Thread by @andrechemist

Last year I failed a student.

I'm not saying the student got an F in my class. Sometimes students fail a class.

What I'm saying is *I* failed – as the student's teacher, as a educator, as the person responsible for giving the student a chance learn, to succeed. (1/x)

One student in my course wasn't doing all the problem sets. Well, they did the first few and did fine on them, but in weeks 3 to 13, they didn't do any of them.

Now, normally in general chemistry I look at the halfway point (week 7ish) to see if students are struggling. (2/x)

Somehow I missed this student wasn't doing their work. That's the first way I failed.

But last year I also started having no deadlines for problem sets. Just get them done by the final and you can get full credit. So this student wasn't necessarily in bad shape! (3/x)

The real way I failed though became apparent in week 14 when the student emailed me saying they weren't doing the problem sets and were falling behind because they couldn't afford the text for the course. They just didn't have the money for the almost $300 text. (4/x)

They had gotten the work done (end of chapter problems that were assigned) at the beginning of the semester using a combination of preview chapters online for the text and pages available on Amazon and other sites as a "Look Inside" feature. (5/x)

Their goal was to get the money from their job during the semester and buy the text, but housing, food, and family were (rightfully) first priority for the money.

Of course the school has help for this kind of stuff. If the student asks for help. (6/x)

The email, written at about 2:30 in the morning, laid it all out. The student didn't ask for help earlier because they were embarrassed. They felt alone. The only poor student. The only struggling student. The only one who needed help. (7/x)

Of course a lot of students ask for help. A lot get textbook help. I have copies of the text from the publisher that I will just give to the student. It's easy for me.

But, also of course, it's not that easy for the student. There's a huge barrier to asking for help. (8/x)

They don't see the other students asking for help. They can't. We protect the students' privacy. So students often don't know help is an option.

Yes, it's on the school website. It's multiple places on the website. But there's a TON of other info there too. (9/x)

So I failed by not getting this info to my students, especially the one student who needed it.

And I've failed before in other ways (and will again I'm sure), but I will learn from failing and get this info to my students. (10/x)

My class has a basic needs and security statement now. It's on my syllabus. I will talk about it first day of class. I will repeat it two weeks in.

I will reach out to any student who might seem at risk and do my best to get them what they need to succeed. (11/x)

Students go through a lot. Some have it easy, but many others do not. Make sure they know what help is available to them and that it's okay to get that help.

Don't fail your students. (12/12)