So we briefly touched on this issue of our student’s personal circumstances in colloquium. Many of us teachers may have been in situations where students fall behind because of personal situations, such as their loved one dying or having a sickness. There are also situations where students fall behind because of reasons they do not share, but are very active when in the classroom. I have had to deal with all of the situations I have just mentioned, and have found adequate remedies to these personal student circumstances.
Two students in two different classes were dealing with family members who were/are ill. These two students happen to be very intelligent and hard working. However, at some point in the beginning to the midpoint of the semester, they fell behind in their work. I made sure to reach out to them to find out what was going on, as I have/do with all of my students who are falling behind. These two students in particular were grateful that I reached out, and were more than willing to give me an explanation. I worked with them and let them turn in assignments at a later date, given their circumstances. One of these students was unable to turn in recent essays, so, I created an extended essay assignment that would be the equivalent of both; this includes an audio component (which the student is already familiar with). The other student who was falling behind, is now completely caught up, which is partly due to their hard effort and partly due to my flexibility and understanding of her personal situation.
However, I have one student who has been falling behind in some assignments, but is always in class and is always very engaged, unafraid to offer complex ideas and questions. He has been unresponsive to my emails, so I have had to confront him in class about his missing work. I know something is going on, he even told me, but he would not share the specifics. And I understand this and do not hold it against him. I also made an expanded essay for him (with an audio component), as an alternative to his missing work. Hopefully he will get this done. If not, the point is I gave him the opportunity.
I think as a teacher, one must be flexible and considerate of student circumstances, without automatically assuming a student is just lazy or incapable. One of the largest reasons I am a proponent of this consideration, is because I myself, as a student, have been faced with many personal hurdles, especially within my years in graduate school. If I would not have had understanding professors, I do not know how I would have been able to be as successful in my graduate career as I have been. So the message is, have empathy!