Why some people can do it all and others can't manage much of anything is a matter of motivation. Period. If you want something bad enough, you'll find a way. There are so many articles about how we can motivate our students but the truth is, we can't. And if we try beating our heads against that wall, dragging that horse to the water when he does NOT want to drink, that poor sucker will drown before he dredges up any motivation to drink.
Some of our students are like that. If they don't want to do the work, they won't. And there is NOTHING we can do to make them do the work. This is not the same as having poor time management skills or not understanding the information or balancing family, work, and school. This is pure T "do you want this or not"? And if they don't want it bad enough, it's on them, not on us.
When I have a student like this, I always give it a couple of shots with the communication and coaching spiel. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Usually what I find is that students are motivated, they've just gotten behind (or haven't gotten started at all) and don't know how to get back on track. They want to but don't know how. In these cases, a sympathetic ear and some effective soft coaching can go a long ways.
In some rare cases, students just disappear and will not respond to any type or number of communication attempts. At that point, there really is no other choice but to let them figure it out on their own, or not, as they will.
There is a certain amount of sink or swim involved in online learning. We can help most students stay on track but if they don't meet us halfway, it's just not going to happen.
Some of our students are like that. If they don't want to do the work, they won't. And there is NOTHING we can do to make them do the work. This is not the same as having poor time management skills or not understanding the information or balancing family, work, and school. This is pure T "do you want this or not"? And if they don't want it bad enough, it's on them, not on us.
When I have a student like this, I always give it a couple of shots with the communication and coaching spiel. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Usually what I find is that students are motivated, they've just gotten behind (or haven't gotten started at all) and don't know how to get back on track. They want to but don't know how. In these cases, a sympathetic ear and some effective soft coaching can go a long ways.
In some rare cases, students just disappear and will not respond to any type or number of communication attempts. At that point, there really is no other choice but to let them figure it out on their own, or not, as they will.
There is a certain amount of sink or swim involved in online learning. We can help most students stay on track but if they don't meet us halfway, it's just not going to happen.
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