No More Late Work 2.0

From the beginning of my teaching career, I've wanted to be flexible with deadlines. Allowing students to choose to do the work makes it more meaningful to them. Attempts to punish students for turning work in late haven't worked. Understanding what we're working toward as a big goal broken into small bits that students get to at their own pace seems like a classroom culture that mirrors what happens outside of school.

But I'm not sure I was being as intentional about this ethic as I should have been. My students in higher-level classes started abusing the privilege especially, and many ended last quarter with low grades as a result of not turning in a major paper I had broken into smaller assignments for them.

So, I'm trying something new. I'll still take late work. I don't promise to grade it within a week as with work turned in on time. And I will only take it late with an accompanying paragraph explaining why the work is late. I told students that forgetting is an acceptable answer, but they have to explain why they forgot. The same with simply choosing not to do it in order to focus on other priorities. So far, I've had good results in that more work is coming in at the original deadline, and I've seen some focused reflections that I think will help me organize my own practice to meet student needs a little better. For example, a couple of students asked for some modifications to the writing workshop checklist.

For those of you in the classroom right now, what's working to get this end of the year work in? What isn't? What worked for you when you were in school?

They're Honors Kids; They Can Handle It

This is my first year teaching an honors class. In fact, this is my first brush with honor students since I sat in my umpteenth AP class in high school (because obviously I would take every AP class possible. Was not taking it even an option?). I've preferred teaching lower-proficiency and reluctant learners because they seemed to be "my" kids. They really needed as many caring adults as possible. They needed teachers who could stay late freed from constraints of family, and you know, a life. There is an intellectual challenge in figuring out kids who don't love English class.

Honors students, I reasoned, don't need me. They would learn to analyze, dissect, and create whether they had a long-term sub or a National Board certified teacher (not that I'm either). Honors kids, however, I'm learning are still kids. This probably goes without saying to the thousands of wonderful teachers who love, encourage, and write thirty-seven college recommendations for their honors students. But it's a whole new world to me.

In trying to figure out how to engage their minds that are eager to learn, I've realized I've just given them more stuff to do. Today, I extended a deadline for an essay and a collective sigh of relief filled the room. I didn't even give back the second drafts so they couldn't be tempted to work on them over their long weekend. I had a student break down in tears because of the number of tests and projects due this week as the quarter ends.

Maybe this is old news to many of you, but it seems to me that our education system hasn't gotten it right for kids at either end of the spectrum of interest/proficiency/parental involvement. We can't seem to engage kids at the lower-interest end in a way that encourages them to pursue something beyond high school (or even finish high school) and we just keep throwing things at kids who have an honors designation thinking that more stuff to do equals more rigor. Teacher friends, how are you balancing these needs? How do I provide a space that is challenging and engaging but still acknowledges the fact that these students are all teenagers who need social lives, exercise, and (most often missed) sleep?