until it was time for him to leave. I took another look at the assignment; it's not extra credit. :-(
His lack of caring literally has me in tears.
I was looking at one graded assignment that he failed: latitude and longitude. Had me worried that he was really confused about it. I looked at the ones he missed, but he got them right! When I asked him about them, he said they were counted wrong b/c he hadn't put down the country as well as the city. !!! The worksheet asks for the city. Apparently the teacher said to include the country. OK, how about partial credit? The way it's graded makes it look like he doesn't understand the material! To me, the point of HW is to learn the material, and tests gauge mastery of the material. How can that occur when you're nitpicking? I understand the need to follow directions, I do. We get onto our son about that quite frequently. But that's a different section of the grade book.
He also learned how to do multiplication some "matrix" way; it's very messy. His current math teacher doesn't want him to use it anymore. Yeah, good luck with that. Until he can see a very good reason for changing (which will have to be something other than "b/c I said so"), he's going to resist changing, and he's quite stubborn.
We visited Sylvan and talked about their study skills and organization program, but it's expensive!!! My husband would be willing to do it, but he doesn't believe our son will take it seriously, and that it would just be a waste of money in the end. Does anyone have any experience with it?
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