You Can Lead a Horse to Water...
If Jerry Seinfeld was a teacher, he might lament: What's the deal with late work? Why isn't there a simple way to get students to do work on time. I'm not Jerry Seinfeld, but I am a teacher who is struggling with this dilemma.
"Procrastinate" is one of those strange words that a disproportionate number of Americans like to use. This is probably because we have become a nation of procrastinators. This explains the billions of dollars in credit card debt in this country. I can't help but wonder: is there a cure for this putting-off of important things, like homework and getting notes signed? Or is this epidemic, which afflicts most of my students, incurable?
In general, my late work policy has been working well, although it remains far from perfect. Currently, I penalize students 10 points (out of 100) for handing in an assignment one day late, 20 points for two days late, and 30 points for three or more days late. The result is that some students turn their work in on time, but many will blow off their work until the week before grades close, creating a logjam of late work for me to grade. The con is that kids lose points for late work, but there is no difference in the punishment between three days late and three weeks late.
I know some teachers do not accept late work. This is setting the bar very high. I have considered doing this, but fear that it would result in many more students failing my class. An alternative approach is not to assign homework, and many teachers in my school and elsewhere do not assign homework. But I feel homework is necessary for supplementing lessons and practicing for assessments, most notably the state test.
In the end, I guess there is no perfect system. I am satisfied with penalizing late work for now: but I hope my students begin to avoid these late penalities.
"Procrastinate" is one of those strange words that a disproportionate number of Americans like to use. This is probably because we have become a nation of procrastinators. This explains the billions of dollars in credit card debt in this country. I can't help but wonder: is there a cure for this putting-off of important things, like homework and getting notes signed? Or is this epidemic, which afflicts most of my students, incurable?
In general, my late work policy has been working well, although it remains far from perfect. Currently, I penalize students 10 points (out of 100) for handing in an assignment one day late, 20 points for two days late, and 30 points for three or more days late. The result is that some students turn their work in on time, but many will blow off their work until the week before grades close, creating a logjam of late work for me to grade. The con is that kids lose points for late work, but there is no difference in the punishment between three days late and three weeks late.
I know some teachers do not accept late work. This is setting the bar very high. I have considered doing this, but fear that it would result in many more students failing my class. An alternative approach is not to assign homework, and many teachers in my school and elsewhere do not assign homework. But I feel homework is necessary for supplementing lessons and practicing for assessments, most notably the state test.
In the end, I guess there is no perfect system. I am satisfied with penalizing late work for now: but I hope my students begin to avoid these late penalities.
posted by Joel Hebert at 4:06 PM
2 Comments:
I accept late work but its score is reduced by 50%, whether it's a day or a month late.
Also, I allow assignments to be re-done for full credit if students perform badly, so long as it was turned in on time. If it's a day late, it's a 50% reduction, and the grade is final.
i tend to drop a letter per day that an assignment is late, which gives the kids about a week to turn in an assignment and still pass it. after a week, i drop it 10% a day. makes grading easier for me and tends to keep the kids on track (in general)... :)
lol - but you're nicer than i am with that.
Post a Comment
<< Home