Reply To: student doesn't put his case away

[nafmeadmin]

It sounds like you’ve tried to approach him seriously and it hasn’t been effective – you might try approaching the situation with some humor? Put a policy in place for the whole class that anyone who leaves a case out will have to recite a poem or sing a song to the class before they will get the case/instrument back for the next rehearsal. I have a colleague, a science teacher, who has a giant stuffed duck (something you might win at the fair), and anyone who is tardy has to write an apology poem to the duck and recite it for the class. It provides some humor, but after doing it a few times the kids really make an effort to get there on time!

When I have a class that is bad about cleaning things up, I’ll hold the entire group until the room is back in order. Or, put that person in charge of putting all the chairs and stands away after school that day. There’s nothing like a little peer pressure from other students who don’t want to be late to help develop some better habits!