Thanks for the helpful ideas about 8:00 classes. It is important how we think about taking attendance and other similar things.
Most of us need external structures to help us do what we want to do. For example even those of us who are highly moral and highly motivated are helped to drive safely by seeing a police car with a radar gun beside the road from time to time, right? I've had students (not many to be sure) ask for points to be taken off for late papers and for enforced deadlines because they knew they needed them. Taking attendance, grading etc. when seen in that frame take on a different meaning both for students and for teachers. That frame will affect what we do, how we do it, and how we talk about it. Part of the role of a teacher is to set, with the input of students, the structures that facilitate learning. Maybe part of each class should be a "contract" setting time in which students and the teacher together develop policies. I always do that with independent studies. But how can it be done in a class? John Eby
