At first this one is a no-brainer: imagine there was no Tardy Cart. If there was no Tardy Cart, LeVon would not have missed any learning time. However, I want to look more deeply at the Tardy Cart before we dismiss it entirely, because it is a symptom of the larger attendance problem that exists in most large urban schools.
The Tardy Cart was invented to deal with the persistent tardiness of large numbers of students. The thinking behind it was that if there were a way to consistently monitor and track tardies, and if the punishments for such tardies were harsh enough, students would go to class because it would become the more appealing option. In general, rules only work if they are consistently enforced; therefore, to operate a system like the Tardy Cart, it is imperative that all teachers lock their doors precisely as the bell rings and never make exceptions. Students then get three punishments for being late: demerits that add up to negative consequences; missed class time and hence a higher probability of lower grades; and public embarrassment.
Tardy Carts can be a fairly effective way of accomplishing the goal of forcing students to go to class. However, I want to flip the issue on its head and ask the question: Why don't students WANT to go to class? In every high school, we take it for granted that students would rather just hang out in the hallways with their friends, and so we have to resort to a system of rewards and punishments to get them to where we believe they need to be in order to learn. Think about what this means: the adults who run schools know students don't want to be in class. They just rarely stop to think about why.
So, in order to re-imagine the Tardy Cart, we actually need to re-imagine the whole system of compulsory attendance. As soon as you tell a person that they have to be in a specific place at a specific time, then you are going to need policies to enforce that, hence the invention of things like Tardy Carts. So let's imagine, for a minute, that in our re-imagined school, we have no attendance policy. Teachers still take attendance at some point during class, and that information is available to students and parents, but it is merely information, not part of an enforcement scheme. If you take away compulsory attendance, the question suddenly shifts from, "How do I make these students come to class?" to, "How do I make my class a place where students want to come?"
With that in mind, let's re-imagine what happened with LeVon.
Re-Imagined High School is open from 7am to 7pm, with teachers working in two shifts. LeVon has three scheduled classes, American Literature, Algebra, and Biology, which meet back-to-back from 9am to noon. He plays football, which has daily practice at 3pm, and counts as PE credit. In addition to these four scheduled commitments, he is working on his Portfolio of Competencies, which is required to graduate. Because he has to be done with his academics in time for practice, LeVon likes to get to school early, usually before 8am. He typically heads to the Interaction Room, where he is using a combination of physical materials and an online design program to build a model of a suspension bridge. He documents his progress as part of his Portfolio. Building things is LeVon's favorite activity, apart from football, and although he's only fifteen, he has vague notions of studying engineering in college. He likes using the Interaction Room first thing in the morning, because it's less crowded and he can use all the materials at once. He keeps an eye on the clock, and at five minutes before nine, he heads over to American Literature.
LeVon loves this Lit class, because they compare books to the way they are portrayed in movies. Still, he has mild dyslexia, and he struggles with reading and writing. He is embarrassed by this, but his teacher, Mr. Carson, is really great and holds Writing Workshop every evening at 6pm, where any of his students can get help on their papers. LeVon goes to Writing Workshop at least three times a week, sometimes every day after practice. Mr. Carson has spent so much time helping him, so LeVon makes sure to get to class on time, often early so that he can do something like wash the board or pick up the classroom as silent thanks.
Lit class ends with LeVon telling Mr. Carson he will see him tonight at six o'clock to get help on his latest paper. LeVon checks his phone. Lit class ended a minute late; there are no bells in RHS, so both students and teachers must watch the clock and be aware of their own schedules. LeVon starts to hurry toward math class, but he comes across a commotion in the hallway. A group of girls is surrounding his friend, Chandra, who looks like she's about to cry. LeVon knows what this is about. Last night, some idiot posted on Chandra's Facebook, making accusations about her fooling around with other people's boyfriends. LeVon knows this isn't true... Chandra is shy and quiet and more interested in academics than boys. He decides to stop and help her out - he knows his math teacher, Ms. Adams, will understand if they are a minute late.
"Chandra, girl, is there some trouble?" LeVon pushes his way between the other girls and puts his arm around Chandra's shoulders. He can feel her trembling.
"Ooo, did you sleep with him, too?" one of the girls calls out. "How many that make, seventeen?"
"Hey now, " LeVon says. He doesn't say it loudly, but they all look at him. LeVon is a linebacker, and is built like one. When he speaks, people pay attention. "Hey now," he says again, "we all know that ain't true. Whichever one of you wrote that.... you know that ain't right. That stuff needs to stop. That's all I'm sayin'. C'mon, Chandra, we late to class."
His arm still around Chandra's shoulders, he steers her firmly out of the crowd. They get around the corner, and she bursts into tears.
"You guys OK?" Mr. Mason, the security officer, walks up.
LeVon looks at Chandra questioningly. He thinks they should tell Mr. Mason about the cyber bullying, but he wants it to be her call. Chandra's lip trembles.
"I think you should tell him what's happening," LeVon says quietly.
"I don't want my mom to find out," Chandra sniffs.
"She'll know it's not true," LeVon replies.
Chandra nods. They sit down on a nearby bench and explain to Mr. Mason what's been happening. Mr. Mason tells them that in order to do something about it, he will have to see Chandra's Facebook page.
"Yeah, that's fine," Chandra says, "there's nothing bad on there except what they post."
"Do you want to do that now?" Mr. Mason asks.
"I kinda just wanna go to math," Chandra replies. "Can I show you after lunch?"
"Sure thing," Mr. Mason says. He pulls out his ipad. "I'm sending you a calendar invite for 1:15, how's that? I'll have to invite a dean, too... Do you prefer Dean Smith or Dean Casey?"
"Dean Casey," Chandra replies. She checks her phone. "Yup, I see the invite. I'll be there. Thanks so much, Mr. M."
LeVon and Chandra arrive at Algebra together. They are ten minutes late. They walk in quietly through the open door and look at the board, where Ms. Adams always writes the first task.
Today's task: Use whatever resources you want to try to understand and explain the idea of slope. See if you can explain it in words, using mathematics, and with a physical demonstration. You have until 10:30. Be ready to share with the class.
"Oh man, we ten minutes behind!" LeVon says. "Please tell me you know what slope is!"
Chandra smiles. "Yeah, I know. C'mon, let's sit with Alishia and Damion."
A few minutes later, Ms. Adams stops by their table. She had seen them come in late while she was working with another student, and she had noticed that Chandra looked like she had been crying.
"Hey Chandra, LeVon," she says. "Did you guys get up to speed on what we're working on?"
"Yeah, but I'm lost!" LeVon says. "I don't get this slope stuff."
"I tried explaining it," Chandra says, "but I think he's still a little confused."
"That's OK," Ms. Adams smiles. "LeVon, I see you at football practice, doing a lot of stair drills, right?"
"Oh yeah," LeVon says. "We do stairs every day."
"Now, which stairs are harder, the stadium stairs, or when you do those stairs up the back hill to the tennis courts?"
"The stadium stairs is WAY harder!"
"Why?"
"'Cause they steeper, that's why!"
"Exactly," Ms. Adams says. "Chandra, see if you can work with him from there."
"Naw, I get it!" Damion pipes up. "LeVon, look, I'm gonna graph the stairs we do at practice..."
Ms. Adams touches Chandra lightly on the arm. "Everything OK?" she asks softly.
"Yeah, Miss, it's all good," Chandra replies. "There was an incident but Mr. M took care of it. Sorry we were late to class."
"Oh, it's OK, I figured you guys had a good reason," Ms. Adams says. "Let me know if you need anything."
She turns to go to the next group, but suddenly, there is an eruption behind her.
"Awww, damn, I get it too!" Alishia practically screams. "Miss, Miss... Can our group go first to explain to the class? But can we take a field trip out back? I wanna show slope with LeVon running the stairs!"
"Well..." Ms. Adams looks around at the rest of the class. "What do you guys think? Do you want to see a slope demonstration out back?"
"Yeah!" The class is excited, and LeVon smiles. Math might not be his strong point, but running stairs... that, he can do.
***
Several hours later, LeVon and Damion are running the stairs at practice, side-by-side.
"Yo," Damion pants, "Chandra really digs you. When you gonna ask her to Homecoming?"
"Yo, what?" LeVon is caught off guard. He had been chanting to himself in rhythm with his feet: rise over run, rise over run, rise over run...
"You heard me."
They reach the top of the stairs and turn to go back down. LeVon grins at Damion.
"Alright, maybe I will. Check it out, this is the kind of slope I like. Negative."
He lengthens his stride and takes off down the stairs, grinning from ear to ear.
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