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Getting information from parents is great, obviously.
That said, if you call parents, they confirm that, "Yes, Johnny has anxiety around public speaking. Please exempt him from doing any assignments where he must present to the class, this is very traumatizing to him," it's still not something you can ethically do unless you make opting out something that every single other student in the class may choose to do, as well. Otherwise, you're letting parents call in special favors and holding different students to different standards unfairly.
If there is a documented behavioral issue that qualifies the student for an IEP, that's obviously another story, altogether. But you can't just go by "This causes my child stress, so he should be exempted."
As a teacher, extracting information from parents can be an art. I would never be so direct as above. I would just want to gather more information about the student to see if what they say fits with what the teacher has observed in class. Again, in my area, if the teacher did not regularly make contact with parents, the teacher would be penalized. I would make sure that they were aware that their child was offered all kinds of alternatives so that if they complained later about their child's grade, then the blame falls on the student, not the teacher, even if the student suffers from some emotional problem.
As a teacher, extracting information from parents can be an art. I would never be so direct as above. I would just want to gather more information about the student to see if what they say fits with what the teacher has observed in class. Again, in my area, if the teacher did not regularlymake contact with parents, the teacher would be penalized. I would make sure that they were aware that their child was offered all kinds of alternatives so that if they complained later about their child's grade, then the blame falls on the student, not the teacher, even if the student suffers from some emotional problem.
I don't know what evaluation model you guys are using but Maryland has adopted Daniels' Framework for Teaching.
One of the aspects of that is the teacher having to be in almost constant and documented contact with the parents of all his students.
Phone calls are acceptable but contemporaneous notes have to be taken. Email is the preferred method.
As a teacher, extracting information from parents can be an art. I would never be so direct as above. I would just want to gather more information about the student to see if what they say fits with what the teacher has observed in class. Again, in my area, if the teacher did not regularly make contact with parents, the teacher would be penalized. I would make sure that they were aware that their child was offered all kinds of alternatives so that if they complained later about their child's grade, then the blame falls on the student, not the teacher, even if the student suffers from some emotional problem.
Oh, mine, too. My background of recent years has been special ed, as well as my academic subject area, where daily in-depth contact with every single parent is a must...detailed and highly structured home notes with specific behavioral data points, progress on academic goals on a literal daily basis, etc. Much more exhaustive than in the typical regular ed setting, but I think the sweet spot lies between the two extremes of daily contact and no contact. Of course, this does require cooperative and participative parents, but that's another story.
And, yes, getting more perspective on the student's needs is critical, as well as documenting with the parents that alternatives were offered, from a CYA perspective. Just noting that in a situation like this, while it's good to understand where the student may be coming from, offering modifications isn't really ethical if they're not offered to all. And I also get why an educator would NOT want to modify the assignment.
My German II students are presenting on a city in Germany, mostly in English. One student has completed his presentation, but refuses to present to the class. The class has 8 students in it. He says he gets nervous in front of groups of people.
He does seem to have anxiety problems. But sometimes in life you have to do things which are uncomfortable. I told him that if he does not present, he will receive a zero on that portion of the project (the oral presentation is worth 25%).
Does this seem fair? He has no IEP or 504, so I really don't have to take any excuses. I thought about letting him present it just to me, but that kind of defeats the point of the project. The other students in the class are supposed to learn more about German cities.
I hate public speaking also so I understand how he feels, but it's not fair to the other students if they all have to do it and he doesn't. I did have this one English class in high school where we were supposed to act out a scene from a play in front of the class, but if we didn't want to, we had to write the scene down exactly as it was written in the book with all of the wording and punctuation correct. I chose to write it down but I don't remember if anyone else did.
This kid could possibly qualify for an IEP if he has an anxiety disorder -- perhaps he doesn't even realize what his own problem is or that there is help. Sure, public performance is a common fear, most people experience some degree of anxiety, but there is a subset of people who experience this anxiety as a phobia, or to an extreme degree. Phobias cannot be conquered via simple reward/punishment. As a parent, I would want the teacher to bring this to my attention so that I could get the kid counseling (if needed) and intervention. He did all of the work except for the presentation -- he's not a slacker, there is another barrier. It's the responsibility of the adults in his life, teachers and parents, to at least address the underlying issue for the benefit of the kid. Just giving a zero accomplishes nothing and is a big "fail" on the part of the teacher, in my opinion.
I spoke with the student today. I gave him the following options:
1) Record the presentation at home and show it to the class.
2) Present from his seat.
3) Present in a circle using an iPad.
4) Present to me after school, then I share the information with the class.
I told him that he is probably nervous about the idea of presenting, but will do great when he starts. He refused all options and walked away frustrated and said "whatever..."
The student isn't lazy and always has his work completed on time. He has a solid A in my class.
I think I've been more than accommodating, especially since he doesn't have an IEP or 504. It is very evident that he has severe anxiety and possibly some other issues.
Number four was excessively generous.
"Whatever..." eh? Perhaps more than a little bad attitude mixed in with his alleged problem.
I would allow him/her to give the presentation from their desk or let them face the other way without seeing everyone (with some deduction for either) but if they don't present, give the 0 on the presentation portion of the assignment. As others mentioned, this is why some kids get one grade and some get another. If he is allowed to forego the oral presentation part and you do not dock him any points, what do you do when the other student who does not have anxiety sees that and refuses to present the next assignment just out of laziness. You are setting a precedent.
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