As I wrapped up term 3 this week with our students, who are all very new to this PBL approach to learning, a concern of mine that has been bubbling up over the past few years has officially erupted. One of the main reasons we, at our alternative school, decided to take on a PBL approach to teaching and learning was because we believe it teaches necessary work-readiness skills, but also because we know the traditional approach encountered at their previous school wasn't working for our kiddos: some have attendance issues, some don't turn in homework even though they do it at night, some simply don't do homework at all, and several mental health factors and challenging situations outside of school are encountered. However, one essential component to being successful in classes and not feeling all of the stress and anxiety that comes at the end of every term is time management and categorizing school projects as one of the top priorities. Instead, and even more so now that we are doing PBL, procrastination is the ultimate downfall of a student's success in classes. The passing rate this term is lower than ever because students are doing even bigger and better projects but waiting until the last minute to finish them up. It doesn't matter how much we warn them, prompt them, or redirect them, they still just always feel like they have more time than they really do; and the stress and anxiety levels rise throughout the building as soon as the last week of the term hits because projects may not be finished on time. The students and teachers alike turn in to different beings: limited smiling, increased outbursts, chaos, etc. If there was a magic wand to get our kiddos to stop procrastinating, I would use it in a heart beat.
Do any of you have any advice when it comes to student procrastination?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Author
Angelina Valvona-Herndon: a high school teacher, blessed to work with at-risk students striving to succeed in academia and the real world. Archives
October 2019
Categories
All
|