4 Tips to Address Late, Missing Homework

As teachers, we’ve all had to deal with late work / homework from students. Whether it is a legitimate illness or a case of chronic truancy, dealing with late / missing work is annoying to say the least.

It is a battle that we deal with on a daily basis, putting both students and teachers at a disadvantage. Unprepared students have difficulty participating in class activities. Teachers may have to scramble to produce an extra copy of an assignment or use class time to get a student up to speed with what he missed. Lack of homework leads to poor test and quiz grades.

Students’ poor grades can also lead to pressure on teachers from administrators or put us at odds with parents.

Students come from such diverse backgrounds and home lives that it is difficult to impose one set of consequences for missing work. There is often no “one size fits all” solution for this problem. Sometimes there are exceptions and circumstances that require a special solution.  Other times, a teacher has to put her foot down and demand accountability. In either situation, dealing with the absence of student work can become especially difficult as the school year comes to an end.

While there is no magic answer or easy solution, consider the following ideas as you decide how to deal with students’ deficient work habits:

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