I go down one letter grade per day for projects that a turned in late. This works for projects that are due early in the week, but what if students turn in projects the Monday after the weekend if the project was due on Friday? Do you think I should still deduct one letter grade or should there be a harsher penalty? In my old school, the rule was that the weekend was treated as 3 days, so a student who didn't turn in a project on Friday would go down 3 letter grades by Monday. If the project couldn't be emailed, then the student was out of luck, but if it could be emailed, they would only go down one letter grade depending on when the student turned it in. It seemed pretty harsh to me, but kids rarely turned in late projects on Friday because of the policy. In my new school, there's no policy set in place, so teachers can create their own. What do you think I should do? I'm leaning more towards sticking with the one letter grade deduction even for the weekend, or maybe going down 1.5 letter grades?
I don't count sat and sun but if you do then I would suggest not making anything due on a Friday but on a Thursday
I would never make a project due on a Friday. Having the procrastinators wait until the end of a stressful week to throw the project together usually doesn't end well. Mine are usually due on Mondays. If they were to be due on a Friday, I would use the same penalty (in your case, 1 letter grade).
One letter grade seems fair. My projects are usually 50 pts (half a test grade), and I make it 5 points off each day late (unless there are extenuating circumstances), which in fact equates to a letter grade.
I think learning to get work in on time teaches time management. If there was no way to deter students from turning work in late, I wouldn't get a lot of the work until the last day.
Hmm thinking again, there may be instances where I need to have a project due Friday if it's at the end of the quarter and I need to get grades in. If it comes to that, I think I'm just going to stick with the same deduction. I didn't love the policy at my old school because it felt kind of mean, but it was ok since it was the department policy. I just don't want to be stuck implementing something so harsh on my own.
If that's the goal then you could think about setting a higher flat penalty and just making it for a set amount of time. You wouldn't then have to worry about counting days or dealing with weekends.
I don't want a high flat penalty, just because I realize that projects can get left at home and I don't think one day late is a huge deal, so I don't want a huge penalty for it.
Here's the rule that's used by most teachers in my school: Projects are due when they're due. There's a one letter grade penalty for each school day it's late. (Barring emergencies-- a death in the family or hospitalization, for example, would not be subject to any penalty.) If you're absent, you have several options: - Have someone get your project to the bus stop. Any teacher in the school would be happy to accept the project from a neighbor or friend and put it into my mailbox. - Ask mom/dad to drop it off with the receptionist some time today. - Ask mom/dad to drop it at the post office, addressed to me. As long as it has today's postmark, it's on time. - Email me the assignment, then hand in the paper version when you return to school. The email does not take the place of the assignment, but does release you from any penalty for it being late. (This one has saved lots of kids who experience last minute printing iissues.)
I have never heard of counting Sat and Sun before. They don't have an opportunity to turn it in on either day so they shouldn't be penalized as if they did. My policy is 10pts to 15 pts (more for advanced students) per day. Assignments are due when I call for them (usually part of their bellwork to turn them in at a specific spot). If they aren't turned in right then, they are late. I don't think it is fair for someone who left it on his desk, but happens to have a SAHM at his beck and call, to get credit for it being turned in later. Even if the student is called down to the office during class to pick it up.
