ASK
We can only judge what we see. We don't live inside their bodies so we don't know the reason why they're not cooperating etc... What we see is they aren't doing their homework and not paying attention. What we don't see is outside factors (reading disabilities, no parents at home, jobs to support their families, abuse, etc...) We also have to remember that we can't control what they do at home. If they aren't doing the homework but we need them to learn the skill then we need to find another way. My personal philosophy is, "It's not teaching if no one's learning." Meaning, we may have taught what we think is the greatest lesson in the world but if our students didn't get it we didn't truly teach it. We need to try something different. Remember, fair isn't always equal. We have to do what each individual student needs in order to be successful in this subject area.