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Deadline reminder email samples: How to give a gentle nudge

Kimberlee Meier ,

1 February 2023 • 0 min read

"Psst...read this email and respond, please!" isn’t the most professional follow-up to send — try these notes instead when you need to send out a deadline reminder.

Need an answer from someone over email? Feel like you’re being ignored? You’re not alone. People leave emails unanswered or don’t reply at all — all the time. Why?

Simple answer: There are too many. Emails have become a core part of our daily work routine. In fact, the average person spends 28% of their time on email every week . Sherry Turkle, the director of the Initiative on Technology and Self at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says that many people get overwhelmed with how many emails they have to reply to, so they triage, prioritize, or completely forget to reply.

“ Your brain is not a perfect instrument for processing texts,” she says.

Yet if you’re the one that’s waiting for a reply, it’s, welp, just annoying. In a business setting, it’s usually holding you back from your own deadlines. Financial Times writer Lucy Kellaway describes what many of us feel when our emails go unanswered — there is no clue why they haven’t replied.

“What is so distracting about silence on email is that it is impossible to fathom. When you speak to someone, you can see whether they are struck dumb from amazement, disapproval, or boredom.

"Has the person even seen your message? Are they deliberately ignoring you? Are they disgusted? Busy? Out of battery?

"Or could it be that — as often happens to me — they have read the message on their mobile without reading glasses to hand, and by the time they have got their glasses the moment has passed.”

And when it comes to waiting for an email reply, some are more urgent than others. You could be waiting for a response to an event invite, or something more urgent like:

Late payments/shipments

Overdue deadlines

Unsigned contracts

Unused coupons or discounts

If these emails continue to go unanswered, you risk missing deadlines or closing a deal. So, how do you get an answer to these emails?

It depends on the circumstances, but getting a reply comes down to a few simple rules: grabbing your subject’s attention, keeping your emails short, and clearly explaining why you need a reply ASAP.

3 tips for writing deadline reminder emails

1. make your headline stand out.

Don’t play "Where’s Waldo?" in your recipient’s inbox. You need to stand out.

The first stop is the email’s subject. If it’s too generic, you risk your reader skimming over it completely.

If you’re chasing an overdue invoice or an unsigned contract, all you have to do is highlight it and gently remind them that you would love a response. Like this:

Four words tell your reader what the email is about and instill a sense of urgency that can nudge your reader into actually opening it.

2. Keep it short and sweet

People love a short email.

A study by Boomerang revealed emails that have between 75 to 100 words get a better response than longer emails.

Remember, people are busy. The quicker you get to your point, the easier it is for your reader to scan your message and reply. Here’s how an overdue invoice poke could look:

It’s like a quick text to a friend. It includes all of the vital information—when the invoice was issued, how much it was for, and, most importantly, that it’s overdue. It also presents the reader with a crossroads: if they’ve paid the invoice, all they have to do is reply and let you know.

And if they haven’t—the pressure is on for them to respond.

3. Make sure you clearly explain your situation

I know I’ve just told you to keep your deadline reminder emails short, but there are some occasions where you may need to explain your situation in more detail.

If you send out a reminder to a customer about an upcoming subscription expiration or try to close a deal on a new contract, you sometimes need to add a little more juice to your email. This requires drafting a deadline email with three pieces:

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 A quick summary of your relationship: Remind your reader about who you are and when you interacted last

📅 A reminder of the upcoming deadline: Clearly explain what deadline is approaching and how you can help them. If your reader can extend a subscription themselves or pay an invoice online, make sure you add in a link so they can take action immediately

☎️ A call to action (CTA): If you think that your reader may need more information or you want to touch base with them to talk more about their contract, ask for a catch-up

Here’s what that email should look like:

It’s important not to overload your reader with information. Your reminder email should have a clear message about what you want them to do and how they can do it.

Pro-tip: Creating a reminder email that actually gets replies is like finding gold. You should turn your winning email into a template so your whole team can use it to boost their replies. Using a tool like Front, you can create message templates to save time when you reach out to customers to get a response. All you have to do is draft a template, save it, and your team can use it whenever they need:

Oh, and make sure you hit send at the perfect time

There is a little bit of science that comes along with getting email replies.

It may be a surprise that if you hit send at the right time, you have a better chance of getting a response. A study by Beamery found you can get a 45% response rate for emails if you send them early in the morning or in the evening.

Yet all customers are different, so the best way to figure out when to send emails is to test, test, test. A/B split testing your emails to see when your customers are active and replying to your emails can help you pinpoint when they’re most likely to be in their inboxes so you can send your deadline reminder emails at that time.

3 deadline reminder email samples you should steal

1. a short and sweet message about a subscription renewal.

Image Source

Why it’s great: Your customers are busy people, so the majority of the time when they forget to pay an invoice or renew their subscription, it’s because they’ve forgotten or they just haven’t had time to do it. Any deadline reminder email you send out should reflect that. And with so many subscriptions now auto-renewing, this deadline reminder email should be just that — a reminder that payment is about to be charged to their card.

Take a look at this example. It simply tells the customer when the subscription will renew, how much the charge will be, and a link to where they can manage their payment cycle.

2. A reminder of an upcoming event

Why it’s great: Whether you’re hosting an event, webinar, or onboarding session, you should always give everyone attending a heads up and remind them a couple of days in advance.

This sample reminder email about an upcoming marketing seminar highlights all of the important bits: when the event will take place, how much it’ll cost, and when you need to register.

There’s two parts of this reminder email that make it really pop. Not only is there a discount code given (that highlighted in bold ), but there are two call-to-action buttons. It leaves the reader with no confusion about what the email is about, and leaves the impression that Google *really* wants them to come to the conference! 🙋‍♀️

3. A gentle nudge about a customer’s unused rewards

Why it’s great: Reminder emails don’t always have to be about chasing unrenewed subscriptions or unpaid invoices. This deadline reminder email sample is perfect for customers who have unused store credits or a remaining balance on their account. They may have forgotten about a credit you have given them or unsure about how they could spend it.

If you copy the format of this sample email you can tell the customer exactly how many credits they have left (or what coupon they can use), when it needs to be used by, and provide a direct link to your website to encourage them to take action!

Deadline reminder emails should be polite — not pushy.

Sending out reminder emails can feel like you’re annoying your clients.

Yet there’s a way not to be a burden on their inbox. If you keep your message short, explain the situation clearly, and give them a way to resolve the problem themselves — you boost your chances of getting a reply.

The most helpful advice we can give to you is that people’s inboxes are a busy place. To give your email the best shot at standing out, have a headline that stands out, keep it short, and send it at a time that’ll get your reader’s attention.

The rest… well, that’s up to your reader!

Written by Kimberlee Meier

Originally Published: 12 November 2020

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How strict should you be? A guide to assignment due dates.

Be consistent in your approach to deadline flexibility, whether you never accept late work or are always willing to make an exception..

Colleges typically require instructors to include a calendar of assignment due dates in every course syllabus. But most syllabi also include a disclaimer that assignment deadlines are subject to change.  

So, how flexible should deadlines really be in a college course? 

Be Flexible, or be Rigid, but Always be Consistent 

Be consistent in your approach to deadline flexibility, whether you never accept late work or are always willing to make an exception. Nothing irritates strong students more than their instructor announcing, “Since so many of you asked for more time on the assignment that was due today, I’m extending its deadline to next week.”  

Syllabi should always include a clearly stated policy about the circumstances under which late work might be accepted, if at all.  

But should this policy be applied equally to low-stakes and high-stakes assignments? 

Low-Stakes Assessments  

If a course has many low-stakes assessments, like quizzes or homework problems, those assignments are usually due on the same day each week.  

For example, if class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, there might a reading quiz due every Monday, to ensure that students are prepared for the week’s in-class discussions, and a homework problem due every Friday, to verify understanding of the week’s concepts. 

Here are three solid approaches to deadline flexibility for low-stakes assessments: 

1. Not flexible: Late work is never accepted  

If a student misses a deadline, they receive zero points on that assignment. 

This approach works best in courses that have many low-stakes assignments, such as reading quizzes on every textbook chapter, where missing one or two deadlines will not jeopardize a student’s understanding of the core concepts nor greatly impact their final letter grade. 

2. Somewhat flexible: Late work is accepted, at a penalty  

If a student misses a deadline, they can submit the assignment late, but their score will be penalized a specified amount (e.g. -5 points). 

This approach works best in courses where content acquisition is scaffolded such that missing one assignment will negatively impact a student’s understanding of core concepts and successful completion of future assignments. In this case, students who miss deadlines should be permitted to complete the missed assignments, but with a small scoring penalty to encourage on-time submissions in future weeks. 

3. Very flexible: Late work is made up, with instructor permission 

If a student misses a deadline, they must contact the instructor and arrange an alternate way to complete the assignment (e.g. by taking a make-up quiz during the instructor’s office hours). 

This approach works best in courses where low-stakes assessments are considered part of a student’s participation grade. In this case, missing a deadline is like missing a class meeting. Students should be encouraged to initiate contact with the instructor to arrange a way to verify their understanding of the missed assignment’s concepts.  

High-Stakes Assessments  

Every course has one or more high-stakes assessments, such as exams or research papers. These assessments are weighted more heavily (worth more of the overall course grade) than lower-stakes assessments because these are higher-level demonstrations of students’ proficiency in the course outcomes. Failure to successfully complete high-stakes assessments generally leads to failure of the entire course. 

What kind of flexibility is appropriate then for key, high-stakes course assessments? 

1. Not flexible: Deadlines do not change, under any circumstances  

If a student misses a deadline, they receive zero points on that assessment. 

This is the most common approach to deadlines for high-stakes assessments. It is rare for a college instructor to permit students to make up a missed midterm or final exam because students making up an exam would receive the unfair advantage of more time to prepare for the exam. Also, many final exams are scheduled for the very end of term, when there is no time remaining for make-up testing before instructors must report course grades to the college. 

2. Somewhat flexible: Deadlines are extended, at a penalty 

If a student misses a deadline, they can submit the assessment late, but their score will be penalized a specified amount (e.g. one letter grade per day). 

This approach is more common for midterm assessments, or for courses with single high-stakes assessments, such as a research paper that students work on throughout the term. If students who miss the deadline for a high-stakes assessment can still submit their work, but their score is heavily penalized, the course grades will accurately reflect the students’ term-long proficiency in the course outcomes. For example, a student who earned “A” scores all term but submitted their final paper one day late could still finish the course with a “B” grade. 

Remember, flexibility around assignments should be geared towards what makes sense in your course and for your students. While there are a lot of possible variations in regards to policy, the most critical element is to be clear and upfront with your students early in the term. This will help avoid confusion and complaints – and help you keep your sanity at the end of the term when students come looking for extra chances to make up missed work! 

Anna Johnson is an award-winning instructor at Mt Hood Community College in Oregon where she has worn many hats since 2005. Joining the faculty as an instruction librarian, Anna then spent 10 years as a career-technical instructor, preparing students for living-wage jobs as administrative assistants and front-end web developers, and now leads the college’s Business transfer degree program. Anna enjoys using problem-based learning and flipped classroom methodologies to prepare students for future workplace challenges. When she's not teaching, Anna is an avid cook, formidable fantasy football player, National Park enthusiast, and volunteer usher and tour guide for Portland's performing arts center. Anna has supported other instructors in their use of SIMnet as an MHE Digital Faculty Consultant since 2015.

Why it’s hard for students to “just turn in” missing assignments, and how to get them unstuck

Mar 29, 2023 | Blog

With the end of the semester on the horizon, many students may feel overwhelmed by low grades or feeling behind in some of their classes.

As a parent, it can be stressful to see that your student has overdue work, or get notifications from their teacher that they’re missing assignments. 

It’s even more frustrating when you’ve told them over and over again how important it is to “just turn it in”…but the work is still showing up as missing.

The reality is that no matter how simple it might seem to an outside observer, doing missing work is almost never as easy as “just getting it done.” If they haven’t done the work yet, there’s a good chance that something is getting in their way. 

If you can figure out what the problem is before jumping in to help them (or make them) do the work, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of success.

In our experience, there are usually 3 main reasons students resist submitting their missing work…even when it seems like “just turning it in” would be SO much easier!

Reason 1: They think it won’t make a difference

Once the due date for an assignment has passed, students often de-prioritize it and move on to focus on upcoming assignments instead. It’s tempting for students to justify this by thinking “there are lots of other assignments, missing one or two won’t matter.”

But what they often don’t realize is that because of the way most grading scales are weighted, even one or two zeros can have an enormous impact on their grade. Showing students the difference it makes to turn in just a few assignments can increase their motivation to get the work done. 

Here’s an example of the difference it can make to turn in just a few missing assignments before the end of the semester:

Overall grade with 3 missing assignments: 78.3%

Overall grade when assignments are turned in: 90.1%

It’s hard for students to calculate these averages in their head, so it can be really powerful for them to run the numbers and see firsthand exactly how much they have to gain from making up their missing assignments.

When we do calculations like this with our students, they are almost always surprised by how much this makeup work could improve their grades, and feel much more motivated to submit the assignments when they can see for themselves the difference it will make.

Reason 2: They think it’s too late

Another reason students often resist doing makeup work is that they think it’s too late to get credit for it. 

Even if they’ve done the math and know that submitting the work would make a difference in their grade, they still won’t want to turn it in if they think the teacher won’t accept it.

Especially for introverted or anxious students, it can be very intimidating to have conversations with their teachers. They might think they’ll get in trouble for asking to submit their work late, or worry that the teacher will say “no.”

The good news is that many teachers are flexible with their late work policies and allow students to turn in overdue assignments even when it is past the “official” deadline to submit them.

So if students can find the courage to ask for help, there is a good chance that their teachers will respond positively and allow them an opportunity to make up the work.

For students who are struggling to reach out to teachers, we often find it is helpful to roleplay these conversations in coaching sessions if they’re not sure what to say, or work with them to email their teachers if they’re not sure what to say.

Reason 3: They feel overwhelmed

Students who are behind on their work often have challenges keeping track of due dates, managing time, breaking down complex assignments, prioritizing work, staying focused, or following through with plans….which is why they fell behind in the first place. 

These challenges can become even more daunting when they are behind in their classes, and trying to complete makeup assignments on top of their normal workload.

This can feel so stressful that a lot of students avoid or put off doing makeup work even when they   know   how much it would improve their grade.

For these students to get their work submitted, it’s essential to help them find ways to…

• Break down the assignments so they have a realistic plan for getting the work done that they’re confident they can actually follow through with
• Lower the stress they feel while they are doing the work so they will be less tempted to avoid it
• Visualize the progress they are making so they can see that their efforts are making a difference

Providing support

When students have a lot of makeup work to complete, having some additional support to help them work through it can be invaluable. 

For some students, this may mean finding a tutor to help them with the content they didn’t understand when their teacher was first presenting the material. 

For other students, having a family member or friend nearby as a source of moral support to keep them company while they are working (and a motivating reward to look forward to as soon as the work is completed) can be enormously helpful.

Other students may benefit from working with an academic coach to help them get unstuck and started on their missing work. Sometimes, having someone else who is not a family member step in to help can reduce stress and conflict at home and make it easier for students to take the steps they need to get back on track in their classes. If you think this type of support would be helpful for your student, please feel free to reach out and we’ll be happy to help! 

4 strategies to get those missing assignments turned in

Published: May 13, 2022

As we get closer and closer to the end of the school year, it happens as reliably as the changing of the seasons—students notice the late, missing, or forgotten assignments that might have a real impact on their grade.

Sound familiar?

Most teachers spend too much valuable time toward the end of the school year reminding students about their missing assignments. This process doesn’t have to be time-consuming or painful though.

Here are 3 simple and repeatable tips to help classroom teachers encourage students to—finally—submit those late, missing, or forgotten assignments.

1. Help students manage their own assignment completion

There’s no better way to promote accountability than to help students to keep track of and manage their own assignments list. LMS tools like Schoology or Google Classroom make the process easier than ever before.

With clear assignment instructions and due dates, every student can log into their LMS and see a clean list of which assignments have been turned in, and which are still outstanding—even if they miss a class!

2. Get parents, families, and caregivers on board to help keep students on track

One of the best ways to keep students from getting too far behind is to recruit the champions they have outside school. When parents and guardians are kept in the loop about the assignments that are upcoming—along with expectations and due dates—they can help students avoid missing assignments well before the due date.

Keeping parents and guardians aware when assignments become late or get entered as missing increases the likelihood that assignment will get completed too. The Parent/Guardian Portal in Schoolytics gives parents and guardians easy access to student assignments in each of their classes. There are even reminders you can automate when an assignment is late or counted missing.

3. Send automated reminders when assignments are past due

You know what they say about an ounce of prevention…

Setting up a Schoolytics account and syncing it with your Google Classroom ( remember: it’s free to sign up! ) lets teachers set up an automated report of late or missing assignments. You never have to click into each Classroom for assignment details!

You can even set up automatic reports for late or missing assignments—Friday late work roundup anyone? And now you can send a bulk reminder to every student with a link to their missing work.

4. Try a new communication method

Each generation of students is more online than the last, and Gen Z is spending most of its time on video-forward platforms like YouTube and TikTok. As teachers, we can either fight this reality or lean into it in our communication with students.

The good news is that the rise of online video has coincided with the advent of easy-to-use video creation tools, making it easier than ever to create engaging videos for free. Tools like Veed are great for trimming videos and testing your webcam to ensure you get the perfect take to keep students engaged and on top of their assignments.

In conclusion...

These interventions make it quick and simple to keep students on track for assignment completion. And they reduce the headache for teachers to have to manage chasing down late or missing assignments.

Have any other tips for helping keep late and missing assignments under control? Let us know on Twitter at @Schoolytics

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View and navigate your assignments (student)

View both upcoming and completed assignments by class, or view them across all your classes. Selecting an assignment will allow you to view its details, turn it in, or view feedback and scores. You can also view your current grades by class.

View and sort assignments within one class

Navigate to a class team, then select Assignments .

Tip:  Use your search bar to search for an assignment by keyword.

Upcoming assignments

The Upcoming  tab will show all upcoming assignment you have not done yet, sorted by order of due date. The Past Due tab will show all Past Due assignment not completed yet. Sorted by today and older 

Late assignments will include a Past due warning.

Select an assignment to view details, attach resources, and turn it in.

Upcoming assignment status

Assignment title and due date —Before the due date. You haven’t turned in work yet.

Past due —You haven’t turned your assignment in yet and it’s past the due date. This will only appear if your educator is accepting late turn-ins.

View turned in and returned assignments

Completed assignment status

Open a completed assignment to view more details on its status.

View grades in one class

Here you'll see all your assignments listed with the nearest due date at the top. View your status on each assignment as well as points you've received on graded work. Assignments without points will show as Returned after your educator has reviewed them.

Average Grade

If your class has enabled it, you can also see the Average Grade for this class and View Details to see your trend for your assignments.

View assignments across classes

To view assignments across all your classes, select Assignments from your app bar. Select an assignment to open it or turn in work. 

Select Upcoming to see any upcoming assignment across all of your classes.

Select Past Due to see any past due assignment across all of your classes.

Select  Completed to see work that you have completed across your classes.

Turn in assignment

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Classroom Q&A

With larry ferlazzo.

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to [email protected]. Read more from this blog.

Students Will Miss Deadlines. How Teachers Should Respond

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One thing that most of us did—at least once—when we were students was to turn in an assignment past the deadline.

And we certainly all have students who do that on occasion today.

This two-part series will highlight different ways teachers respond to this situation.

‘Do-Overs’ Are Allowed Outside of School

Chandra Shaw has more than 24 years of experience in education, as a teacher, reading specialist, instructional coach, and now a literacy consultant at one of her state’s regional service centers. Chandra is a TEDx speaker and amateur YouTuber :

As a teacher, I believe in offering opportunities for students to turn in work after the due date. While some argue against this practice, touting the need to teach students about the “real world” or thinking that it creates a burden for teachers by increasing their workload, I believe that it aligns with teaching the principles of empathy, flexibility, and understanding, which are crucial skills needed to overcome “real world” challenges.

During my first few years of teaching, I subscribed to the “no late work” mentality, mainly because that’s how my mentor teacher did things. If I did accept late assignments, there was an increasing scale of 10-point deductions that were added for each day an assignment was late.

I thought I was preparing my students for the “real world” and teaching them responsibility. It wasn’t until I began reflecting on the amount of time I was spending responding to parent inquiries about grades or creating alternative assignments to see if students had really mastered the content I was teaching that I began to look for a better solution to the late-assignment issue.

I happened across the book Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessing & Grading in the Differentiated Classroom by Rick Wormeli. The ideas presented in this book really spoke to me. This book made me see all of the instances in the real world in which people get a “do over” in full for some pretty important things. In the real world, people are allowed to retake certification exams multiple times without score penalties.

I also thought about the important reports that I myself was able to submit late without any real penalty. I mean, how many times was my attendance submitted late or that someone forgot to clock in on time? In those very important instances, adults were being allowed to turn in work late. That didn’t automatically make me any less responsible. In fact, it made me try harder next time or develop a system for setting a recurring alarm so that I wouldn’t forget again.

From then on, I began to allow students to submit work after the due date. I did ask that they were open about the reason the assignment wasn’t completed and that they have a plan for its submission.

Sometimes, they’d just forgotten to do the assignment. Other times, I’d learn that a student who was tasked with taking care of several siblings didn’t understand the assignment once they finally got a moment to begin working. It was far more important for me to know if they were growing and achieving mastery rather than if they were simply complying by turning in a specific assignment on a specific date. I think this taught my students to advocate for themselves. It also taught them that flexibility and understanding are also important parts of being responsible.

Communicating With Guardians

Stephen Katzel is the author behind “ Win Your First Year of Teaching Middle School: Strategies and Tools for Success .” He is an educator with a passion for middle school education and helping new teachers:

Turning in work past the due date is always a hot topic in school communities because teachers want to balance supporting students who struggle with work completion while at the same time helping guide them to learn the importance of due dates and deadlines. There is no blanket statement or answer that can fully address the topic of late work because each situation is unique.

Before spending time developing a policy for turning in late work, ensure that your school or academic department does not already have a policy in place. If there isn’t a set policy, my recommendations are always to err on the side of flexibility and create structures to support students turning in work. If you have a late-work policy where you won’t except work after a specific time period, students that fall behind may give up on the course for that specific grading period because they feel like it is a lost cause.

In my time as an educator, I have always advocated taking off 10 percent of the final assignment grade if students turn in an assignment 1-2 weeks after the date. Any assignment turned in after two weeks has 20 percent taken off. Having this structure allows for students that are behind to catch up and believe that they still have a chance to pass the course.

You may be thinking, “What if a student doesn’t complete any assignments, and then turns 15 assignments in the day before the marking period ends?” While this could happen, developing structures to ensure that students do not fall too far behind in work completion will ideally mitigate that scenario from happening.

If you notice that a few students are struggling with work completion a few weeks into a grading period, develop a contact list with their parent/guardian’s email addresses. Each week, send out a BCC email to the contact list, notifying the parents of all the assignments that week and the due dates, in addition to the late-work policy of losing 10 percent to 20 percent based on when an assignment is turned in. Having a brief email describing what assignments are due allows for you to garner the support of parents at home.

In many instances, I have had students complete work and forget to turn it in. My brief email home allowed for follow-up after school hours and typically leads to students having an increase in assignment completion. In addition, if I notice that a student is struggling with work completion, I make a brief phone call home. Some students may have extenuating circumstance such as taking care of a younger sibling, family difficulties, etc. Being aware of what is occurring and developing a plan with the student and parent will also increase work completion. My policy ideally teaches students the importance of due dates, all while making connections with their parents at the same time.

‘Teachable Moments’

Kelly Owens, M.Ed., is a reading interventionist and Wilson ® Dyslexia Practitioner who enjoys sparking educators’ professional reflections via her contributions to MiddleWeb, The King School Series (Townsend Press), and Emmy Award-winning “Classroom Close-up NJ”:

Due dates help structure our learning process so we can meet goals. But does one size fit all? As much as we hope students will internalize and honor due dates, realistically, it’s tough for 100 percent to hit the mark. Keep a growth mindset. Learning happens on different timelines. Missed deadlines offer teachable moments to strengthen executive-functioning skills.

Be Proactive to Help Students Meet Due Dates

Break large assignments into smaller, more manageable chunks. More frequent due dates for smaller tasks may feel less overwhelming. For example, assign a prewriting graphic organizer before drafting. Students may procrastinate less when they can focus mental energy on just one task: idea generation. Plus, they benefit from timely teacher feedback, which may prevent off-topic ideas from snowballing into an off-topic essay!

But when students miss a due date ( sigh ), a new set of lessons needs to kick in.

Look for the Why

First, converse with the student. Find out why the due date was missed. Was it something in the student’s control? In the student’s mind, your math assignment may be small potatoes compared to devastating news of an ill family member. Don’t assume it was a matter of “I forgot to do my homework.”

Next, look for patterns. Is this a rare occurrence? Are assignments always missing on Wednesdays? Initiate a respectful dialogue to see if Tuesday night chess club is affecting the student’s homework routine. More importantly, help the student troubleshoot ways to manage their time. For instance, suggest signing up for study hall. Additionally, if habits are forming, invite stakeholders at home and school to offer input. It’s always interesting to see whether assignments are missing across all content areas. Work together to help the student identify barriers to meeting deadlines and create a reasonable action plan that fits their needs.

Explain in Learning Terms

While it’s important for the student to learn the material covered in the missed assignment, it’s also important to learn how to complete future assignments on time. Help students see the value in adhering to due dates. If assignments are chunked, explain that each small goal serves as a steppingstone for subsequent learning.

Voice and Choice

Negotiate a schedule with the student to plan how the missed assignment will be completed. This gives the student control in developing a workable plan that fosters more buy-in. Some teachers may be uncomfortable with the student having a voice after missing a due date, but look at the situation now: incomplete work. In student-centered teaching, we need to adjust and respond to students’ needs to engage them in the process. Include chunked assignments in the schedule to allow for frequent check-ins, perhaps even daily. Also consider a due date window, instead of one fixed day, to offer more flexibility.

Make Check-in Dates Visible

Rename due dates to check-in dates so they imply more collaboration. Then, help the student record dates on either a paper planner or digital device. When dates are visible to the learner, they’re more tangible. Upon completion, encourage the student to add a check mark or even a fun sticker.

Differentiated Due Date Management

So far, I’ve been talking about one student who missed an assignment. But chances are, teachers are managing multiple students. To complicate things further, if each has a differentiated plan for completing assignments, there’s added record keeping for the teacher. It’s helpful to keep track of who is where on a spreadsheet. With a quick glance, you can do a status check with your students.

Additionally, it may help to pair students with study buddies. The more cheerleaders the better to encourage students to stick to schedules and complete their work.

Timetables may seem arbitrary to some students until they appreciate their value. Teach students how to manage due dates so they can feel the success of completing a job well done.

Thanks to Chandra, Stephen, and Kelly for contributing their thoughts!

Today’s post responded to this question:

How do you handle students turning in work after the due date, and why do you apply that policy?

Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected] . When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.

You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo .

Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email . And if you missed any of the highlights from the first 12 years of this blog, you can see a categorized list here .

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

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How to apologize for late work in college (with email template)

This is really thoughtful of you and an apology can go a really long way. If you write a good enough apology, maybe your professor won’t penalize you for turning it in late in the first place.

I can help you because I was a professor for 15 years and I received A LOT of late assignments from students. And I also got a lot of emails from students regarding their late work that included lots of excuses.

You don’t want to make a bad impression.

How do you politely apologize for a late submission

When a college student has to turn in work late, it is considerate for them to tell their professor why they’re submitting it late and apologize. I think it’s best that students follow my email template on how to explain their situation and say they’re sorry for submitting it late in the first place.

You might wonder if you even need to apologize in the first place. Yes, I think you should send a quick email to let your professor know you are sorry.

This is because your professor will think that you care about your education and their class. And as a former professor, I got a lot of late assignments and very few emails from students saying they’re sorry.

Email template saying you’re sorry for late work

Okay, this is an email template of how to ask your professor for forgiveness on your late assignment.

READ MORE : How to ask for an extension or makeup assignment

I taught college students for about 15 years. I have experience teaching online and in-person. I have a graduate degree. I have a passion for education. But I’ve also worked in the professional world (outside of education) too. And with my teaching and educational experience, I want to help students answer their most pressing questions. I want to give my wealth of knowledge to college students to help make their life easier.

My professor doesn’t give back our exams? (What to do?)

Do profs care about undergraduates (prof answers).

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Never Miss an Assignment Again

Angela Ruth

• Business Tips

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021

Everybody makes mistakes, but nobody wants to. Missing an assignment is a common mistake that we have all made at some point. While sometimes a solution can be as simple as pushing back the deadline, missing major assignments can cost you your job or a good grade in your classes.

Whether you’re struggling with school assignments, work projects, or balancing them both, this guide will help you never miss another assignment no matter what:

Write Down Everything

Start by writing absolutely everything you can about your project or assignment. Then, put every assignment due date into your Calendar with no exceptions. Even the smallest of deadlines are worth taking note of. You can use multiple calendars to spread out tasks by topic; just remember to have them all pulled into one Calendar — like the Calendar app, so you don’t miss a date.

Using an online Calendar means you can have access to your assignment list no matter where you are. Having direct access wherever you are will come in handy. Remember when you’ve had a paper due at midnight while you’re at a friend’s house and need to log on really quickly to upload your information? Your online Calendar will sync across all devices. You want to be able to check due dates on your smartphone as well as when you’re sitting at a computer.

If you like to physically write things down, go ahead! The action of writing things down can help improve memory , which is extremely important if you’re hoping to never miss an assignment again.

Give Yourself Plenty of Reminders

Even when everything is written down in your Calendar, there’s still a chance that you will forget an upcoming due date. However, a healthy dose of reminders ensures that not even the smallest detail gets overlooked over time. After all, a lot can happen between the day you write down as assignment due date and the day it actually arrives.

For example, you can set a reminder the day before an assignment is due for school to make sure that you have it completed. As you clock into work, a morning reminder will remind you of the tasks you need to complete by the end of your shift. These reminders force you to look at your Calendar after you fill it in initially.

Check Your Email to Start the Day

Last-minute changes happen, often due to circumstances out of your control. Even so, you should be aware of these changes so that you don’t get caught off guard. Checking your email at the beginning of each day should do the trick.

By starting your day off by scanning emails , you’ll be able to see the message your manager sent you at midnight notifying you that they expect your next assignment to be completed a day earlier. If you neglected to check your email in the middle of the night or at the start of your shift, you would be completely unaware of this change until it might be too late to do anything about it.

An email from your professor might contain a new assignment list for the following week. If you miss this email, you won’t be able to change up your Calendar in time to adjust your timetable and study schedule.

Communicate With Others

To avoid mishaps with upper management, make an effort to communicate often. Set clear expectations with your manager about how and when to communicate, so you’re not always getting the brunt of last-minute adjustments.

If your work gives you too many assignments, you’re more likely to miss a deadline or two due to the heavy workload. Your workload is another thing you can communicate with your superiors. If you don’t make it known that you’re feeling overwhelmed, nothing will change.

Communicating with coworkers and peers is also essential. We’ve all had a poor experience doing a group project where certain members of the group fail to pull their weight. Staying connected with them won’t be easy, but it will ensure that their feet-dragging won’t be the reason a project isn’t ready to submit on time. A reliable project member can also help you stay on top of deadlines as they arrive by sharing the responsibility.

Learn From Your Mistakes

Most of the time, when you miss an assignment, it’s because a mistake was made, even if only a small one. To stop missing assignments, learn from the mistakes you make to avoid repeating them. Over time, you’ll be a master of punctuality and completing deadlines.

Some mistakes we’ve already covered, in a sense. For example, failing to write down your due dates leaves a lot of room for error regarding late assignments. If this has happened to you, learn from your mistakes by vowing to write everything down from this point forward.

If you’re making an active effort to learn and improve, mistakes only need to happen once before you learn from them. For example, after putting a deadline on the wrong day in your Calendar once, you’ll be a lot more careful in the future.

Stop Procrastinating

Flexible due dates are the worst for chronic procrastinators. The due date will keep getting pushed back until its breaking point, and often ends up coming in late because of it. Staying on top of all your assignment means kicking procrastination to the curb .

If you have a problem with procrastinating, try to find a sense of urgency. Give yourself rewards for getting tasks done early. Use your Calendar to put together a work plan that ensures you’re chipping away at month-long projects. Do whatever it takes to avoid cramming in work at the last minute.

Don’t get too comfortable even when these tips start to show results. You need to stay on top of your game in order to meet all your deadlines with precision. You’ll be able to form better habits along the way but never let up, and you’ll never miss an assignment again.

Image Credit: ketut subiyanto; pexels; thank you!

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My name is Angela Ruth. I aim to help you learn how Calendar can help you manage your time, boost your productivity, and spend your days working on things that matter, both personally and professionally. Here's to improving all your calendars and becoming the person you are destined to become!

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• Catching up on overdue assignments

Parents, this article outlines a process that your student can go through to start catching up on overdue assignments in classes they’ve fallen behind in, as well as a worksheet they can use here .

When you’ve fallen behind in your homework, it can snowball. Pretty soon, you haven’t looked at your powerschool account in weeks. You know things are bad, but you don’t want to know how bad.

Throughout the day, you try not to think too much about your classes. When you do, the fragments of overdue assignments, tests approaching, and warnings from your teachers make you feel anxious. You push those thoughts out of your mind, and you get through your days with a mild sense of unease.

But whether the trigger is an email from a teacher, a progress report, or your own impending sense of doom, today is the day to get a handle on your classes and start catching up on those overdue assignments.

But how do you begin? The thought of digging yourself out of what feels like a bottomless chasm can feel overwhelming.

How not to begin

Unless there is an emergency, don’t start by just working on any old overdue assignment. The reason? Doing a single assignment, while it does make progress, is a way to procrastinate on the far more important task: getting a handle on the scope of the problem.  If you have to build a house, the first step is not to go out and buy a doorbell. You’ll get an assignment done, feel a mild sense of accomplishment, and be left with the same sense of dread that may prevent you from making further progress.

Before you can take effective action, you need to gather information, and you need to triage. 

Phase 1: Information gathering (Peering into the abyss)

The hardest step first. Not that it won’t take a lot longer to get all of your homework assignments done, but untangling that black, scary mess is the primary thing you’ve been avoiding for weeks. The good news is that once you’ve untangled it, it is almost always WAY less scary!

It’s time to be brave, and dive in.

Step 1: Mind dump

It’s tough to focus and work effectively if your mind is running non-stop, filled with cluttered with fragments of information you are trying to keep hold of. The way to quiet the mind is to do a mind dump. Spend 5 minutes writing, non-stop, anything and everything running through your mind. It’s OK if what you are writing gets repetitive. Pay particular attention to any thoughts around concerns about classes, homework assignments, projects, etc. This isn’t about remembering every single thing that you need to get done. It’s about telling your mind, “Hey, you don’t need to keep thinking this thought over and over again. I’ve got it written down...I won’t lose track of it!”

Once you have written for five minutes straight (don’t stop!), look over what you’ve written. Is there anything in what you’ve written that is something you need to get done or need to remember for one of your classes? If so, circle or highlight it. We’ll come back to it later.

You will feel a LOT better after this exercise. You’ll be able to let go of the repetitive thoughts running through your mind that distract you and prevent you from maintaining focus.

Step 2: Powerschool/google classroom

Next step is to create a list of the assignments that you are missing in each class. Create a google sheet: this is where you are going to create your master list of assignments to make up. HERE is an example of a google sheet you could use. Feel free to make a copy of it yourself for your personal use.

Log into your powerschool and, class by class, find out which assignments you haven’t turned in. If powerschool doesn’t provide enough information about the assignment (for example, it lists “Assignment 2.1) but doesn’t make clear what the assignment is, find that info on your google classroom/assignment sheet.

This master list should be the only place you need to look to get information about assignments. Include page numbers, problem numbers, links, etc. You should be able to look at this document and have all the information you need to get to work. This is key: when you sit down to work, it should be as easy as possible to get started.

For each assignment, estimate how long it will take to complete. Be generous to yourself and err on the side of longer.

Are there any assignments for which you need more information or materials? That is, if you wanted to begin working on it right now, would you have everything, and know everything, you need to get started? Add an asterisk next to any assignment for which you need more information or materials.

Are there assignments you believe you've turned in late, but do not have confirmation from the teacher (either on powerschool or by email from the teacher)? Email the teacher to confirm.

Step 3: Additional information/materials

OK, so you now have a list of all outstanding assignments. For each assignment with an asterisk, write down what information/materials you need to get started on the assignment.

For example:

• You need to know if an assignment will still be accepted late. Email your teacher now to ask.
• You have a book to read, but the book is in your locker. Create a reminder on your phone to go off when you get to school to remind you to put the book in your backpack.
• You have a project to complete, and you need poster board to complete it. Make a reminder on your phone for next time you leave the house to pick up poster board at the drug store.

As you get this information, add it to your google sheet and delete the asterisk.

“Ask teacher about it tomorrow” is not an action taken now. “Email my teacher now” and “Create a reminder for 10:40am, the minute I walk in the classroom, to ask the the teacher” are actions taken now.

Each item that requires more information/materials should have a specific action taken now, and that action (and today’s date) should be documented on the google sheet. 

Finally, look back at your mind dump. Is there anything in your mind dump that needs to be added to this sheet? If so, add it.

Phase 2: Triage (stop the bleeding)

Ok, so we now have our master list of outstanding assignments, with all the information we need in order to complete them. What’s next?

Our next step is to determine in what order the assignments need to be done. There are a variety of factors to consider when determining the order.

• Urgency: Are there any assignments coming up against a deadline for late assignments? If so, these assignments should be ranked near the top.
• Resistance: Are there any assignments that you are feeling particular resistance to starting? If so, those should be near the top.
• Order dependent: Are there some assignments that need to be done before other assignments? For example, assignments in a chemistry chapter that build on each other?
• Momentum/quick wins: Is there a class that you are just about caught up on? Near the top. Is there a series of short, related assignments that you can knock out quickly, one after the other? Do them in order to build momentum.

Order your assignments to complete, starting with 1 (first). Don’t agonize over this step. The key is to create an order so that every time it’s time to start an assignment, you don’t have analysis paralysis over what to do next.

If you used the google sheet I linked to above, you can click on a cell in Column A, click “Data” -> “Sort sheet by column A, A->Z” to sort your assignments in the order you intend to complete them. You can also sort by class or by how long the assignment will take by sorting by the appropriate column.

Phase 3: Schedule your time to catch up

Now that you have all of your assignments in one place, in order, and you know how much time it will take to complete everything, you need to schedule the time it is going to take you to finish everything. So get out your planner (and if you don’t have one, get one). Day by day, schedule the necessary blocks of time that it will take you to finish everything.

Scheduling the time doesn’t mean “three hours of catch-up on Saturday”. It means “Saturday 11am-2pm: Catch up on homework”

Make sure that you are allowing time to stay caught up with your current work.

Don’t overestimate what you are reasonably capable of. Obviously, you are going to need to push yourself, but it isn’t reasonable to plan to stay up until midnight every weekday, right? Make use of your weekends especially. If you haven’t been keeping up with your work so far: yes, it is going to take sacrificing some of your free time.

Once you have all the necessary time scheduled out to catch up completely, begin!

Phase 4: Getting the work done

You know what to do, and when to do it. Here are a few points to keep in mind as you get through your overdue assignments.

Focus on one assignment at a time:

This means much more than just complete one assignment before you start another one. It also means THINK about just one assignment. The reason you did all the above information gathering and planning work above is so that, when you sit down to work, you can focus all of your attention on JUST the task at hand. Not grapple with the totality of everything you are responsible for and try to figure out what to do next.

Better to complete an assignment than half-finish one

If your scheduled work time has 30 minutes left, and your next assignment is going to take you 45 minutes, see if you have a 20 minute assignment coming up in your queue. Better for your organization (and your spirits!) to get an assignment completed.

Turn in your assignments as you complete them.

For assignments that are turned in electronically, turn them in immediately upon completion.

For assignments that are turned in in person, turn them in the next day. Don’t let complete assignments linger on your computer, in your backpack, or on your desk. They’ll get lost or be forgotten, or at minimum will be just annoying thought you still have in the back of your mind until you actually turn it. Close the loop !

Label your assignments well

Make your teacher’s job easier by clearly and neatly labelling all physical paper homework assignments. For digital assignments, choose descriptive filenames like “Assignment 2-1”, not “Untitled Document” or “homework”.

Take pictures

This is a good habit to have regardless of whether you are turning in an assignment late or on time. Take pictures of every page, every side of every homework assignment you turn in. That way, down the road, if your teacher loses track of an assignment you handed it, you can show them the time-stamped picture of the completed assignment.

Email your teachers as you hand in your assignments.

Teachers have a LOT of assignments coming in, every day. It’s not surprising that, if you are turning in several late assignments, they might be mis-placed. When you hand in your assignments, you should email your teacher to request confirmation that they received the assignment. Be gracious and thankful in your email, and let them know you don’t expect it to be graded right away. You just want confirmation that it was received for your records (or to show your parents).

The first step to tackle any big undertaking is understanding how big it is. It can also be the scariest part, especially if you’ve been dutifully trying to avoid knowing. But the low-level anxiety you are feeling over a class you are falling behind on isn’t going to go away until you take action. If you go through the process outlined in this article, I guarantee that you are going to feel a lot less stress. Having a plan does that!

If you are looking for some support in helping your son/daughter get a handle on and get caught up in outstanding assignments, give us a call at 858.551.2650 or email [email protected]

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A Few Ideas for Dealing with Late Work

August 4, 2019

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Most of my 9-week grading periods ended the same way: Me and one or two students, sitting in my quiet, empty classroom together, with me sitting at the computer, the students nearby in desks, methodically working through piles of make-up assignments. They would be focused, more focused than I’d seen them in months, and the speed with which they got through the piles was stunning. 

As they finished each assignment I took it, checked it for accuracy, then entered their scores—taking 50 percent off for being late—into my grading program. With every entry, I’d watch as their class grade went up and up: from a 37 percent to a 41, then to 45, then to 51, and eventually to something in the 60s or even low 70s, a number that constituted passing, at which point the process would end and we’d part ways, full of resolve that next marking period would be different.

And the whole time I thought to myself, This is pointless . They aren’t learning anything at all. But I wasn’t sure what else to do.

For as long as teachers have assigned tasks in exchange for grades, late work has been a problem. What do we do when a student turns in work late? Do we give some kind of consequence or accept assignments at any time with no penalty? Do we set up some kind of system that keeps students motivated while still holding them accountable? Is there a way to manage all of this without driving ourselves crazy?

To find answers, I went to Twitter and asked teachers to share what works for them. What follows is a summary of their responses. I wish I could give individual credit to each person who offered ideas, but that would take way too long, and I really want you to get these suggestions now! If you’ve been unsatisfied with your own approach to late work, you should find some fresh ideas here.

First, a Few Questions About Your Grades

Before we get into the ways teachers manage late work, let’s back up a bit and consider whether your overall program of assignments and grading is in a healthy place. Here are some questions to think about:  

• What do your grades represent? How much of your grades are truly based on academic growth, and how much are based mostly on compliance? If they lean more toward compliance, then what you’re doing when you try to manage late work is basically a lot of administrative paper pushing, rather than teaching your content. Although it’s important for kids to learn how to manage deadlines, do you really want an A in your course to primarily reflect the ability to follow instructions? If your grades are too compliance-based, consider how you might shift things so they more accurately represent learning. (For a deeper discussion of this issue, read How Accurate Are Your Grades? )
• Are you grading too many things? If you spend a lot of time chasing down missing assignments in order to get more scores in your gradebook, it could be that you’re grading too much. Some teachers only enter grades for major, summative tasks, like projects, major writing assignments, or exams. Everything else is considered formative and is either ungraded or given a very low point value for completion, not graded for accuracy; it’s practice . For teachers who are used to collecting lots of grades over a marking period, this will be a big shift, and if you work in a school where you’re expected to enter grades into your system frequently, that shift will be even more difficult. Convincing your students that ungraded practice is worthwhile because it will help their performance on the big things will be another hurdle. With all of that said, reducing the number of scored items will make your grades more meaningful and cut way down on the time you spend grading and managing late work.
• What assumptions do you make when students don’t turn in work? I’m embarrassed to admit that when I first started teaching, I assumed most students with missing work were just unmotivated. Although this might be true for a small portion of students, I no longer see this as the most likely reason. Students may have issues with executive function and could use some help developing systems for managing their time and responsibilities. They may struggle with anxiety. Or they may not have the resources—like time, space, and technology—to consistently complete work at home. More attention has been paid lately to the fact that homework is an equity issue , and our policies around homework should reflect an understanding that all students don’t have access to the same resources once they leave school for the day. Punitive policies that are meant to “motivate” students don’t take any of these other issues into consideration, so if your late work penalties don’t seem to be working, it’s likely that the root cause is something other than a lack of motivation.
• What kind of grading system is realistic for you ? Any system you put in place requires YOU to stay on top of grading. It would be much harder to assign penalties, send home reminders, or track lateness if you are behind on marking papers by a week, two weeks, even a month. So whatever you do, create a plan that you can actually keep up with.

Possible Solutions

1. penalties.

Many teachers give some sort of penalty to students for late work. The thinking behind this is that without some sort of negative consequence, too many students would wait until the end of the marking period to turn work in, or in some cases, not turn it in at all. When work is turned in weeks or even months late, it can lose its value as a learning opportunity because it is no longer aligned with what’s happening in class. On top of that, teachers can end up with massive piles of assignments to grade in the last few days of a marking period. This not only places a heavy burden on teachers, it is far from an ideal condition for giving students the good quality feedback they should be getting on these assignments.

Several types of penalties are most common:

Point Deductions In many cases, teachers simply reduce the grade as a result of the lateness. Some teachers will take off a certain number of points per day until they reach a cutoff date after which the work will no longer be accepted. One teacher who responded said he takes off 10 percent for up to three days late, then 30 percent for work submitted up to a week late; he says most students turn their work in before the first three days are over. Others have a standard amount that comes off for any late work (like 10 percent), regardless of when it is turned in. This policy still rewards students for on-time work without completely de-motivating those who are late, builds in some accountability for lateness, and prevents the teacher from having to do a lot of mathematical juggling with a more complex system. 

Parent Contact Some teachers keep track of late work and contact parents if it is not turned in. This treats the late work as more of a conduct issue; the parent contact may be in addition to or instead of taking points away. 

No Feedback, No Re-Dos The real value of homework and other smaller assignments should be the opportunity for feedback: Students do an assignment, they get timely teacher feedback, and they use that feedback to improve. In many cases, teachers allow students to re-do and resubmit assignments based on that feedback. So a logical consequence of late work could be the loss of that opportunity: Several teachers mentioned that their policy is to accept late work for full credit, but only students who submit work on time will receive feedback or the chance to re-do it for a higher grade. Those who hand in late work must accept whatever score they get the first time around. 

2. A Separate Work Habits Grade

In a lot of schools, especially those that use standards-based grading, a student’s grade on an assignment is a pure representation of their academic mastery; it does not reflect compliance in any way. So in these classrooms, if a student turns in good work, it’s going to get a good grade even if it’s handed in a month late. 

But students still need to learn how to manage their time. For that reason, many schools assign a separate grade for work habits. This might measure factors like adherence to deadlines, neatness, and following non-academic guidelines like font sizes or using the correct heading on a paper. 

• Although most teachers whose schools use this type of system will admit that students and parents don’t take the work habits grade as seriously as the academic grade, they report being satisfied that student grades only reflect mastery of the content.
• One school calls their work habits grade a “behavior” grade, and although it doesn’t impact GPA, students who don’t have a certain behavior grade can’t make honor roll, despite their actual GPA.
• Several teachers mentioned looking for patterns and using the separate grade as a basis for conferences with parents, counselors, or other stakeholders. For most students, there’s probably a strong correlation between work habits and academic achievement, so separating the two could help students see that connection.
• Some learning management systems will flag assignments as late without necessarily taking points off. Although this does not automatically translate to a work habits grade, it indicates the lateness to students and parents without misrepresenting the academic achievement.

3. Homework Passes

Because things happen in real life that can throw anyone off course every now and then, some teachers offer passes students can use to replace a missed assignment.

• Most teachers only offer these passes to replace low-point assignments, not major ones, and they generally only offer 1 to 3 passes per marking period. Homework passes can usually only recover 5 to 10 percent of a student’s overall course grade. 
• Other teachers have a policy of allowing students to drop one or two of their lowest scores in the gradebook. Again, this is typically done for smaller assignments and has the same net effect as a homework pass by allowing everyone to have a bad day or two.
• One teacher gives “Next Class Passes” which allow students one extra day to turn in work. At the end of every marking period she gives extra credit points to students who still have unused passes. She says that since she started doing this, she has had the lowest rate ever of late work. 

4. Extension Requests

Quite a few teachers require students to submit a written request for a deadline extension rather than taking points off. With a system like this, every student turns something in on the due date, whether it’s the assignment itself or an extension request.

• Most extension requests ask students to explain why they were unable to complete the assignment on time. This not only gives the students a chance to reflect on their habits, it also invites the teacher to help students solve larger problems that might be getting in the way of their academic success. 
• Having students submit their requests via Google Forms reduces the need for paper and routes all requests to a single spreadsheet, which makes it easier for teachers to keep track of work that is late or needs to be regraded.  
• Other teachers use a similar system for times when students want to resubmit work for a new grade. 

5. Floating Deadlines

Rather than choosing a single deadline for an assignment, some teachers assign a range of dates for students to submit work. This flexibility allows students to plan their work around other life activities and responsibilities.

• Some teachers offer an incentive to turn in work in the early part of the time frame, such as extra credit or faster feedback, and this helps to spread out the submissions more evenly. 
• Another variation on this approach is to assign a batch of work for a whole week and ask students to get it in by Friday. This way, students get to manage when they get it done. 
• Other names mentioned for this strategy were flexible deadlines , soft deadlines , and due windows .

6. Let Students Submit Work in Progress

Some digital platforms, like Google Classroom, allow students to “submit” assignments while they are still working on them. This allows teachers to see how far the student has gotten and address any problems that might be coming up. If your classroom is mostly paper-based, it’s certainly possible to do this kind of thing with paper as well, letting students turn in partially completed work to demonstrate that an effort has been made and show you where they might be stuck.

7. Give Late Work Full Credit

Some teachers accept all late work with no penalty. Most of them agree that if the work is important, and if we want students to do it, we should let them hand it in whenever they get it done. 

• Some teachers fear this approach will cause more students to stop doing the work or delay submission until the end of a marking period, but teachers who like this approach say they were surprised by how little things changed when they stopped giving penalties: Most students continued to turn work in more or less on time, and the same ones who were late under the old system were still late under the new one. The big difference was that the teacher no longer had to spend time calculating deductions or determining whether students had valid excuses; the work was simply graded for mastery.
• To give students an incentive to actually turn the work in before the marking period is over, some teachers will put a temporary zero in the gradebook as a placeholder until the assignment is turned in, at which point the zero is replaced with a grade.
• Here’s a twist on the “no penalty” option: Some teachers don’t take points off for late work, but they limit the time frame when students can turn it in. Some will not accept late work after they have graded and returned an assignment; at that point it would be too easy for students to copy off of the returned papers. Others will only accept late work up until the assessment for the unit, because the work leading up to that is meant to prepare for that assessment. 

8. Other Preventative Measures

These strategies aren’t necessarily a way to manage late work as much as they are meant to prevent it in the first place.

• Include students in setting deadlines. When it comes to major assignments, have students help you determine due dates. They may have a better idea than you do about other big events that are happening and assignments that have been given in other classes.
• Stop assigning homework. Some teachers have stopped assigning homework entirely, recognizing that disparities at home make it an unfair measurement of academic mastery. Instead, all meaningful work is done in class, where the teacher can monitor progress and give feedback as needed. Long-term projects are done in class as well, so the teacher is aware of which students need more time and why. 
• Make homework optional or self-selected. Not all students need the same amount of practice. You may be able to get your students to assess their own need for additional practice and assign that practice to themselves. Although this may sound far-fetched, in some classes, like this self-paced classroom , it actually works, because students know they will be graded on a final assessment, they get good at determining when they need extra practice.

With so many different approaches to late work, what’s clear is that there are a lot of different schools of thought on grading and assessment, so it’s not a surprise that we don’t always land on the best solution on the first try. Experiment with different systems, talk to your colleagues, and be willing to try something new until you find something that works for you. 

Further Reading

20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half This free e-book is full of ideas that can help with grading in general.

On Your Mark: Challenging the Conventions of Grading and Reporting Thomas R. Guskey This book came highly recommended by a number of teachers.

Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School Starr Sackstein

Come back for more. Join our mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration that will make your teaching more effective and fun. You’ll get access to our members-only library of free downloads, including 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half , the e-booklet that has helped thousands of teachers save time on grading. Over 50,000 teachers have already joined—come on in.

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Categories: Classroom Management , Instruction , Podcast

Tags: assessment , organization

53 Comments

I teach high school science (mine is a course that does not have an “end of course” test so the stakes are not as high) and I teach mostly juniors and seniors. Last year I decided not to accept any late work whatsoever unless a student is absent the day it is assigned or due (or if they have an accomodation in a 504 or IEP – and I may have had one or two students with real/documented emergencies that I let turn in late.) This makes it so much easier on me because I don’t have to keep up with how many days/points to deduct – that’s a nightmare. It also forces them to be more responsible. They usually have had time to do it in class so there’s no reason for it to be late. Also, I was very frustrated with homework not being completed and I hated having to grade it and keep up with absent work. So I don’t “require” homework (and rarely assign it any more) but if students do ALL (no partial credit) of it they get a 100% (small point value grade), if they are absent or they don’t do it they are exempt. So it ends up being a sort of extra credit grade but it does not really penalize students who don’t do it. When students ask me for extra credit (which I don’t usually give), the first thing I ask is if they’ve done all the homework assigned. That usually shuts down any further discussion. I’ve decided I’m not going to spend tons of time chasing and calculating grades on small point values that do not make a big difference in an overall grade. 🙂

Do I understand correctly….

Homework is not required. If a student fully completes the HW, they will earn full points. If the student is absent or doesn’t do it, they are excused. Students who do complete the HW will benefit a little bit in their overall grade, but students who don’t compete the work will not be penalized. Did I understand it correctly?

Do you stipulate that a student must earn a certain % on the assignment to get the full points? What about a student who completed an assignment but completes the entire thing incorrectly? Still full credit? Or an opportunity to re-do?

Thank you in advance.

From reading this blog post I was thinking the same thing. When not penalizing students for homework do you have students who do turn it in getting extra points in class?

From what I have seen, if there is a benefit for turning in homework and students see this benefit more will try to accomplish what the homework is asking. So avoid penalization is okay, but make sure the ones turning it in are getting rewarded in some way.

The other question regarding what to do with students who may not be completing the assignments correctly, you could use this almost as a formative assessment. You could still give them the credit but use this as a time for you to focus on that student a little more and see where he/she isn’t understanding the content.

Our school has a system called Catch Up Cafe. Students with missing work report to a specific teacher during the first 15 minutes of lunch to work on missing work. Students upgrade to a Wednesday after school time if they have accumulated 4 or more missing assignments on any Monday. They do not have to serve if they can clear ALL missing work by the end of the day Wednesday. Since work is not dragging out for a long period of time, most teachers do not take off points.

How do you manage the logistics of who has missing and how many assignments are needed to be completed-to make sure they are attending the Catch up Cafe or Wednesday after school? How do you manage the communication with parents?

When a student has missing work it can be very difficult to see what he/she is missing. I always keep a running record of all of their assignments that quarter and if they miss that assigement I keep it blank to remind myself there was never a submission. Once I know that this student is missing this assignment I give them their own copy and write at the top late. So once they do turn it in I know that it’s late and makes grading it easier.

There are a lot of different programs that schools use but I’ve always kept a paper copy so I have a back-up.

I find that the worst part of tracking make-up work is keeping tabs on who was absent for a school activity, illness or other excused absence, and who just didn’t turn in the assignment. I obviously have to accept work turned in “late” due to an excused absence, but I can handle the truly late work however I wish. Any advice on simplifying tracking for this?

I tell my students to simply write “Absent (day/s)” at the top of the paper. I remind them of this fairly regularly. That way, if they were absent, it’s their responsibility to notify me, and it’s all together. If you create your own worksheets, etc., you could add a line to the top as an additional reminder.

It might be worth checking out Evernote .

In order to keep track of what type of missing assignments, I put a 0 in as a grade so students and parents know an assignment was never submitted. If a student was here on the due date and day assignment was given then it is a 0 in the grade book. If a student was absent the day the assignment was given or when it was due, I put a 00 in the grade book. This way I know if it was because of an absence or actual no work completed.

This is exactly what I do. Homework can only count 10% in our district. Claims that kids fail due to zeros for homework are specious.

This is SUCH a difficult issue and I have tried a few of the suggested ways in years past. My questions is… how do we properly prepare kids for college while still being mindful of the inequities at home? We need to be sure that we are giving kids opportunity, resources, and support, but at the same time if we don’t introduce them to some of the challenges they will be faced with in college (hours of studying and research and writing regardless of the hours you might have to spend working to pay that tuition), are we truly preparing them? I get the idea of mastery of content without penalty for late work and honestly that is typically what I go with, but I constantly struggle with this and now that I will be moving from middle to high school, I worry even more about the right way to handle late work and homework. I don’t want to hold students back in my class by being too much of a stickler about seemingly little things, but I don’t want to send them to college unprepared to experience a slap in the face, either. I don’t want to provide extra hurdles, but how do I best help them learn how to push through the hurdles and rigor if they aren’t held accountable? I always provide extra time after school, at lunch, etc., and have also experienced that end of term box checking of assignments in place of a true learning experience, but how do we teach them the importance of using resources, asking for help, allowing for mistakes while holding them to standards and learning work habits that will be helpful to them when they will be on their own? I just don’t know where the line is between helping students learn the value of good work habits and keeping them from experiencing certain challenges they need to understand in order to truly get ahead.

Thanks for sharing – I can tell how much you care for your students, wanting them to be confident independent learners. What I think I’m hearing is perhaps the struggle between that fine line of enabling and supporting. When supporting kids, whether academically or behaviorally, we’re doing something that assists or facilitates their growth. So, for example, a student that has anxiety or who doesn’t have the resources at home to complete an assignment, we can assist by giving that student extra time or an alternative place to complete the assignment. This doesn’t lower expectations, it just offers support to help them succeed.

Enabling on the other hand, puts systems in place that don’t involve consequences, which in turn allow the behaviors to continue. It involves excuses and solving problems for others. It may be about lowering expectations and letting people get by with patterns of behavior.

Late work is tricky. The article does mention the importance of time management, which is why separating academic grades from work habits is something a lot of schools are doing. Sometimes real life happens and kids need a “pass.” If whatever you’re doing seems to be helping to support a student rather than enabling patterns, then that might help you distinguish between that fine line. Hope this helps!

Thank you again for such a great post. Always high-quality, relevant, and helpful. I so appreciate you and the work you do!

So glad to hear you enjoyed the post, Liz! I’ll make sure Jenn sees this.

I thought that these points brought up about receiving late work were extremely helpful and I hope that every classroom understands how beneficial these strategies could be.

When reading the penalties section under point deductions it brought up the idea of taking points off slowly as time goes by. Currently in my classroom the only point deduction I take off is 30% of the total grade after it is received late. No matter how much time has gone by in that grading period it will have 30% off the total.

I’m curious if changing this technique to something that would increase the percentage off as time goes by will make students turn in their work on time.

My question to everyone is which grading technique would be more beneficial for the students? Do you believe that just taking off 30% for late work would help students more when turning in their work or do you think that as time goes by penalizing their final score will have students turn in their work more?

If anyone has any answers it would be extremely beneficial.

Thank you, Kirby

When I was in school my school did 1/3 of a grade each day it was like. So 1 day late A >A-. Two days late: A->>B+ so on and so forth. This worked really well for me because I knew that I could still receive a good grade if I worked hard on an assignment, even if it was a day or two late.

I dread it when I have missing work or unsubmitted work. I would try to get a last-minute effort to chase those needed pieces of work which could be done from those students housed in dorms on campus. It is better than not failing them for lacking to turn in graded submissions or taking scheduled quizzes. I dread this not for the students, sadly, but for likely call to explain why I did not keep physical evidence of students’ supposed learning. In my part of the globe, we have a yearly “quality assurance” audit by the country’s educational authorities or their representatives.

I am a pre-service teacher and I am in the process of developing my personal philosophies in education, including the topic of late work. I will be certified as a secondary social studies teacher and would like to teach in a high school. Your post brought my attention to some important insights about the subject. For example, before this post I had not thought to use feedback as a way to incentivize homework submission on time. This action coupled with the ability to re-do assignments is a great way to emphasize the importance of turning work in on time. I do have a follow-up question, how do you adequately manage grading re-do’s and feedback on all assignments? What kinds of organizational and time-management strategies do you use as a teacher? Further, how much homework do you assign when providing this as an option?

Additionally, have you administered or seen the no penalty and homework acceptance time limit in practice (for example, all homework must be turned in by the unit test)? I was curious if providing a deadline to accept all homework until the unit test may result in an access of papers I need to grade. From your experience, what practice(s) have you seen work well in the classroom?

My goal is to prepare students for life beyond high school and to support their intellectual, social, and emotional development during their high school learning experience. Similar to a previous commenter (Kate), I am also trying to define a balance between holding students accountable in order to best prepare them for their future lives and providing opportunities to raise their grade if they are willing to do the work.

Hey Jessica, you have some great questions. I’d recommend checking out the following blog posts from Jenn that will help you learn more about keeping track of assessments, differentiation, and other aspects of grading: Kiddom: Standards-based Grading Made Wonderful , Could You Teach Without Grades , Boost Your Assessment Power with GradeCam , and Four Research-Based Strategies Every Teacher Should be Using . I hope this helps you find answers to your questions!

Overall I found this article extremely helpful and it actually reinforced many ideas I already had about homework and deadlines. One of my favorite teachers I had in high school was always asking for our input on when we felt assignments should be due based on what extra curricular activities were taking place in a given time period. We were all extremely grateful for his consideration and worked that much harder on the given assignments.

While it is important to think about our own well-being when grading papers, I think it is just as important (if not more) to be conscious of how much work students might have in other classes or what students schedules are like outside of school. If we really want students to do their best work, we need to give them enough time to do the work. This will in turn, help them care more about the subject matter and help them dive deeper. Obviously there still needs to be deadlines, but it does not hurt to give students some autonomy and say in the classroom.

Thanks for your comment Zach. I appreciate your point about considering students’ involvement in extracurricular activities and other responsibilities they may have outside the school day. It’s definitely an important consideration. The only homework my son seemed to have in 8th grade was for his history class. I agree that there’s a need for teachers to maintain more of a balance across classes when it comes to the amount of homework they give to students.

Thank you for an important, thought-provoking post! As a veteran teacher of 20+ years, I have some strong opinions about this topic. I have always questioned the model of ‘taking points off’ for late work. I do not see how this presents an accurate picture of what the student knows or can do. Shouldn’t he be able to prove his knowledge regardless of WHEN? Why does WHEN he shows you what he knows determine WHAT he knows?

Putting kids up against a common calendar with due dates and timelines, regardless of their ability to learn the material at the same rate is perhaps not fair. There are so many different situations facing our students – some students have challenges and difficulty with deadlines for a plethora of potential reasons, and some have nothing but support, structure, and time. When it comes to deadlines – Some students need more time. Other students may need less time. Shouldn’t all students have a chance to learn at a pace that is right for them? Shouldn’t we measure student success by demonstrations of learning instead of how much time it takes to turn in work? Shouldn’t students feel comfortable when it is time to show me what they’ve learned, and when they can demonstrate they’ve learned it, I want their grade to reflect that.

Of course we want to teach students how to manage their time. I am not advocating for a lax wishy-washy system that allows for students to ‘get to it when they get to it’. I do believe in promoting work-study habits, and using a separate system to assign a grade for responsibility, respect, management, etc is a potential solution. I understand that when introducing this type of system, it may be tough to get buy-in from parents and older students who have traditionally only looked at an academic grade because it is the only piece of the puzzle that impacts GPA. Adopting a separate work-study grading system would involve encouraging the entire school community – starting at the youngest level – to see its value. It would be crucial for the school to promote the importance of high level work-study habits right along side academic grades.

I teach a specials course to inner city middle schoolers at a charter school. All students have to take my class since it is one of the core pillars of the school’s culture and mission. Therefore it is a double edge sword. Some students and parents think it is irrelevant like an art or music class but will get upset to find out it isn’t just an easy A class. Other students and parents love it because they come to our charter school just to be in this class that isn’t offered anywhere else in the state, except at the college level.

As you may have already guessed, I see a lot of students who don’t do the work. So much that I no longer assign homework, which the majority would not be able to do independently anyways or may develop the wrong way of learning the material, due to the nature of the subject. So everything is done in the classroom together as a class. And then we grade together to reinforce the learning. This is why I absolutely do not accept missing work and there is no reason for late work. Absent students make up the work by staying after school upon their return or they can print it off of Google classroom at home and turn in by the end of the day of their return. Late and missing work is a big issue at our school. I’ve had whole classrooms not do the work even as I implemented the new routine. Students will sit there and mark their papers as we do it in the classroom but by the end they are not handing it in because they claim not to have anything to hand in. Or when they do it appears they were doing very little. I’d have to micromanage all 32 students every 5 minutes to make sure they were actually doing the work, which I believe core teachers do. But that sets a very bad precedent because I noticed our students expect to be handheld every minute or they claim they can’t do the work. I know this to be the case since before this class I was teaching a computer class and the students expected me to sit right next to them and give them step-by-step instructions of where to click on the screen. They simply could not follow along as I demonstrated on the Aquos board. So I do think part of the problem is the administrators’ encouraging poor work ethics. They’re too focused on meeting proficient standard to the point they want teachers to handhold students. They also want teachers to accept late and missing work all the way until the end of each quarter. Well that’s easy if you only have a few students but when you have classrooms full of them, that means trying to grade 300+ students multiplied by “x” amount of late/missing work the week before report card rolls out – to which we still have to write comments for C- or below students. Some of us teach all the grade levels 6-8th. And that has actually had negative effects because students no longer hold themselves accountable.

To be honest, I really do think this is why there is such a high turnover rate and teachers who started giving busy work only. In the inner city, administrators only care about putting out the illusion of proficiency while students and parents don’t want any accountability for their performance. As soon as a student fails because they have to actually try to learn (which is a risk for failing), the parent comes in screaming.

Yea, being an Art teacher you lost me at “ irrelevant like an art or music .”

I teach middle school in the inner city where missing and late work is a chronic issue so the suggestions and ideas above do not work. Students and parents have become complacent with failing grades so penalizing work isn’t going to motivate them to do better the next time. The secret to teaching in the inner city is to give them a way out without it becoming massive work for you. Because trust me, if you give them an inch they will always want a mile at your expense. Depending on which subject you teach, it might be easier to just do everything in class. That way it becomes an all or nothing grade. They either did or didn’t do the work. No excuses, no chasing down half the school through number of calls to disconnected phone numbers and out of date emails, no explaining to parents why Johnny has to stay after school to finish assignments when mom needs him home to babysit or because she works second shift and can’t pick him up, etc. Students have no reason for late work or for missing work when they were supposed to do it right there in class. Absent students can catch up with work when they return.

Milton, I agree with all of what you are saying and have experienced. Not to say that that is for all students I have had, but it is a slow progression as to what is happening with students and parents as years go by. I understand that there are areas outside of the classroom we cannot control and some students do not have certain necessities needed to help them but they need to start learning what can they do to help themselves. I make sure the students know they can come and talk to me if needing help or extra time, tutor after school and even a phone number to contact along with email if needing to ask questions or get help. But parents and students do not use these opportunities given until the week before school ends and are now wanting their student to pass and what can be done. It is frustrating and sad. I let students and parents know my expectation up front and if they do not take the opportunity to talk to me then the grade they earned is the result.

I am a special education resource teacher and late work/missing work happens quite a lot. After reading this article, I want to try a few different things to help minimize this issue. However, I am not the one making the grades or putting the grades in. I am just giving the work to the students in small group settings and giving them more access to the resources they need to help them be successful on these assignments based on their current IEP. I use a make-up folder, and usually I will pull these students to work on their work during a different time than when I regularly pull them. That way they do not miss the delivery of instruction they get from me and it does not punish my other students either if there is make-up work that needs to be completed. I try to give my students ample time to complete their work, so there is no excuse for them not to complete it. If they are absent, then I pull them at a time that they can make it up.

I too agree with that there’s a need for teachers to maintain more of a balance across classes when it comes to the amount of homework they give to students.

I had a few teachers who were willing to tolerate lateness in favor of getting it/understanding the material. Lastly, my favorite teacher was the one who gave me many chances to do rewrites of a ‘bad essay’ and gave me as much time as needed (of course still within like the semester or even month but I never took more than two weeks) because he wanted me to do well. I ended up with a 4 in AP exam though so that’s good.

Late work has a whole new meaning with virtual learning. I am drowning in late work (via Google Classroom). I don’t want to penalize students for late work as every home situation is different. I grade and provide feedback timely (to those who submitted on time). However, I am being penalized every weekend and evening as I try to grade and provide feedback during this time. I would love some ideas.

Hi Susan! I’m in the same place–I have students who (after numerous reminders) still haven’t submitted work due days…weeks ago, and I’m either taking time to remind them again or give feedback on “old” work over my nights and weekends. So, while it’s not specific to online learning, Jenn’s A Few Ideas for Dealing with Late Work is a post I’ve been trying to put into practice the last few days. I hope this helps!

Graded assignment flexibility is essential to the process of learning in general but especially in our new world of digital divide

It is difficult to determine who is doing the work at home. Follow up videos on seesaw help to see if the student has gained the knowledge or is being given the answers.

This is some good information. This is a difficult subject.

I love the idea of a catch-up cafe! I think I will try to implement this in my school. It’s in the same place every day, yes? And the teachers take turns monitoring? I’m just trying to get a handle on the logistics – I know those will be the first questions I get.

I really enjoyed this post. I think it provides a lot of perspective on a topic that teachers get way too strict about. I just wonder: wouldn’t it be inevitable for students to become lazy and care less about their understanding if there wasn’t any homework (or even if it was optional)? I know students don’t like it, and it can get redundant if they understand the content, but it truly is good practice.

Hi Shannon,

Glad the post helped! Homework is one of those hot educational topics, but I can’t say I’ve personally come across a situation or found any research where kids become lazy or unmotivated if not assigned homework. In fact, research indicates that homework doesn’t really have much impact on learning until high school. I just think that if homework is going to be assigned, it needs to be intentional and purposeful. (If students have already mastered a skill, I’m not sure how homework would provide them much benefit.) Here’s an article that I think is worth checking out. See what you think.

I like how you brought up how homework needs to be given with the understanding that not all kids have the same resources at home. Some kids don’t have computers or their parents won’t let them use it. There is no way of knowing this so teachers should give homework that requires barely any utensils or technology.

I think having students help determine the due dates for major assignments is a great idea. This works well with online schools too. Remote jobs are the future so helping students learn how to set their own due dates and to get homework done from home will prepare them for the future.

This year I am trying something new. After reading this article, I noticed that I have used a combination of some of these strategies to combat late work and encourage students to turn work in on time. I only record a letter grade in the grade book: A, B, C, D, F. If a student turns in an assignment late, I flag it as late, but it does not affect their “grade”.

If a student wants to redo an assignment, they must turn something in. If they miss the due date, they can still turn it in, but lose the opportunity to redo the assignment. Students will meet with me one last time before they turn it in to get final feedback.

At the end of the grading period, I conference with the student about their final grade, looking at how many times they have handed work in on-time or late. This will determine if the student has earned an A or an A+ .

I really appreciate how your post incorporates a lot of suggestions for the way that teachers can think about and grade homework. Thank you for mentioning how different students have different resources available as well. As teachers, we need to be aware of the different resources our students have and tailor our approach to homework to match. I like the idea of grading homework based on completion and accepting late work for full credit at any time (substituting a zero in the grade book until it is turned in). This is definitely a strategy that I’ll be using!

So glad the article was helpful for you! I will be sure to pass on your comments to Jenn.

I also have been teaching for a long time and I have found that providing an END OF WEEK (Friday at 11:59) due date for assignments allows students to get the work completed by that time. It helps with athletes, and others involved in extra curricular activities. I feel this is fair. I give my tests/quizzes on the days assigned and the supplemental work on Fridays.

I personally, as a special education teach, would allow my SPED students extra time to complete the work they have missed. This is in alignment with their IEP accommodations. I would work with each one independently and have remediation with the content that they are having difficulty. This setting would be in a small group and separate classroom.

I really like the idea of a work habits grade. I struggle with students who turn things in late regularly earning the same grade as those who always turn things in on time. A work habits grade could really motivate some learners.

I’ve been in education for 37 years and in all manner of positions. I share this only to also say that things have changed quite a bit. When I started teaching I only had one, maybe two students in a class of 34 elementary students that would not have homework or classwork finished. Now, I have two classes of about 15 each. One group is often half the class on a regular basis not having homework or not finishing classwork on a regular basis- so far. Additionally parents will pull students out to go to amusement parks, etc and expect all work to be made up and at full credit. I believe that the idea of homework is clearly twofold- to teach accountability and to reengage a learner. Classwork is critical to working with the content and, learning objective. We can all grade various ways; however, at some point, the learner has to step up. Learning is not passive, nor is it all on the teacher. I have been called “mean” because I make students do their work in class, refocusing them, etc. I find that is my duty. Late work should be simply dealt with consistently and with understanding to circumstance IMO. You were out or it was late because mom and dad were upset, ok versus we went to Disney for three days and I was too tired. hmm- used to be easy with excused/unexcused absences, now there is no difference. Late with no absence? That can be a problem and I reach out to home and handle it individually at my level.

Hi Jennifer! I really like your sharing about this topic! Late work is a problem that every teacher encounters. Thank you for your consideration of this issue and the many wise ideas you have provided. Your ideas also remind me to reflect on whether my overall program of assignments and grading is in a healthy place. I was inspired by the preventative measures you listed in this post. I want to try to include my students in setting deadlines, especially for some big projects. Students will feel respected by teachers and will be more willing to complete the assignments before deadlines! As you mentioned, some teachers have made homework optional or self-selected, or even stopped assigning homework. I partially agree with that opinion. I indeed try to reduce the amount of students’ homework or even stop assigning homework sometime, but doing related practice in class instead. I believe that the purpose of homework is to aid pupils in mastering the knowledge; it is not a necessary thing.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Yang. Jenn will be glad to know that you found the post inspiring!

Thanks so much for all your insights on giving assignments or homework. All are very helpful as I prepare to return to work after an extended medical leave. It is good to refresh! Anything we require of our students should be purposeful and meaningful to them, so they will give their best to meet whatever deadlines we set. I also like asking our students when is the best time they can turn work in; this is meeting them halfway. And if one strategy does not work, there are more to try; just read this post. Thanks a bunch!!

Jenn will be glad to know the post was helpful for you, Jo!

My colleagues and I at Sand Creek International in Colorado Springs, Colorado, enjoyed reading your post “A Few Ideas for Dealing with Late Work.” It gave us a lot to think about. We are the middle school teachers in a K-8 school and our district policy has been to accept late work all the way to the end of each quarter with no more than a 10% penalty for being late. We decided to examine this policy and discuss the pros and cons of it. Spending the time discussing these pros and cons really helped us examine our own philosophies on the point of student work and ultimately led to some changes we are empowered to make as well as a request for a change only our district level personnel can approve.

Pros of a Lenient Late Work Policy -More students eventually complete the work we want all students to complete This led us to be more intentional about work we are assigning for a grade and being more selective about what is counted towards a student’s grade. As was mentioned in your post, this was about a shift from “compliance” to “student growth” in what we were choosing to grade. -More students passing classes Students heading into high school don’t need to already be labeled as “failing” students and adopting a view of themselves that sets them up for struggle in high school. Students playing a sport also have the pressure of remaining eligible for their competitions. If they got zeros for late works, many would lose the ability to play their sport, which we think would be a detriment to their mental health. -Allows a focus on equity in grading policies We are aware many students face challenges outside of the classroom that make focusing on schoolwork difficult. A lenient late work policy doesn’t punish students who are facing these sorts of challenges.

Cons of a Lenient Late Work Policy -Teachers aren’t able to give timely feedback or adjust instruction When assignments are turned in late, often the topic of the assignment has already appeared on a test and if the student didn’t understand it, the opportunity to help that student before a test has already passed. -Students are learning bad habits when they aren’t taught that deadlines have importance As students head into high school and beyond, and eventually the workforce, we worry we are setting them up for failure if they haven’t learned that not meeting a deadline has consequences. Middle school is an ideal time to help students learn how to prioritize their time, organize their work, and develop a strong work ethic. Instead, the message they are sent with an overly lenient late work policy is that there are no real consequences to not meeting your obligations.

Changes We Have the Power to Make at the School Level -Be selective in what counts as a grade — make it more about growth than compliance -Guide students in developing executive function skills, like prioritizing work, creating their time management systems, task trackers, etc. -Require students to turn in something on the due date — even if that “something” is a request for a deadline extension -Be explicit with students about why turning in work on time is important for them to be able to get timely feedback on assignments that will help them prepare for assessments -Possibly offer extra credit for work turned in on time or other positive incentives -Possibly offer one “free” pass on an assignment per class per quarter or a drop the lowest grade pass -Required attendance at Yeti Den (after school work time) for missing work

Changes that Would Need District Approval -10% penalty for up to a certain number of days and then 25% off and then at some point, district’s policy of 50% minimum on work turned in kicks in — no more full credit for really late work. -Missing work considered in athletics eligibility -Missing work triggers automatic emails to parents from Infinite Campus gradebook just like unexcused absences do

Mary, thanks for taking the time to share your thinking! Jenn will be so glad to know that the post helped spark this conversation among your colleagues.

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Assignment due next week: what do I do now?

I’m not going to do well in this assignment, I don’t have enough time.

What if: you have an upcoming assignment deadline due soon, say in a week.

Now that you’ve started unpacking the question, and looking at the reading material, you realise it might take longer than a week to plan, research and write out the assignment.

What are you going to about it?

If this sounds familiar, you might want to take a step back to evaluate how you have come to this position. It might feel as though you have left things too late, but the situation might not be as bad as you think. 

Rationalising your thoughts will help you to take the next step.

Are you spending time worrying about your deadline instead of doing the work? 

It’s okay to worry a little bit about your work. But you have to start doing something towards your goals otherwise you risk overthinking and delivering nothing. Do the smallest possible task related to your assignment, start with just half an hour of focused work. As you see yourself achieving this mini goal, you will feel more encouraged to continue. 

• Do you have other commitments that are taking up potential studying time? 

Where can you delegate or let go of some commitments this week, just until your deadline is over?

That can help free up some time during your week.  

• Do you find some elements of this assignment much more challenging than others?
• Are you put-off doing any parts of your assignment? 
• Can you be more accountable to yourself in making sure your assignment is progressing? 

You don’t want to let the lack of discipline compromise the quality of your overall work. Not everyone will enjoy all parts of the assignments they are given, but that doesn’t mean you should give less attention to parts that you don't enjoy doing.

Try giving yourself something to look forward to at the end of the session, or the day, to keep you motivated. Break up your work into achievable, mini-tasks, or ask a friend to work with you where you can.

Look for the little things that will keep you motivated and focused towards completing these smaller tasks.

• Do you feel that it is unrealistic to complete this task within the time you have been given? 
• Or, have you left it late, and now have to work with the time you’ve got left? 

If you are unclear, speaking to your tutor might help you come to terms with the expectations of this assignment. This might also help you understand whether you need to refine the way you set goals leading up to your deadlines.

What can you do next time to avoid being in this situation again? 

If you really want to do well, you can with commitment.

Doubts and negative thoughts may arise, but how you choose to respond to them will determine how they impact your work.  

It’s up to you to decide what you do with the time you have left.  

Further resources

Refer to the  Time management  module and practice some of the tips in the resource:  

Applying time management techniques 

More support

Use some of the tips provided by NHS England in moments of stress:

Self-help guide to reduce stress  

Editor's highlights

The seven 'C's of assignment writing

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My assignment is due tomorrow and I haven't even started it yet!

English expert at Atomi

Well, if it really is due tomorrow, let’s do this and do it quick! You could have anything due tomorrow, so instead of a step-by-step guide let’s focus on some tips and tricks to pull off this craziness. Legions of students before you have done it and legions of students after you will do it so have faith—you can do it 💪.

1. Prioritise

This probably doesn’t need to be said but if it’s due tomorrow then clear your schedule tonight—this is absolutely your top priority right now! Normally we recommend getting plenty of sleep but if you have something due tomorrow, tonight's the night to push your bedtime back a little bit (still no all-nighters though!)

2. Get your head in the game

Okay, no matter how much of a mountain it seems, this has to be done tonight. Don’t let yourself even consider the option of handing it in late—just thinking that will make it even harder to finish in time.

It’s time to get your head in the game and focus on the task ahead. You want to grab some water and make sure you’ve eaten. Then, set yourself up in a clean, bright area, find a supportive chair and grab all of the resources you'll need to do your assignment.

You can check out our video on Study Spaces for everything you need to set up the perfect workspace.

3. Work out exactly what you need to do

To work as efficiently as possible you should first understand exactly what you need to do.

That means you need to think about exactly what ideas or topics you need to cover and what your approach should be. So, read the assignment and marking criteria carefully and identify any keywords. Also highlight any important details, like the word count or page limit, the submission format and any other info that will affect how you approach this task.

This will vary massively depending on the assignment. The point is basically just that you should make sure you know exactly what you need to do before you start. Trust me, it’ll make everything quicker if you do ⏰.

4. Do a brief plan

To make sure we can get this done properly in one night, the next step is to plan your answer. This will make it a lot easier to start writing and, if you have to do any research, you will know exactly what you’re looking for.

So, sketch out a brief plan onto a page. Work out what needs to go into your answer and how it’s going to be structured. It might feel difficult or pointless to plan at this point, but if you can get some of the hard work out of the way here it’ll become much easier to write!

5. Research efficiently

Now, this one is obviously only relevant if you need research for your answer. Gathering research for an essay or report can take time. By using the keywords from the syllabus and assessment notification, you’ll be able to focus on the resources that you actually need. As far as you can, drop your research straight into the plan and you’ll be moving much more efficiently.

Don’t forget to reference as you go! This will save you time and ensure you don’t make any mistakes 😅.

6. Quality over quantity

This is a seriously important tip. When you’re really under pressure, it can be tempting to just smash out as many words as possible so you can hit that word count—don’t do this! It’s just going to give you a whole lot of waffle and even worse marks.

Instead of waffling, stick to your answer plan, use your research and fall back on the ideas in our lessons . It will get you a much better result for not that much extra work ✅.

7. Do your final read over tomorrow morning

Once you’ve finally pulled off that answer, it’s time to go to bed. You’re probably going to be too tired, too stressed and too wrapped up in your answer to be able to give it a proper check and edit.

So, just get some sleep now, set the alarm 30mins earlier tomorrow and read over it again with fresh eyes and a clear mind. You should be able to pick up any little mistakes and make the whole thing read a lot better and generally end up with a stronger answer!

Even though this isn’t ideal, you can still pull it off! The secret is to be as efficient as possible. So, keep calm, find out exactly what you need to do, plan, research properly and don’t waffle.

Oh and next time, don’t leave your assignments to the last minute 😅. Instead, watch our lesson on Planning an Assignment and use the downloadable planner so you aren’t in this sticky situation again.

For more study tips, tricks and advice, keep reading the student blog or follow Atomi on Instagram . See you there 👋.

Published on

March 15, 2022

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