You were late..now what?

I have a feeling most of my posts will be starting with the line: "While subbing the other day, I picked up..." or maybe not, but this one definitely will start with that.
I picked up this "tardy" slip in a middle school classroom last week.  I liked it because it is one of those procedural things that could be taught to kids at the beginning of the school year and that would establish clear parameters and expectations of the teacher for the classroom and for the students' behavior.  In this classroom, these slips are kept in a manila envelop that is hanging near the door.  So as a student walks into the classroom late, he/she will know to immediately grab one of these slips and fill it out.  I am assuming the teacher would expect the student to the turn it in by the end of the day, if not by the end of the hour.  This simple expectation of being responsible for one's own reflection saves the teacher and the classroom precious time at the start of the hour, so instead of having to ask the student why they are tardy or berate them for the tardiness as they walk in, the teacher can simply expect the student to write out the reflection and then speak with the student about it at a more convenient and conducive time.  I also like that it is structured as a reflection, which allows the student to consider how their behavior impacts the learning of others and themselves.  I could see using this as a counselor or offering it as a classroom management tool for teachers who are seeking for new ways to respond to student tardiness.

Tardy slip

The note asks to fill in:

I was late because:

Being late is disrespectful to myself because:

Being late is disrespectful to my fellow scholars because:

Being late is disrespectful to my teacher because:








In other notes, heard an interesting interview with a professor of linguistics, Anita Pandey, who spoke today on WUWM's Lake Effect program.  She talked about how educators can capitalize on students' ability to speak different dialects of English when teaching instead of disregarding their already existing linguistic abilities in their drive to teach students standard English.  Her book, Building Blocks: Essential Linguistics for Early Childhood Educators, sounds like a good resource for learning about how students' language impacts their education and achievement in the classroom.