My school operates on a semester schedule and the students recently ended their first semester. They are on break now, and I am very excited to implement some classroom management practices that should have happened all year (i.e. consequences for tardies, unexcused absences, etc...) For a long time it would have been ridiculous for me to crack down, as the next semester (and a reset of tardies/absences) was just around the corner. However, these two issues got out of hand and they need to be dealt with.
It's hard to deal with the tardies/absences. A kid who barely comes to class... should I hand them a detention slip when they come back? I always go a few different ways with this one. Sometimes hard-core on the policy, other times more holistic. Many colleagues I have spoken to have had this issue as well.
