It’s no secret that many kids and teens often find themselves unable to complete tasks on time, whether it be by a certain time of day or by a date on the calendar. There seem to be as many reasons for that to happen as there are excuses for it, and as you’ve seen from this post, the list is basically endless. So in order to try walking in teachers' shoes who deal with this kind of behavior on a daily basis, we spoke with Lynn How, an educator and the author of “Positive Young Minds” who specializes in supporting parents, teachers, and children navigating through mental health issues and prevention. Lynn has been a primary teacher for 20 years, so she has a lot of experience to share with us.
When asked how teachers deal with students trying to hand in their homework assignments late, Lynn said that it largely depends on the school's individual policy. “However,” she added, “better late than never should still apply here!” Lynn said that she would rather a student ask for an extension and give a reason rather than just being late or not handing it in at all.
While there are many reasons why students don't hand their assignments in, some kids may try to 'outsmart' a teacher. However, Lynn said that “their grades will suffer ultimately so they are really just damaging their own education. In this situation, finding the reason behind the behavior is best.”
The educator explained that “some students have difficult home lives and assignments might not be as high on their agenda in comparison to just getting through the day. In all these situations, getting parents onside is useful as well as putting in place some sort of mentor until the student is back on track.”
“I have taught children who have difficult home lives and provided them with opportunities to complete assignments in their lunchtimes or free time at school should they wish,” Lynn recounted. She said that ultimately, “If the barriers can be removed, then the issue can be reduced. You still get the odd 'the dog ate my homework' excuse (less so since a lot of it is online learning!).”
Lynn also said that once she needed to explain to her daughter's school that she did it, but the computer managed to wipe it, which is easily done. “Getting all the information from the student before making an assumption about their tardiness is important, especially when they don't have an on-board parent to advocate for them,” she concluded.
