Senioritis

I did not get Senioritis when I was a Senior in high school, at least I don't remember moaning and groaning every time a teacher talked, packing up and standing next to the door 6 minutes before the bell rang or just stop showing up to class.  However, in the last month of my teaching credential program and teaching all Seniors, I can see where students are coming from.  Often students come up to me before class and ask, "Are we doing something today?"  I respond with, "As much I'd love for us all to sit and stare at each other until our brains melt, we are at school so we will be productive with our time together."  This always receives a laugh from curious giraffe neck students who are also curious if we are "doing anything" that day.  However, the questioner generally responds with a groan or eye roll and a mumbled, "But there's only 4 weeks left." As they shuffle back to their seat. 

I've been fighting their slacking off, constant talk about Prom and graduation and absurd reasons as to why we shouldn't do anything in class.  After a particular rough day (magnified because I had caught a small case of senioritis myself) I talked to my CT about how much the students were exhausting me.  She told me to stop fighting and make them accountable, so I stopped trying.  I decided to be patient and quiet after I demanded their attention once.  It worked!  After calling the class's attention at the beginning of the period they weren't quieting down so I (uncomfortably and anxiously) waited at the front of the classroom and stared at the chatty students.  It wasn't but a few moments before students started to realize we were waiting on them, or their classmates started to "Shhhh" them.  Magic! 

I started making goals for each class meeting.  I explained to the students that each day we had a set amount of information to get through and if we got through that, the rest of the time was theirs to work quietly on homework and get ahead on assignments.  It worked!  I get through my lecture and notes or discussions and if they are getting off task, I sit back and quietly mention that this is their work time they are wasting and peers get each other in check.  Setting expectations for them and rewarding them if they stayed on task with time to complete assignments has been a technique that I did not want to try (idle minds makes for a chaotic classroom) but with Seniors, I have found it to be rewarding for both myself and the students. 

Turns out the cure for Senioritis is goals/expectations and some patience.  I also made a list of all of the assignments they have due from now until the end of the year to show them what we have to get through.  Every time a due date approaches I erase the assignment off the board so all the classes can see the list get shorter.  They know that if they are not being productive then reading quizzes will be added to the list, but as long as they are positively contributing to class discussion and producing quality work, the list will not grow. 

I knew second semester Seniors would be a challenge, but I have found that working with the class has helped me succeed.  This is something I can take to any classroom of mine in the future.  If they are acting crazy, I need to sit down and talk to them about what is not working so whatever is causing them distress and causing me to lose my mind can be fixed.