The Great Epidemic – Senioritis

Senioritis: A crippling disease that strikes high school seniors. Symptoms include: laziness, lack of studying, repeated absences, and a generally dismissive attitude. It is often contagious between friends. The only know cure? Graduation.

Senioritis has struck in all of my classes. The great apathy toward learning and being in class is evident in each senior students’ actions and words. They are burnt-out and ready to move on to the next big thing. This is especially apparent in my AP Environmental Science class. This class is made up of 21 seniors. They have finished the curriculum, taken their final, and completed the AP Exam.

So now what do I do with 21 students, severely stricken with senioritis, to keep them motivated and learning?

Make learning fun!

As my CT and I sat down to figure out what to do with them for the rest of the year, we agreed that we had to keep the rest of lessons not only educational, but interesting, hands on, and fun for them. We also realized that we had to make the remaining assignments attendance dependent and it had to impact their final grade.

What we came up with a series of laboratory activities, field trips, in-class group activities, and a video project that together will make up 10% of their final grade.

Additionally, to keep the students engaged during the class activities and to make attendance count, the students must complete their work in class. The only homework required is some out of class time required to complete their video.

Some of the activities we have planned for them include a wastewater treatment laboratory followed by a field trip to the local wastewater treatment plant, an air pollution lab, a trip to the local fish hatcheries, and time to work on their videos. Each day they will be required to turn in an assignment related to what they learned.

Hopefully, the students will stay engaged, continue to learn, and enjoy their last few weeks of high school.