Late or Missing Assignments
Six Reasons Why Students Are Unmotivated & Do Not Complete Assignments
Motivation Deficit 1: The student is unmotivated because he or she cannot do the assigned work.
Motivation Deficit 2: The student is unmotivated because the ‘response effort’ needed to complete the assigned work seems too great.
Motivation Deficit 3: The student is unmotivated because classroom instruction does not engage
Motivation Deficit 4: The student is unmotivated because he or she fails to see an adequate pay-off to doing the assigned work
Motivation Deficit 5: The student is unmotivated because of low self-efficacy—lack of confidence that he or she can do the assigned work.
Motivation Deficit 6: The student is unmotivated because he or she lacks a positive relationship with the teacher.
Motivation Deficit 1: The student is unmotivated because he or she cannot do the assigned work.
Motivation Deficit 2: The student is unmotivated because the ‘response effort’ needed to complete the assigned work seems too great.
Motivation Deficit 3: The student is unmotivated because classroom instruction does not engage
Motivation Deficit 4: The student is unmotivated because he or she fails to see an adequate pay-off to doing the assigned work
Motivation Deficit 5: The student is unmotivated because of low self-efficacy—lack of confidence that he or she can do the assigned work.
Motivation Deficit 6: The student is unmotivated because he or she lacks a positive relationship with the teacher.
Helping the Student Who is ‘Under Water’ With Late Assignments: A Structure for Teacher–Student Conferences
When students fall behind in their classwork, they can quickly enter a downward spiral. They must stay caught up in their current assignments and also submit late assignments; as the work piles up, some students become overwhelmed and simply give up.
In such cases, the teacher may want to meet with the student to help that student to create a work plan to catch up with late work. (It is also recommended that the parent attend such a conference, although parent participation is not required.) At the meeting, the teacher and student inventory what work is missing, negotiate a plan to complete that overdue work, and perhaps agree on a reasonable penalty when late work is turned in. Teacher, student (and parent, if attending) then sign off on the work plan. The teacher also ensures that the atmosphere at the meeting is supportive, rather than blaming, toward the student. And of course, any work plan hammered out at this meeting should seem attainable to the student.
Here in greater detail are the steps that the teacher and student would follow at a meeting to renegotiate missing work:
1. Inventory All Missing Work. The teacher reviews with the student all late or missing work. The student is given the opportunity to explain why the work has not yet been submitted.
2.Negotiate a Plan to Complete Missing Work. The teacher and student create a log with entries for all of the missing assignments. Each entry includes a description of the missing assignment and a due date by which the student pledges to submit that work. This log becomes the student’s work plan. It is important that the submission dates for late assignments be realistic--particularly for students who owe a considerable amount of late work and are also trying to keep caught up with current assignments. A teacher and student may agree, for example, that the student will have two weeks to complete and submit four late writing assignments.
3.[Optional] Impose a Penalty for Missing Work. The teacher may decide to impose a penalty for the work being submitted late. Examples of possible penalties are a reduction of points (e.g., loss of 10 points per assignment) or the requirement that the student do additional work on the assignment than was required of his or her peers who turned it in on time. If imposed, such penalties would be spelled out at this teacher-student conference. If penalties are given, they should be balanced and fair, permitting the teacher to impose appropriate consequences while allowing the student to still see a path to completing the missing work and passing the course.
4.Periodically Check on the Status of the Missing-Work Plan. If the schedule agreed upon by teacher and student to complete and submit all late work exceeds two weeks, the teacher (or other designated school contact, such as a counselor) should meet with the student weekly while the plan is in effect. At these meetings, the teacher checks in with the student to verify that he or she is attaining the plan milestones on time and still expects to meet the submission deadlines agreed upon. If obstacles emerge, the teacher and student engage in problem-solving to resolve them.
When students fall behind in their classwork, they can quickly enter a downward spiral. They must stay caught up in their current assignments and also submit late assignments; as the work piles up, some students become overwhelmed and simply give up.
In such cases, the teacher may want to meet with the student to help that student to create a work plan to catch up with late work. (It is also recommended that the parent attend such a conference, although parent participation is not required.) At the meeting, the teacher and student inventory what work is missing, negotiate a plan to complete that overdue work, and perhaps agree on a reasonable penalty when late work is turned in. Teacher, student (and parent, if attending) then sign off on the work plan. The teacher also ensures that the atmosphere at the meeting is supportive, rather than blaming, toward the student. And of course, any work plan hammered out at this meeting should seem attainable to the student.
Here in greater detail are the steps that the teacher and student would follow at a meeting to renegotiate missing work:
1. Inventory All Missing Work. The teacher reviews with the student all late or missing work. The student is given the opportunity to explain why the work has not yet been submitted.
2.Negotiate a Plan to Complete Missing Work. The teacher and student create a log with entries for all of the missing assignments. Each entry includes a description of the missing assignment and a due date by which the student pledges to submit that work. This log becomes the student’s work plan. It is important that the submission dates for late assignments be realistic--particularly for students who owe a considerable amount of late work and are also trying to keep caught up with current assignments. A teacher and student may agree, for example, that the student will have two weeks to complete and submit four late writing assignments.
3.[Optional] Impose a Penalty for Missing Work. The teacher may decide to impose a penalty for the work being submitted late. Examples of possible penalties are a reduction of points (e.g., loss of 10 points per assignment) or the requirement that the student do additional work on the assignment than was required of his or her peers who turned it in on time. If imposed, such penalties would be spelled out at this teacher-student conference. If penalties are given, they should be balanced and fair, permitting the teacher to impose appropriate consequences while allowing the student to still see a path to completing the missing work and passing the course.
4.Periodically Check on the Status of the Missing-Work Plan. If the schedule agreed upon by teacher and student to complete and submit all late work exceeds two weeks, the teacher (or other designated school contact, such as a counselor) should meet with the student weekly while the plan is in effect. At these meetings, the teacher checks in with the student to verify that he or she is attaining the plan milestones on time and still expects to meet the submission deadlines agreed upon. If obstacles emerge, the teacher and student engage in problem-solving to resolve them.