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Alternatives to grade penalties for deadlines in what is sure to be a long thread because our enforcement of deadlines is woven into our foundational understanding of assessment, pedagogy, and school in general.
I'll try because I want to help, if I can.
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I'll try because I want to help, if I can.
Thread...
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First, separate your assignments into essential (think big, important projects) and non-essential (the smaller checks for a standard). This is crucial in managing your workload. Let's start with the smaller, non-essential pieces.
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I don't let my students turn in these smaller non-essential pieces late, but it doesn't hurt their grade in the end. I give a minimum of three of these non-essential checks for each standard. If a student misses one, I don't care, but I collect data on it.
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The important thing with these small things to ask is, "How am I going to provide corrective support after a student misses one?" Easiest thing for me right now? On Friday, everybody who got all their small checks done leaves the Zoom meeting 10 minutes early.
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The key is that, while there isn't a long-term grade consequence, there's an immediate consequence that is geared towards retraining the behavior. Those ten minutes on Friday after the others leave are spent adding next week's assignments to their calendar or phone.
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Other examples I've seen that I like for this: students missing these small checks are assigned an accountability buddy, are given a reflection sheet to complete at the beginning or end of each class, or take one day and track their time usage.
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The key is that there has to be a simple, immediate consequence that is designed to help the student make the connection between their actions and the results. Grade penalties don't do that, and that's one of the key places where they fail to make a difference.
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To wrap up this portion of this, because students are afforded multiple opportunities at a standard, I don't let them turn things in late and simply am looking to make sure I get enough evidence for that specific standard to make a valid evaluation at the end of the term.
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This is the key in being able to not overwhelm yourself with too many assignments at the end of the term. Ask yourself, do I need all these assignments to determine the student's current level? The answer honestly should be no.
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Tip: If you are standards-based, at the end of the term, instead of telling students to do all their work, give them their scores for the standards and if they think they deserve a higher score, have them prove it. Instead of a million assignments, you get one per kid.
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Okay, now for the non-negotiable assignments. These are ones that students have to complete, even if they don't meet the deadline. Think big papers, presentations, large projects, etc. that are a key factor in the class.
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Grade penalties (a) won't convince any student to complete quality work, (b) won't convince students with low grades to complete work on time [grades aren't motivating at that point], and (c) end up making your grades meaningless.
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The key is that deadlines are enforced with meaningful (KEY WORD) consequences that don't impact grades (see tweet above). The goal is that the deadline has consequences but learning can still happen after.
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When thinking of creating meaningful consequences, think outside the classroom when possible. We are powerfully and deeply motivated by relationships, the ability to help people, the ability to make a difference, and the ability to pursue something we are passionate about.
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So, when creating those non-negotiables and thinking about the natural, authentic consequences of meeting deadlines, ask yourself how you can incorporate those factors so that students are motivated to do them, but on the flip-side, the consequences matter.
Examples...
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Examples...
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For a persuasive communication unit, students identify a charity/group solving an issue they care about. We raise money. Groups compete to give the best presentation to be able to donate the money to their group. Missed deadline = no chance for your charity.
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For a narrative writing unit, my 9th graders pair up with an elementary class and write stories for them. Those students then give feedback and interact in FlipGrid. Missed deadline = an actual student they know who doesn't get to participate and is let down.
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In an intervention class (smaller group), I promised to pay to get student books published at the end of the term if they met the minimum of 72 pages required to publish their books. Missed deadline = no physical book delivered during our publishing party.
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In all of these examples, students who didn't meet the deadline (and there were not many) still had the opportunity to complete the work and earn full credit for the grade. My grades stayed accurate while students still FELT the consequence in a meaningful way.
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If they miss a deadline for a large project, use on of the corrective consequence to support self-regulation skills that were mentioned in the earlier tweets. However, usually that experience of a meaningful loss from not meeting a deadline makes a difference.
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I've never written a thread this long, so I need to stop, but here are my final words:
Kids who miss deadlines often miss them because they don't think they can be successful, especially if it's a pattern. They don't need to be beat down. They need to be lifted up.
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Kids who miss deadlines often miss them because they don't think they can be successful, especially if it's a pattern. They don't need to be beat down. They need to be lifted up.
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