Deadlines

 Friday. Eighth grade English, fifth period.

The kiddos had an assignment on culture. It was a project that they had had a couple weeks to work on. It was due, but eighth graders. Ms. R knew most of them had not finished it, so she was giving them one last period to get it done. 

Those students who actually had done what they were supposed to do got the period to get a jump start on an assignment that wasn't going to be due until January.

Jesse informed me he had "short term memory". No, I don't know what that means. To him, it meant that the fact that he got so easily distracted that he got practically no work done was justified by some amorphous brain issue. 

He suffers from being an eighth grader.

Jesse asked if his friend could sit next to him. The co-teacher pointed out that the two of them were holding a conversation just fine from where they were sitting. (They were.) And they continued to do so, even though I repeatedly asked Jesse how his assignment was coming along.

The girl between Jesse and his friend wasn't getting much done either. Mostly because she was contributing to the conversation. She was attempting to write something about being a tuba player. I gave her a couple ideas. She didn't think they worked. (Fine. I was just trying to get her working.)

Considering that the end of the semester is a couple weeks away, you'd think they'd be more on top of their work. Nope. They spent a lot of time looking at their grades. And being unhappy with their grades. I did point out the obvious, but at that age, they'll talk something to death before attempting to do anything.

At the end of the period I went to collect their projects. A few had finished. Jesse and his group? Nope. I pointed out the last day to turn in late work (as if they hadn't turned in the work, it was now late) was the following Wednesday. 

I wonder how many of them will get the assignment in by then.

Urgency

These middle schoolers...

There's this boy who asked to go by K3 in class (so since that's anonymous enough, I'll use it here). He has his moments of being a reasonable student and then he has other moments of play. So, typical seventh grader. 

I've had issues with getting the kiddos to turn in their work. I tell them when it's due. I call for it. But many don't have it done even though they had time in class to complete it (or I let them finish what they didn't finish in class for homework). 

But, the general rule is they can turn in late work, and I'm okay with this as I'd rather they turn it in and get credit rather than taking the F. (I want them to succeed.) 

So, last week K3 gave me a stack of four or five assignments that he was missing. Okay, fine. But then he follows it up with:

"You need to grade these quickly. My dad won't let me play sports until I get my grades up."

Um...

Wisely, I did not reply. He handed them to me at the end of class, as he was leaving. And I chose not to give him a piece of my mind.

Because, really? Him not turning his work in a timely manner makes it my responsibility to input those grades immediately? 

*taps sign*

I knew I'd need this image someday.

Over the weekend, I took home some grading. I got it input into the gradebook and everything. (It felt great to be caught up Monday morning.) First thing Monday morning I found an email from Nadia. 

Nadia stated that she was missing an assignment in the gradebook that she had turned in. 

I don't normally lose student work. (I don't even lose pens or socks. It's freakish, really.) But, I took a quick look just to make sure I hadn't overlooked it. Nope. But, I did have one paper missing a name.

I emailed this back to Nadia. The next time she was in class, she checked the paper. Yup, it was hers. She put her name on it and gave it back to me.

I'm lucky in that I have a last period conference period. When my last class leaves, I have a full period of time to close out the day and get prepped for the next one. I have made it my habit to go through the stack of late turned in work right after I've noted any things I need to note from the day (keeping track of who was tardy and who had a cell phone, that sort of thing). 

I had just gotten through the stack of late work, and I was checking email before moving on to the next thing that needed my attention. Nadia had sent me an email. I noted the time of the email. 3:01 PM. I looked at the clock. It was 3:04 PM. 

Nadia reminded me that she had resubmitted her assignment and it needed to be entered into the gradebook. 

Ahem.

I was sorely tempted to go into the gradebook and erase the score. But I am an adult. I resisted.

I went back to the email as I was going to add it to this post. Reading it now, it doesn't sound as bad as it sounded when I read it the first time. The first time, I was a bit put out. Because, I had just entered her grade into the gradebook. Right when she sent the email. 

I mean, I get where the kiddos are coming from. And I'm keeping up with the grading. Really. I am. 

But when they insist I take care of their stuff immediately? That they got to me late?

*shakes head* Middle schoolers...

The Dog Ate My Homework

Thursday. The bell had just rung to let the kiddos out of school. One of the students had hung back to talk to me.

He started off by referencing an assignment that had been due on Tuesday. Then he explained...

"I was with my cousin. It was his birthday. I had my work out. We were playing with his dog..."

At this point I interrupted. "Are you going to tell me that the dog ate your homework?"

"No. He peed on it."

Ahem.

I got another copy of the assignment and gave it to the boy, and he was on his way.

A couple students had turned in this assignment (our second of the school year) to me hesitantly, so I announced to the classes that I was accepting late work (better late than never). While I'd prefer that they get the work in on time, I'd rather they turn it in eventually and not have a bunch of missing assignments. 

They're seventh graders (12 years old). I want them to get in the habit of getting their work turned in. I'll snarl at them about late work another time.

A Test Makeup

It was week three in Mr. J's classes, and I'm starting to get my feet under me. That means that certain things I may not have noticed initially (while I'm trying to get a handle on the bigger things) are now catching my attention.

Jordan is in my second period class, but I hadn't seen much of her. In fact, I hadn't really seen her at all. 

I first noticed Jordan's absence when I was getting the quarter grades taken care of. She had pretty much taken the month of February off. And she was doing the same for March. Her grade was fine, but that was only because no one had input the grades.

Once I finished getting the grading caught up, Jordan's grade dropped to an F. 

I checked her attendance. It appeared that she was attending school every other day. As the school is on a block schedule, that meant that while her first, third, fifth, and seventh period teachers were seeing her regularly, her fourth, sixth, and eighth period teachers, as well as me, weren't seeing her at all. 

Thursday was an odd day. During passing period, Jordan showed up at my door. (I was at the door greeting students as they entered. The administrators encourage this of the teachers.) I knew who she was because the seating charts have photos. 

Jordan said that her grade had dropped because she was missing a test. (She was missing two tests and five or six assignments, but I didn't point that out.) After expressing displeasure that I hadn't just automatically cancelled the grade for her, she wondered if she could make up the test. I told her of course she could. Then she was on her way to her fifth period class. 

(There is a way to make an assignment not count for a student. I did this for a student who was out for a while after a suicide attempt. I will do this for various students who already completed an online course on how to job interview which I'm assigning to a couple classes. I will not do this for a student who ditched class for a month and now sees that her grade dropped.)

Did Jordan show up to take the test later that day? No, she did not.

Jordan did show up to class the next day. So, I offered her the opportunity to take the test right then. 

She wasn't that quiet, although I think she thought she was, when she said something along the lines of, "I don't want to do this now." I suppose I could have pressed the issue, but I gave her the out of taking it later in the day. She said she'd be there.

And then a meeting I needed to attend ran long, so I got back to the room late. So, of course Jordan wasn't there. Had she been there at the time we'd agreed? 

Well, I double checked her schedule. She does, in fact, have an eighth period when she said she didn't, so I kind of doubt that she was there. 

She can still make up the test and all the work she's missing. I'm accepting all late work. 

But will she? Will she get that work made up? 

We shall see. 

(So many of them did little while Mr. D was covering the classes, and somehow they thought the work didn't count. I had a couple weeks of students scrambling to get assignments in once their grades plummeted after I got those assignments input in the gradebook. Some still have not done anything.)

Guilt

It was the second week of my new long-term assignment, and I spent much of it getting their grades caught up. For much of the month of February, nothing had been graded and the non-co-taught classes had been kind of left up to their own devices.

When I talked to Mr. J about his upcoming absence, he had planned to be out starting in mid March. So, when another teacher asked me to cover her classes for the last two weeks of February, I figured I'd be free and agreed. 

But Mr. J's wife had to take her maternity leave early and Mr. J needed to be home with her. So, the secretary got another sub to take the class until I could start. I don't know Mr. D very well, but he is well-liked at the school, and he's done quite a few longer assignments as of late.

As it wasn't technically long enough to be long-term, Mr. D didn't get grading access, nor did he directly instruct the classes that weren't co-taught. 

There's one sophomore math class and three computer science classes that aren't co-taught. (There are two sophomore math classes that are co-taught, and Ms. L was instructing them.) 

The computer science classes were going to be tricky anyway, as there aren't any subs who are well-versed (or even partially knowledgeable) in computer science. They were always going to be kinda on their own. Their lessons have videos, and one can follow what they're supposed to be doing. But mostly they were supposed to be keeping up with the lessons on the website.

But the math class was also kinda left to their own devices. They had computerized lessons. The co-teacher made them videos. But sophomores. 15-year-olds are not known for being self starters.

So, I've been sorting out things like tests that didn't happen and grades that didn't get input. And lessons that the kiddos didn't actually get. 

I've been hit with a whole lot of guilt.

Because, if I had just dropped out of that two-week assignment, I could have started this class back in February, and we wouldn't be in the midst of a mess.

The math class had a test over the unit that they were supposed to be keeping up with. It went badly. The computer science classes missed a test at the end of February over their unit. (Once I realized this, I gave them a week's heads-up that the test would happen, so they had time to look over what they were supposed to have learned.) That test also went not great. (Some did well. Some, not so much.) 

Their quarter grades were due at the end of last week. And many of them took a nose-dive. 

Part of me is exasperated as clearly they weren't doing anything while Mr. D was there. (And he gave them the assignments, and they had the time in class to do them.) But part of me also understands that some things got missed because of the situation.

This would not have been the situation if I had started in February.

Deep sigh.

All I can do is move on from here. And kind of enjoy watching the kiddos scramble to turn in assignments late that they should have done in February. When they were assigned. When they had time in class.

(The baby's been born, and both mother and son are doing well. I don't know much more than that as I haven't been bothering Mr. J with school stuff while he's on leave.)

Brazen Request

Please tell me I am overreacting. 

I've been on this long-term English assignment for a bit over a month. (While you're reading this, I am already done with it. It ended on Tuesday.) Because of everything, many students are behind on their work. I have told the kiddos that they can turn in late work for credit. I only ask they give me a heads-up email so I know to look for it in Google Classroom.

The kiddos on email are kind of funny. Some are very apologetic. Some haven't quite gotten the conventions of email down, so they tell me too little or too much. And, of course, there are the grammatical errors of teens. 

I don't mind it at all. Except for Rodolfo. 

His first email to me: 

I submitted the OMAM chap 3 questions and the OMAM characterization chart.

It would be appreciated if you put this in as soon as possible.

(OMAM is short for Of Mice and Men, the book they're reading.) 

The thing that irritated me? Not that he sent the email at 10:38 PM. What got me was I had just graded the chapter 3 questions and input them into the gradebook, including his assignment. I checked. 

Wisely, I did not respond to his email. Nor did he ask me about any of this in class. (Nor did he stay after class to ask me anything one on one.) 

I was behind on grading. So, the emails piled up from students letting me know they had just submitted something. As did the assignments that were being turned in on time. Rodolfo emailed again: 

I submitted the chap 4 quickwrite and OMAM chap 3 questions. Also waiting for the characterization chart to be updated into aeries.

Yeah, I didn't need the reminder that I was behind on grading. Got it. I'd get to grading his characterization chart as soon as I could. And the chapter 3 questions...? 

Again, I didn't respond to the email. 

I was finally caught up on grading when Rodolfo sent me another email:

You graded the OMAM CHAP 3 questions and my mom is asking me about it. I am just waiting for it to be put into aeries.

Huh? I input that ages ago. But I checked... Nope. For some reason, I had never input his score into the online gradebook. *hangs head in shame*

Otherwise, it felt as if Rodolfo was hounding me about getting to grading his late work. But I'm being ridiculous. I know I am. Aren't I?

Reasons

 

When I started this long term subbing assignment, I told the kiddos they could turn in late work. I wasn't sure what the actual class policy was, but considering everything, I figured being too lenient wasn't a bad thing. 

I did tell them that they'd lose points for late work. And then I didn't take points off when I graded and recorded late work. So many who were turning in late work needed the points, and their grades were going from Fs to Ds or Cs. 

So, when Greer asked me if she could turn in late work, I didn't even hesitate when I said yes. 

It was the honors class (read: the kiddos who usually get As). Greer had missed several days and hadn't turned in any work in a week. When she asked in the chat if she could talk to me after class, I wondered if I was in trouble. 

Once everyone else had left the meet, Greer asked about turning in late work. She apologized for not being on top of her schoolwork, and she said it wasn't that she didn't want to do the work. Then she dropped the bomb.

Her family had been evicted from their home, and she had been worried about that.

Um. Yeah. I can see how schoolwork might suddenly be hard to concentrate on.

Suddenly my not docking late work didn't seem like such a bad idea.