I am sure every teacher has come across the following issue: what are you to do with a student who always sleeps during class? I currently have a student who spends most of his time catching up on his sleep. This is a Senior English College Prep Class, so obviously the work is challenging and requires everyone to be awake. It is one thing to zone out or have the mind wander, but actually sleeping seems to be an extreme.
When I first started to witness this behavior I of course wanted to see how my CT would react. What would she do? What would she say? Surely she had some magical touch that would transpire this student to wake from the dead----no such luck. She too, is unsuccessful in getting the student to stay awake. As the weeks go by, it appears that her enthusiasm to keep this student on the right track is starting to disappear. When the semester first started she would always go over to the student and tap him on the shoulder telling him that he needs to wake up and keep his head off of his desk. This back and forth between the teacher and the student would occur several times during class. The student would never refuse her request or give her a hard time, but nonetheless, fifteen minutes would go by and he is once again sleeping. Therefore, I cannot blame my CT for becoming frustrated. My CT appears to be ignoring the behavior more and more. Rarely does she say anything to him. Yet, I can see that it bothers her that she cannot find a solution to this problem. Expectations for seniors are high, and sleeping during class is definitely not meeting these standards.
So I am asking you my fellow teachers, what are your suggestions in regards to eliminating sleeping in class? What would you recommend saying to a student who constantly sleeps and does not pay attention? Are there any specific actions you would take?
The following are a few suggestions I thought of:
· Find out if there is a reason why the student is so tired. Ex. Is he working late? Does he have to get up extremely early to get himself to school? Is there a medical issue?
· Are there ways to get the student more involved?
· Is the student being challenged enough?
Hi Heidi!
ReplyDeleteThank you sharing this post. I actually wrote about a similar situation in my blog post (it's called And Then There was Billy). I have a student who doesn't bring any supplies to class and rarely does any assignments. From the few assignments he has turned in, I know that he is very smart. I appreciate you mentioning that your student may not be challenged enough in the class and it made me realize that could be the case with my student too.
I really liked your suggestions, but would like to share one I thought of for my student: find out what motivates him and use that to help him become interested in the class. Although, as I mention in my post, it is easier said than done.
Good luck to you and let me know what ends up working with your student. We pre-student teachers need to stick together!