Teaching kids to be independent

What can we do to teach kids to be more independent and responsible for the choices they make?

We have had a quite a few kids ineligible since the quarter ended and they are always so quick to blame the teachers who "gave" them the Fs.

I tell kids about a vocabulary quiz coming up, write it on the board, put it on my website, remind them daily, and the day the quiz comes and they bomb it they are so quick to turn the blame around to someone or something else. "I had a game last night." "I didn't know there was a quiz today." "I didn't know what was going to be on the quiz."

I give kids an assignment (that should be very self explanatory if they would just read the directions) and so many kids come to class the next day with it not complete and say, "I didn't know how to do it so I didn't do it." And my response always is, "Did you stop by my room afterschool, during lunch or before school this morning to ask for help? Did you find a classmate and ask them?" There response always is a blank stare.

I give kids an in class assignment for them to work on independently while I circulate the room and kids stop me to tell me they don't get it. So I always ask them "What part don't you get?" And they just repeat "I just don't get it." So I say, "well, think aobut it and call me over when you figure out what part you need help on."

Or a student asks me a specific question. So instead of just giving them the answer, I usually respond with a question to get them thinking about it and continue with follow up questions to guide them to the answer. And too often they refuse to think about it and refuse to answer my questions. They tell me "it's your job to tell me the answer." Too many kids just aren't willing to try things on their own and need to be spoon fed.

I want to get kids to think independently. I want them to try things on their own first and then if they still don't get it, to be able to think through it well enough to ask good questions. I want kids to take responsibility for their own learning and realize that their successes and failures are directly because of what they put into it. I want kids to learn to keep track of deadlines and manage their workload effectively. These are all skills they so desperately will need when they leave our four walls.

How can we teach them these skills?