Okay, so: wildly successful by some measures, not so much by others. The office ladies are working hard on the paperwork so we don’t have to.

From other measures this is great, though. Tardies are down. When kids come in late, I give ’em a friendly, “Hey, what’s up?” while they set their passport down. It’s all business and all personal at the same time. Love that.

You ask good questions, though. Easy ones first.

Kids can’t photocopy the passports ’cause they have an embossed stamp at the bottom.

If a kid doesn’t have the passport but it isn’t lost, the penalty is supposed to be the same. In practice I think the office staff looks on the computer and just resigns the existing tardies.

If a kid fills up her hall passes, she goes to the next level but doesn’t incur the consequences of filling it up on tardies (lunch-time detentions, phone call home, etc.).

I am curious how the tardy policy is working also.

Just to make sure, if a student is tardy 8 times they move up to the next level? even if they have hall passes remaining? what about vice-versa?

Also have you run into kids photocopying the passes?

what do you do if a kids doesn’t have the pass but says it is not lost?

How well do “rules” and “independent thinkers” play together?

There is some tension there, and depending on many (cultural?) factors, it could be possible to take different views.

My own suspicion is that, if you weren’t exposed to a large tardy problem (as in a significant percentage of the class showing up well after a lesson had started) that the above approach might seem overkill.

I work in a school where student attendance determines whether its employees are paid or unpaid.

I teach in a class where the students who spend more minutes in class learn more than those who show up twenty minutes late or use a bathroom pass to wander the halls.

What is your solution?

“What’s up, Josh? I need your passport on the side desk.” *teacher continues going about his business as if nothing happened*

The Moodle thing has had a slow uptake. Nine students out of 35 turned in the first couple online assignments. I’ve told them repeatedly this is happening every week and I think it’s starting to sink in. I know it’s starting to affect their bottom line grade.

Those who have been on it, been using it, report to enjoying it, which is great. I try to give ’em a week’s lead time so that kids with patchy ‘net access can use library computers.