On Monday the 10th of this week, I went to meet with my second ELL student, who for future reference will be referred to as B. Unfortunately, she was absent from school. However, after talking to another student working with her, he told me that B wanted to find a way to contact me to let me know ahead of time if she would be absent. This showed me that her absenteeism wasn't necessarily because not wishing to attend school or see a tutor, but could be any other reason that hindered her from attending. This prompted me to research absenteeism, especially in ELLs. In the link I found below, 22% of eighth grade ELLs were frequent absentees in 2015, with the average being roughly 24% since 1994, which is one of the higher percentages in the groups shown in the data. From my previous knowledge, this could be caused by any number of cultural influences that may not be made aware to most educators, or any other more familiar reason. Educators must be able to understand that students can still be passionate about learning even if they are absent from school. It is simply our job to find out the reason why and find a way to provide knowledge to students despite absences in the classroom.
http://www.childtrends.org/indicators/student-absenteeism/
I like how you're careful to assume the best in your students truancy! Shows a lot of forward and correct thinking for being a teacher.
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