Students Who Skip Class...
- dibblenancy
- Nov 13
- 3 min read
Find out why the student skipped class. This means meeting with the student to ask them what is going on. It may not be what you think. Here are a few real examples that happened in my classes:
I made the mistake one time of being disappointed when one of my most dependable students missed my class and did not do her homework. When she showed up the next day and I asked her why she skipped class her eyes filled with tears and she couldn’t speak. Another student came to me and explained that the student’s boyfriend was the one in the news that had been murdered the night before. Quite the serious reason to skip my class.
A student was missing my class on a fairly frequent basis. This did not go over well with me and once I found out that he was missing multiple classes in order to go wakeboarding with his friends I was not pleased and “no,” I did not take this to administration (they could already see this by my attendance record). I met with the student the first class that he was back and we had a serious conversation. I was angry because I cared about his future and wanted him to understand the consequences of his actions. This talk ended up being life-changing for him in a positive way. To find the whole story, read Chapter 23-Wakeboard Ditcher, in my book for teachers, “Wait, Don’t Quit.”
I had a student that was missing every Thursday in my class. This student was engaged, participating and doing her work on the other days. After class one day I asked her what was going on and she said, “Please trust me, I have to miss Thursdays right now but I can’t tell you why yet.” I waited because I trusted her and marked her absent as I had to. After about 6 weeks she came to me and explained that she’d been going to court on Thursday afternoons to try and legally and safely get away from her abusive step-father. She didn’t want to compromise the case by letting anyone know what was going on. If her step-father found out what she was doing he would have possibly even killed her. The good news is that she was successfully moved into a safe foster home before her step-father found out. It was good that I did not press her. I trusted her story because of her previous behavior in my class.
Although it is very important to meet with the student and find out why they are skipping class it is also essential to take roll at the beginning of each class period. Your attendance roster is a legal record. Here are 2 real-life, concrete examples:
Two police officers entered my class one morning and asked to see my roster from a particular date. One of my students had been accused of stealing a car at a specific time but I had him marked as present in my class. The police officers were so sure that this student had stolen the car that they were disappointed that he was in class. Had I not been diligent with my attendance, the student may have been unfairly arrested. It’s really important to take attendance right away. I started each class with a job for my students to do so that they could be working while I took roll. It was that time the police officers came to my classroom that impressed upon me the importance of my record.
A dependable student started missing the first part of my morning class. This was not typical of her behavior so I waited for a good opportunity and then asked her what was happening. She explained that her mother had schizophrenia and when driving her to school on some mornings she would panic, think that the CIA was following them and then my student would have to turn around, take her mother back home and borrow the car for the day in order to get to school and back home. She was embarrassed about her mother’s behavior but I assured her that it was not a problem and that I understood. I also asked if she needed any additional help from Social Services.
Final Thought: Students may be skipping your class for a serious reason. Before you get upset, take the time to ask the student what’s going on.
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