Not Attempted

As is my custom, during the break I did my "summer schedule". I saved the subbing stories from before the break to post them when school resumed, as it did this week. The week before the break was finals week...

Tuesday of finals week I caught a math class. The teacher had caught Covid. But, she hadn't planned on giving finals, so the students could either work on any missing assignments, or if they were completely caught up they could work on some extra credit assignments. 

I was very familiar with this classroom. It's the room I used when I taught that summer school class in June.

However, a few students had missed the chapter 4 test the prior week, and Ms. C left those tests so they could make them up. 

First thing at the start of the period, I passed out the tests to the few who needed them. (Ms. C left me a list.) And as the room was fairly quiet, they had great testing conditions to complete their makeup.

For the first class of the day, only one student was still working at the end of the period. Everyone else had turned theirs in way before that.

In case you're wondering how a teacher can grade tests taken on paper when she won't be back in the classroom, I have that answer for you. The kiddos were to take a picture of their tests. Then, they attached those images to the test assignment posted in their Google Classrooms. 

I found it curious, during the second class of the day, that only two students turned in their tests. I mean, only four were taking it, but two of them were still working at the end of the period? I wondered if I was going to have to figure out a way to give them extra time.

I went to the first student who still had a test. He handed me back a blank page. He didn't do it, he shrugged. 

I... uh... 

I found the other student who was to take it. The test wasn't visible on her desk. When I asked for it, she pulled it out from where she hid it. She didn't bother to attempt the test either. 

I mean... The test was open note. They knew this. I told them when I handed them the test. They couldn't pull out their notes and make a go of it? 

So, I wasn't terribly surprised when three students in the third class did (or rather didn't do) the same thing.

This has become a thing, by the way. There are students who just don't do anything. They don't attempt assignments. It's always happened, but of late it seems to happen more often. If they deem the assignment (or test) too hard, they just don't even attempt it. They don't start. 

In the end, I just listed their names and informed Ms. C that they had had the opportunity to take the test, but they didn't. They "earned" those zeroes.