Late work leniency

Another issue is late work, which unfortunately is complicated. It’s important for students to learn to turn things in on time, a critical skill for later in life, college, jobs, yada yada. But on the other hand, people have bad days, and there should be some mercy if someone messes up. If someone doesn’t do an assignment on time, then they no longer see any point in doing the assignment, so they don’t do the work. Some people have legitimate reasons for not being able to turn work in on time. There are also classes in which it is essential for things to be done on time, especially if the class is producing something. 

Bianca Lutchen, Silverado assistant principal said, “Students who may have a significant event in their life are not discouraged from continuing to put forth effort after an extenuating circumstance.”

If someone has a drastic event in their life that causes them to fall behind in school work, they should be able to catch up.

On the other hand, if there are no immediate deadlines, students do not do the work until the last possible minute, and make a habit of not doing work until it’s due. It is easier to do work in class, when the teacher is explaining things and is available to help, and it is easier to keep track of things if you get them done immediately. The new policy can hurt students who procrastinate a lot and help students who need a little mercy from time to time. 

In the 2021-2022 school year, students could wait until the end of the quarter to turn in assignments. People have a natural tendency to procrastinate, and do things at that last minute, struggling to plan and do things in a timely manner. Students would wait until the end of the quarter to do their work, then would be severely overwhelmed by all the work they needed to complete.

This year at Silverado, students have three school days after the original deadline of an assignment to complete it or make it up until the assignment is locked. This prevents people from procrastinating too much.

It’s good to be merciful, to allow students to redo things so that if they have messed up, they can remedy that. However, if students can redo anything, there are students who don’t try the first time. There are also perfectionists who want to redo things if they get anything less than 100%. It takes time for teachers to have to do retakes outside of school hours, especially if they create a new exam for the retake. 

To retake assignments, Silverado asks you to fill out a reflection form, in which you are supposed to put what concepts you did not understand and what you did to study it. If a student retakes a test without studying, they likely would get the same grade. If you study before reassessment, you will understand it better and get a better grade. Also, you can use the back of the form as scratch paper for a math test.