Anytime I mention the fact that stopped penalizing late work in my classroom, I can FEEL the judgment coming from other teachers, especially old-school ones. Even if they don’t verbally criticize my policy, their eyes say it all.
“How do you expect kids to learn about deadlines?”
“The real world doesn’t let you turn things in whenever you want!”
“Back in my day….”
I get it, I do… after all, I am a product of a school system that penalized late work. But – listen.
- In the real world, you can almost always get an extension on your taxes
- You can be 5 minutes late for a meeting
- Real adult humans miss deadlines all the time
Do we need to teach executive functioning skills in classrooms? 100% yes. Is assessing a penalty on a student’s grade the most beneficial and successful way to do it? 100% no. It’s not a policy that’s been backed by any research. It’s a tradition that started back during the industrial revolution that trained kids to grow up to be factory workers and conform to euro-centric ideals. In practice, this tradition does far more harm than good for our students.
In short, late penalties are biased towards students of privilege. Students who were taught executive functioning skills by their parents – or just are naturally skilled in managing their workload. Deadlines prioritize the needs of students whose parents have the time, energy, and education necessary to instill those practices in their children, who don’t have a whole lot to worry about outside of being a student. It favors students who are skilled or already confident in the subject matter on their assignment.
Looking at my own classrooms over the years, the number of students who fit into one of those categories above has been slim. With the enduring trauma caused by the pandemic, it’s even fewer. Does this mean I don’t have any deadlines? Nope. I always give students a suggested due date for assignments ( with LMS’s like Canvas, its usually required). I also have a hard deadline for work at the end of each quarter. I just teach and reinforce these skills differently.
HOW CAN WE SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS WITHOUT PENALIZING LATE WORK?
First, we need to recognize that our students are still learning and developing. Even if a student only decides they are ready to learn, participate, or turn in work( or has the means to do so)halfway through the semester, I firmly believe that they should be able to earn a grade that reflects their academic achievement, NOT be irreversibly penalized for their past mistakes. We should praise students for making the choice ( which really is brave) to start. We should also praise students for learning to prioritize their mental health over an assignment.
When students don’t meet my suggested deadline, I follow a protocol:
- Send an email reminder ( again, thank goodness for LMS’s which make this super easy!)
- Follow up verbally with students before class or during independent work time -asking what they need to complete the assignment. Then I offer supports and strategies, giving students a choice and a chance to self – regulate.
- Contact parents.
- If a situation is repeated (like several missing assignments) or is met with defiance or other concerns, I get admin, counseling, and other teachers involved.
I’m a huge believer in praise and encouragement for taking those small steps. When a student says to me, “I guess I could use tome extra help” or “I had a bad night last night, can I turn it in tomorrow?” I always, ALWAYS, praise their solution- making. We can praise and then offer strategies for managing workload. If students struggle coming up with a solution, we can suggest opportunities to get extra help or give students a quiet space to work, we can ask students what they NEED to be successful and complete work on time, and then – we do what we can as teachers to meet those needs.
HOW TO KEEP FLEXIBLE DEADLINES FROM ADDING TO OUR WORKLOAD
Here’s the real talk: flexible due dates have not added any extra work to my life. It’s made MY deadlines more flexible too. It’s also given me more freedom to follow up with failing and struggling students the way I had always wanted to but never seemed to have the time.
I thought that accepting late work would create a lot of headache for me, that I would have HOURS of extra grading. But it has actually made grading EASIER!
Letters and Ink
First, I receive a lot fewer assignments that are rushed, copied, incomplete, or don’t demonstrate mastery.
Second, students tend to be more motivated to complete tasks knowing that it’s never too late to start AND they have the agency to budget their own time as needed and catch up without penalty.
Finally, I have a lot fewer assignments to grade at one time, meaning I can squeeze chunks of assignments in during my prep or when I get to school, rather than facing a MOUNTAIN of the SAME assignment hanging over my head.
To me, it is important to affirm and reaffirm with students that their work is valuable no matter what and that their mastery of skills is what’s important. There are plenty of ways to teach timeliness, but the gradebook just isn’t the place for it.
Read more about creating equitable grading practices.
