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Late or Missing Work Form

by Admin · 27 November, 2008

Communicate with parents about a student’s late or missing assignments. Send this home and have parent sign to keep them informed about late or missing work.

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Adolescence

How to Help a Teen Out of a Homework Hole

The more students fall behind in the pandemic, the less likely they are to feel that they can catch up.

By Lisa Damour

Pandemic school is taking its toll on students, especially teens. A recent study , conducted by NBC News and Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education, found that 50 percent more kids in high school report feeling disengaged from school this year than last. In December, Education Week reported that schools were seeing “ dramatic increases in the number of failing or near-failing grades ” on report cards.

A major symptom of school disengagement is not turning in homework, a problem that can easily snowball. The further students fall behind, the more overwhelmed they often become and the less likely they are to feel that they can catch up .

The good news is that finding out about missing homework is a first step to helping kids get back on track. You just need to keep a few considerations in mind.

Empathy will get you further than anger

At this point in the pandemic, finding out that your child has let schoolwork slide may trigger an angry response. Everyone is worn down by the demands of pandemic life and many parents are already operating on their last nerve . Getting mad, however, is likely to cause kids to adopt a defensive or minimizing stance. Instead, try to be compassionate. What students who have fallen behind need most are problem-solving partners who want to understand what they are going through.

If you’re having trouble summoning your empathy, bear in mind that there are many good reasons a student could fall off pace this year. For instance, Ned Johnson, a professional tutor and co-author of the book “The Self-Driven Child,” noted that most teens have very little experience managing email, which is now a main source of information for those in remote or hybrid arrangements. “We know how overwhelmed we as adults are by email. Imagine not being comfortable with it, and then suddenly getting everything — from Zoom links to assignments — that way.”

Some students learning remotely may also have unreliable broadband service; others may miss key information because their attention is split between the teacher on the screen and distractions at home.

“Many adults are having the exact same issues,” said Ellen Braaten, a psychologist and the executive director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. “They are really productive when they can physically be at work, but may find themselves less attentive in the unstructured environment of working from home.”

Even teens who are attending school in person and using familiar systems for tracking assignments may be having a hard time managing their work now. The mental skills that help us stay organized — commonly called executive functioning — are being undermined by psychological stress, which is unusually high among today’s teens.

Work together to diagnose the problem

Finding out that your child is in academic trouble can tempt you to jump to solutions. It’s best, however, to properly diagnose the problem before trying to address it. Liz Katz, assistant head for school partnership at One Schoolhouse, an online supplemental school, suggested looking into the reasons students fall behind at school. Some don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing, others know and aren’t doing it, and still others “are doing their best and just can’t meet expectations.”

As you talk with a teenager about where things have gone off the rails, be kind, curious and collaborative. “This isn’t about you being in trouble or getting off the hook,” you might say. “It’s simply about figuring out what’s going wrong so we can solve the right problem.”

Students who are struggling to keep track of what’s expected of them may need to reach out to their teachers, either for clarification about specific assignments or for general guidance on where and when they should be looking for information about homework. As a parent or caregiver, you can coach them on how to approach their instructors. Start by pointing out that teachers are almost always eager to lend support to students who seek it. You can also offer to give feedback on a draft email to an instructor explaining where the student got lost and what they have already tried.

“For many students, the ability to ask for help is not fully formed,” said Ms. Katz, “or it can feel like an admission that they’ve done something wrong. Normalizing and praising self-advocacy is so important.”

For students who know what they’re supposed to do but aren’t doing it, other approaches make sense. They may be having a hard time sustaining motivation and need support on that front , or they may be swamped with commitments, such as caring for younger siblings, that make it impossible to complete their schoolwork. Here, parents and students will want to work together to make a realistic plan for addressing the biggest priorities in light of these circumstances. This might mean coming to an agreement about where the teen’s energies should be directed or exploring what additional support might be put in place.

In some cases, academic problems may be linked to issues with mental health. If there’s a question of whether a student is suffering from depression or anxiety; using drugs; or exhibiting any other significant emotional or behavioral concern, check in with the school counselor or family doctor for a proper assessment. Treatment should always take precedence over schoolwork. “If you’re depressed,” Dr. Braaten said, “no amount of executive function coaching is going to help, because that’s not the issue.”

Some students have subtle learning or attention disorders that became an issue only when school went online. Under regular conditions, said Mr. Johnson, instructors can notice when a student is tuning out and bring back his or her attention in a gentle way. Unfortunately, “Teachers really can’t do that effectively on Zoom.” If this is a concern, parents should consider checking in with teachers or their school’s learning support staff to get their read on the problem and advice for how to move forward.

Step back to see the big picture

“We all need to be easier on ourselves,” Dr. Braaten said, “and to sort through what students really need to do and what they don’t.” Well-meaning parents might hope to motivate students by emphasizing the importance of high grades, but that can make it harder for kids to recover from a substantial setback.

As students start to work their way back, give some thought to how comprehensive their turnaround needs to be. Do they really need to get equally high grades in every class? Could they instead direct their energy toward getting square with the courses they care about most? Could they work with their teachers to agree upon trimmed-down assignments for partial credit? According to Mr. Johnson, “Lowering expectations, for now , can actually help kids to get back on track.”

Dr. Braaten also noted that much of what students gain from school is not about content, but about learning how to solve problems. Engaging teens in constructive conversations to figure out how they fell behind can be an important lesson unto itself. “Having a 16-year-old who understands, ‘When I’m stressed, this is how I react,’” says Dr. Braaten, “may put us further ahead in the long run.”

In any school year, students learn a great deal beyond academic content. This year, more than most, might be one where students gain a deep understanding of how they respond when feeling overwhelmed and how to ask for help or rebound from setbacks — lessons that they will draw on long after the pandemic is gone.

Lisa Damour is a psychologist and the author of the New York Times best sellers “Untangled” and “Under Pressure.” Dr. Damour also co-hosts the podcast “Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Parenting.” More about Lisa Damour

Dealing With Missing Homework

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In the spring, a young teacher’s fancy turns to thoughts of . . . homework? That’s what happened in the TLN forum discussion group last week, when a fifth-year middle school teacher asked her colleagues: “What’s your feeling about students who won’t or don’t do work outside of school?”

She went on to explain:

I carefully plan my class so that the homework I give is meaningful. Basically, I ask students to continue the reading process we begin in school. Home reading is a valuable habit for them to develop, and practical since I can’t devote enough class time to silent reading for my students to get through books in a timely manner.

Much of the time they have chosen their own books and by October most of my students are reading in class and for homework. But I have a few students who just hold out on me. They read in class, but no matter what, it seems they won’t read at home. These are students who also don’t do any work outside of school in any of their other classes. It’s true they go home to chaotic environments and some have lots of household duties. But does this mean they truly can’t work outside of school? Or are they simply refusing? Is it okay? How hard should a teacher push on this?

My close colleague grew up with both her parents working long hours and she basically raised her four younger brothers and sisters. She was exhausted, but she did her school work despite it and she excelled in school. She is a great teacher and has no sympathy for students who don’t do work outside of school. She believes it’s necessary for students to take responsibility for their education and she refuses to “make excuses for them.” She has the highest number of failing students in the building. Nonetheless, students say they learn a lot from her and come back to visit her, saying she prepared them for high school (we both teach 8th grade).

Where do you stand on students working on assignments outside of school? What about those few that don’t?

A suburban high school English teacher replied:

There are a variety of aspects to consider: the students’ ages, individual circumstances, the expectations of the school and department, the expectations in their high schools, and any relevant standards you operate within.

I’m sure you appreciate the importance of communicating one-to-one with these students and showing that you value them and want to understand the relevant factors that prevent them from doing work. At the same time, you can use that interaction to communicate the importance of what you’re asking—how it will serve them well in the future, that it’s not an arbitrary requirement you cooked up to torture students. Beyond that, I’m not sure what the consequences should be for that age group, in your context.

Working with high school students in the context that I do, I have a clear expectation, consistent with my department, school, and district, that students must do work on their own outside of school. Like you, I aim to keep it relevant and valuable—no busy work. When students don’t do the work, I talk to them, and offer support and flexibility on the amount or timing of work as warranted—but there’s not much chance of getting around the basic expectation of reading and writing outside of school hours.

When students say they just can’t do it, I’m comfortable saying that they also can’t expect a grade of C or higher in the class. I try to present it as a matter of providing evidence. They may very well be capable of satisfactory completion of a high school English class, but if, for whatever reason, they can’t demonstrate it at this time, the grade is unfortunately reflecting that there’s no evidence to warrant a more desirable grade.

Another middle school teacher, in a small midwestern town, wondered: “Should failure be an option?”

I teach 7th grade math and try not to assign homework as such. However, math is very skill-oriented and there are assignments each day. Students who use class time wisely usually have little or no work to complete outside of class. I plan my assignments so students can complete them during class time because I want to be available to help them if they are struggling.

Unfortunately, the students who struggle most tend to be either slow workers or those who care very little about their grades anyway. These students seldom finish their assignments in OR out of class, and consequently, their grades suffer. I have a fairly liberal grading policy. Homework not turned in does not count against students. However, students who do not complete daily work have little chance of being successful on assessments.

I am not sure what the solution is. I have tried working with individual students, writing contracts with parents/students, offering to stay after school to help, whatever. But for some students (and their parents) school is simply not a priority. While I understand that other things interfere with students and time to complete assignments, I also feel that school should be their number one priority right now and somehow we need to make them understand this.

An upper elementary teacher in New York state wrote:

I see great value in the concept of meaningful homework for a variety of reasons. Obviously, it’s valuable for the transfer of content and strategies along with the positive effects of practice and reinforcement. I also think it is a perfect way to provide opportunities to build character in terms of responsibility and personal accountability—skills that can go a long way in life.

A high school teacher in the rural deep south remembered:

I once visited the home of a student who almost never did his homework. I discovered that he lived in a trailer (not double-wide) with five siblings, two cousins, and three adults. There were two light bulbs in the entire trailer: one in the bathroom, the other over the kitchen area. I started making arrangements for him to do his homework in my room after school or early in the morning.

Our local youth ministry operates a homework club that provides space and support for members to do homework a couple of nights each week. We have many parents who are illiterate or semi-illiterate. Some push their children to get an education; others are intimidated by anything from school and embarrassed that they can’t help their children. Consequently, I’ve become much less rigid about work done outside of school. It’s always optional, although I stress the value of it for the doer.

A teacher in California questioned whether there is evidence that homework actually improves learning.

I recently read an article stating that homework had little or no impact on student achievement in content. Other research I’ve read supports that thinking as well. It’s one of those sacred cows that would be worth discussing and learning more about.

Do my kids do work at home? Yes. But mostly they do it on their own terms based on what they need in order to accomplish projects by a certain date. Reading is an expectation too, but it’s always their choice of book. Work completion and quality have risen since I ceased assigning “homework,” and I see how much more serious they are about the work we do in class together.

Rick Wormeli, a TLN forum member who writes and speaks about homework issues frequently as a professional development consultant, had this to say:

Some teachers see homework as evidence of learning. This is true, but it’s formative evidence at best. As such, it is never to be used in the final summative grade, or if used, it should be used with an extremely small influence on the overall grade—2 percent, 5 percent, or similar. Most experts will cringe even at this concession. We should use any evidence gained in assessing homework assignments to provide feedback to students and revise instruction, not as the final declaration of what a child knows and is able to do regarding a standard or outcome.

Homework is definitely practice. In fact, in my middle school classes, we called it what it was—"practice.” The phrasing I used was, “Students, your science practice tonight will be...,” or, “For practice tonight in English, please do the following....” This kept both students and me mindful of homework’s true role in learning (and its weight in grading) and removed a lot of the emotional baggage associated with the term “homework.”

Nowhere else in the world do we grade practice. We don’t give the gold medal to Olympians who trained well and worked hard, we give it to those who achieve the highest results. Homework is the time to practice and wrestle with the ideas, try out hunches, and explore the topic. If the score on our practice work counts for much of our grade, we don’t have the freedom to explore without fear of labeling and rejection.

This, perhaps, is the change in metaphor we need to consider: Grades are not compensation. They never were. Grades are reports of what happened—that’s it. They are communication, and as such, they must be accurate.

If we include such factors as homework performance; the number of days he used a quiet, indoor voice; whether she brought her supplies in a timely manner; if she completed tasks assigned, met deadlines, or brought in canned food for food drives; or a host of other distorting factors, we remove all validity in the initial report of what the students knows and can do regarding the standards/outcomes. Now the grade can no longer be used to inform academic decisions, document progress, or provide accurate feedback. Our enterprise is undermined.

Some suggest that doing homework builds character and therefore should be counted in the grade. I agree that doing assigned tasks, meeting deadlines, managing time, and sticking it out to finish an assignment when you’d rather be watching television all have their place in building character. But responding with inappropriate grading policies is not the way to build moral fiber. Hold students accountable for doing homework and following through on requests from the adults in their lives, but don’t do it through your grading practices. Grades are very poor teachers.

One last thing: There are numerous research reports regarding the impact of homework on student achievement in school, and the correlations are nothing or next to nothing for primary and elementary grades. In middle school there is a small bump, and in high school a slightly higher bump, but the correlation is still stunningly low. We have to accept the fact that while homework is one tool for learning a topic, it is only that—one tool. We have hundreds of other ways to teach students.

If the homework door is closed for whatever reason, it’s not the end of learning. Consider how you would teach if you didn’t have homework assignments to rely upon. When I did this earlier in my career, it changed what I did the classroom. My instruction improved as a result.

So how about you? Is homework important? Do you include it in your grading system? Have your views changed over time?

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Missing Homework Log Template for Teachers

Subject: Whole school

Age range: 1 - 18

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

12 July 2016

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Do you take recess for missed homework?

Discussion in ' Elementary Education ' started by Em_Catz , Apr 13, 2013 .

Em_Catz Devotee

Apr 13, 2013

My current school's policy is that we are no longer allowed to take recess just because a child did not do their homework. Prior to this policy, many teachers would make the child do their homework during recess time at a back table if we had indoor, or outside on the playground with a clipboard if there was outdoor recess. Last year we had a student who was extremely bright but refused to work. Instead he spent his time terrorizing other children, trying to sneak out of the classroom, going on multiple bathroom breaks, playing with crayons and pencils, drawing in his notebook, etc. A few times, his teacher would have him outside with a clipboard doing his classwork. How do you all feel about this? Personally, I am on the fence. On the one hand, I understand that a child needs to learn responsibility and a good work ethic. However, children also need to run around, expend energy and learn social skills. I'm hopeful that I may be getting a job at a new school and if they do not have this policy, I need to decide if I will or won't do it.  

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waterfall Virtuoso

My kids have a 15 minute recess before lunch and a 15 minute recess mid-afternoon. I always give them the lunch recess (partly for selfish reasons- if they had to stay in I'd have to give up my lunch). I will take the second recess away for consequences. It's really the only consequence we're allowed to give. We can't send kids to the office, we can't take away trips or parties or other "fun" things, and we can't make them write something. We can call parents, but I find that parents of my "frequent fliers" just don't even care anymore because they hear it so much. I don't feel bad about it because they always have one recess. I pass out homework on Mondays and collect it on Fridays, so kids have to stay in on Friday if they don't bring it back. I will also keep kids in if I they don't finish work and they were just goofing around/not even trying to finish. I feel like this is a natural consequence- if you choose not to do the work during class, you are choosing to make it up at recess instead. If the kid is truly working hard and just works slowly, I won't make them stay in.  

giraffe326 Virtuoso

We are not allowed to. State law requires them to have 3o minutes of physical activity every day. I DO take away choice. Walking laps is sometimes a punishment for no homework.  

LisaLisa Companion

In the case of homework there is no clear relevance between homework and recess. What does one have to do with the other? It's one thing if a student is disruptive or has not completed assignments in the morning prior to recess. Then there is a consequence. I don't take recess away for missing homework. It doesn't teach them anything. Recess is part of the school day. What you can do is have a positive consequence for those students who complete homework. Earned activities or choice time on Friday or something like that. If homework is due every day then adjust things accordingly. The student who did not earn the "privilege" (by not completing homework when due) would then complete their homework on that day during the choice time. The best way for this to work is to time the reward time just long enough so that the student can complete their homework and have a taste of the reward. They need an incentive to do homework.  

MissScrimmage Aficionado

I don't assign homework and take away as little recess as possible. I teach 6-year-olds... they need to run and play. We are allowed to take recess away if we feel it is an appropriate consequence. Since homework is for home, I might send it home again with a note/phone call that homework isn't getting done.  

YoungTeacherGuy Phenom

I've mentioned before in other threads that homework is a battle I'm not going to fight. If they complete the daily assignment (which is only one double-sided page...one for spelling and the other for math) then they'll do well on Friday's spelling and math tests. I do, however, have incentives for those who do complete their homework. I have a Friday "Lunch Bunch" where students get to eat their lunch with me and watch a movie (I also provide a small treat), so my homework completion rate is pretty high.  

Bored of Ed Enthusiast

I would not do it for homework. Homework I encourage more with positive incentives. It's just too far out of my control to have such a big penalty - recess is important, and even big kids can have a hard time if their home climate is not conducive to schoolwork. (though I must say, even though I don't actually say anything, I have a bit of gripe with the kid who says he CAN'T do any homework, even on Sunday, because on Sunday he NEEDS to spend 6 consecutive hours "playing.") I would, however, dock recess for a child who severely wastes class time. If a kid can't complete his class work because it's too hard or something, that's my bad, but if he fails to even attempt his work in class due to bad attitude or unacceptable behavior, I have him do it in the principal's office during recess. Note: I teach kids with EBD and can put up with a LOT of shtick. This consequence is reserved for the really inexcusable. As I said, recess is really important.  

EMonkey Connoisseur

Apr 14, 2013

I do not do anything about homework except talk to mom or dad. They are first graders and I believe a lot of the lack of doing it is beyond the child's control and is definitely beyond my control also. I do have consequences for not doing classwork.  

missapril81 Companion

I do take some recess time away, but not all. I also have homework slips that they take home to have signed. They are to tell me why they did not do it. Whatever excuse they give me I let the parents know. I had one student one time who said his parents did not make him do homework so I wrote it down. This is easier sometimes that way if a parent is wondering about grades I can show them how many missed homework and practice skills papers I am missing. The parents find it helpful as a communication tool.  

Wow! So many good ideas. I really like the idea of offering an incentive rather than taking something away! I think that's a happy median for me, maybe having a bi-weekly "lunch bunch" or giving out a small weekly treat (like a sticker or class money) which when saved allows a student to go to our prize box. @Ms. Scrimmage: You're so lucky that your school allows this! At my school even the PreK students are required to have daily homework AND weekend homework. The daily I can understand for our 1st graders, but WEEKEND homework?! Even though it's really short, I don't think it's fair. We are pushing these kids so hard during the week, why can't they have their weekend to be free?  

DrivingPigeon Phenom

Yes, I have them stay in for recess to finish incomplete homework. Our students have one 35-minute recess before lunch. A missed assignment usually takes about 10 minutes to complete, so they still have about 25 minutes of recess to run around. My students just know it's an expectation, so they get right to work when recess begins, get it done, and get outside. No biggie!  

TamiJ Virtuoso

At my students' age I feel the parents are really responsible for making sure the hw gets done. Now getting the hw back into their hw folders and backpack is a responsibility I place on the kids. In any case, I have not taken away recess for missing hw but have held students at recess if they sat and did nothing but play. I hate doing that but I don't know how else to show the importance of working hard during wirk time so they can play during play time.  

Em_Catz said: ↑ @Ms. Scrimmage: You're so lucky that your school allows this! At my school even the PreK students are required to have daily homework AND weekend homework. The daily I can understand for our 1st graders, but WEEKEND homework?! Even though it's really short, I don't think it's fair. We are pushing these kids so hard during the week, why can't they have their weekend to be free? Click to expand...

myKroom Habitué

We have 3 recesses per day. I never take away lunch recess (which is the longest at 25 minutes). However, depending on how much work they have to get finished, they may stay in for one of the other two. I prefer not to take it away, but sometimes they HAVE TO get their work done. Now homework, to me, is a different story. I'm just clarifying, to me homework implies something that was assigned and needed to be completed at home. I don't have homework in K, but when I taught 1st grade, if they didn't get their homework done I counted it as a 0. Of course, then you fall into the trap of some schools not allowing 0's. If they don't do their homework at home and we can't give them a 0 you have to find some time in their day to get it done!  

yellowdaisies Fanatic

I don't, though some of my coworkers do. I teach first, and as others have mentioned, when 6 and 7 year olds don't turn in homework I think it is often more the fault of the parents than of the kids. I do agree with keeping kids in to finish class work though - as long as the child didn't finish it because they were off task and not because they were really struggling with it. If they play during class, then they can work during the scheduled play time! I agree with YTG - I am not going to fight the homework battle. I have chosen not to this year (it's my first year), although lately I've been feeling I really need to start rewarding the kids who ARE turning it in, and hope that the incentive motivates the other kids. We have a classroom economy with tickets they use to buy prizes, so I may just use tickets for that. I already have a lunch bunch with randomly selected students every week (5 students a week), so I don't really want to get rid of that or have ANOTHER lunch bunch... In addition to that, homework is an effort grade on the report card, so it's not totally ignored.  

EiffelTower Comrade

Apr 18, 2013

If missing homework becomes a chronic problem, than I will take their recess away. Otherwise, if the homework is not done, an email is sent to a parent and it usually comes back the following day. I do keep kids in at recess if they have a failing grade until they choose to bring it up to a C or higher. That seems to be a highly motivating factor in getting the grades brought up relatively quickly.  

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