Chapter 9: Who’s The Boss around Here? Managing Your Classroom 135
Attending to poor attendance
Poor attendance is a real pain because it affects the progress the class can
make. On the other hand, progress also depends on who is turning up to les-
sons and if you have a hard core of good attenders, You don’t need to worry
so much about the persistent no show. However, if different people come
each time, the only thing you can do is to review previously taught informa-
tion at the beginning of each lesson.
A course book is a great back-up for students who missed last week or last
night as they can at least read through the material by themselves, which
allows them to take responsibility for their own learning (if they don’t turn up
or do their reading, it’s their problem not yours).
Of course there may be good reasons why students don’t come along, includ-
ing something you can perhaps change. So try to keep the lines of commu-
nication open by asking your students how they’re getting on and whether
they’d like to suggest any improvements to the course. Of course, you do
need to be thick skinned enough to accept constructive criticism.