Worksheet3: Identifying the causes of the problem

Date: November 15, 2006 Group Members: MS322

Your problem (phrase):

Students don’t pay attention in class.

Briefly list several broad underlying factors that contribute to the problem that you have identified:

a. Some students do not know what to do. They do not see the relevance of the topic for their own lives.

b. It is easier to get in trouble than to seek help

c. If the student does nothing, the student feels the teacher may teach them 1-on-1 which is what the student wants.

d. The student feels that he/she is so lost, it does not pay to listen. The student thinks that he/she cannot do it, therefore, why try.

e. The students are at an age where there is a huge pressure to be social.

f. The students, many of whom are ELLs, may not listen because they do not know the language well enough to understand.

g. Motivation is lacking.

h. Since the students consistently fail, it is less painful to not try because if they try, they would only put their egos on the line.

i. The classroom arrangement that is promoted by the Region, the pods, is conducive to chatting

---