Conversation with Student

I have a student who failed World History last year but thought it might be a good idea to make the class up by taking AP European History this year. At the beginning of the year, I asked her why she failed the class and she said she didn't understand the material. I asked her if she enjoyed the class. No. I then explained that AP European history was going to be a lot more challenging than World History and that if she found the material to be very challenging last year, I wouldn't recommend taking the course but the decision was hers. She decided to "try" the class. Like many students, she has been struggling. Unlike many students however, she is trying hard but is not making significant enough improvement to make it possible to pass the class. The issue that bothers me the most is that her writing is extremely disorganized and while I have provided supports for her (graphic organizers & encouraging students to email drafts to me etc), she hasn't always used these. I have suggested several times that she drop the class, but she has always chosen to stay. I have spoken with her mother several times and she agrees that she should drop the class. So today, after reading a very disorganized DBQ, I spoke with her outside of the class. My goal was to convince her that dropping the class was in her best interest, but also to understand that I appreciated her work ethic and that I thought she had a lot of potential. Therefore, our common goal was her academic success. I started by sharing my facts. I had the essay with me and told her that it was very clear that she had worked hard on it (it was 3 pages, neatly typed, spell checked etc) but that it was extremely disorganized. I showed her the rubric and how most of the points come from using the documents to support an argument and that she couldn't earn those because there was no argument. She nodded and smiled that she understood her writing was weak. I then told my story stating that given we are at the 10 week mark, her grade is in the 40%s and she is still struggling, it was in her best interest not to fail my class and still need to make up World History. I asked her for her input by asking why she wanted to stay in the class and she responded that she wanted the challenge. I commended her for that but pointed out that she is also failing honors English and I was afraid that the pace of the class was such that she wasn't getting as much out of it as she would in the regular class. I tentatively suggested that perhaps she should instead focus on her writing in the English class and perhaps take AP US History next year once she is better prepared. I then asked her what she thought about that and she agreed that she thought it would be best. It was important for me that this student drop the class, but it was also important that she understand that I do see how hard she works and that I do think she is capable of being an AP student but that she needs to hone her skills before she can do that. Frequently students interpret these conversations as criticisms ("you don't work hard enough" or "you're not smart enough) but I think she really understood that I want what's best for her and that dropping the class was in her best interest.