Ideal Class Attendance Continuum
Here’s a chart that shows what I think will serve you best if absent for a class period. Now, I know that there are circumstances in which what I have down as the “worst case scenario” is the best you can do. (For example, the “worst case scenario” may be your best if a family member has been in the hospital and are too distraught to call your success team). However, it’s likely in most cases that with effort, one of the practices on the left side of the “best case scenario” continuum will work. Strive for that.
| Best Case Scenarios Worst Case Scenarios | |||||
| Attend class! | Attend one of my other English 101 classes; call, email or text Success Team to let them know you were in another class. | Contact Success Team before you miss class to find out what we did and do the work to be prepared for the next class period | Contact Success Team after you miss class to find out what we did and do the work to be prepared for the next class period | Look at our daily work sheet and do the work for the next class period; call Julie* to let her know you’ll be out | Miss class, don’t contact anyone, and don’t look at our daily work sheet |
As you may be able to tell, I value communication and preparedness.
*Why isn’t contact Jaye the first suggestion? I do appreciate knowing what is going on with students, so if you want to message me with your team, great.
- I believe that the task, overall, of reaching out to each other is especially useful because you’ll get used to seeing your peers as important resources, and they are. In some classes, peers may be better resources than the instructor because they can more easily explain things at student level.
- Second, if I can spend more time and energy supporting people’s actual writing than absences, that’s my ideal.
- Third, I have to admit that if I receive continual emails from one person being absent a lot, I will feel empathy for them and their situation, but it’s hard for me to continue to support them when they’re not physically in class. Now, I always will respond to that person because it’s my job, so if that is your best at the time instead of doing nothing, then do contact me.
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