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Missing Assignment Sheet

• Missing Assignment Form

A Missing Assignment Sheet is typically used by teachers to keep track of any assignments that students have not completed or turned in . It helps teachers to identify and address missing assignments, and to communicate with students and parents about their academic progress .

The missing assignment sheet is typically filed by the teacher or instructor.

Q: What is a Missing Assignment Sheet? A: A Missing Assignment Sheet is a document used to keep track of any missing assignments for a student.

Q: Why is a Missing Assignment Sheet useful? A: A Missing Assignment Sheet is useful because it helps students and teachers keep track of any outstanding assignments that have not been turned in.

Q: How does a Missing Assignment Sheet work? A: A Missing Assignment Sheet typically lists the assignment, the date it was due, and a space to mark whether it has been turned in or is still outstanding.

Q: Who uses a Missing Assignment Sheet? A: Teachers and students both use a Missing Assignment Sheet to keep track of missing assignments.

Download Missing Assignment Sheet

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Tips for Organizing Student Work

By Mary Montero

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Whether you’re a new teacher or have many years of experience, odds are you still find yourself trying to find your desk under all.that.paper from time to time. Then you add in students who forget to turn in assignments and it can be really overwhelming to sort through who needs what. However, the good news is, with a little bit of planning and organization, you can minimize these challenges and develop a system for organizing student work.

Whether it’s helping absent students catch up, tracking missing assignments, or just finding the best way to sort papers that need to be graded… organizational systems are always a popular topic of conversation in our Inspired In Upper Elementary Facebook group . Here are some of my own tips and tricks, as well as contributions from our group members, to help you stay on top of the paper trail so you can spend more time teaching and less time stressing.

Students Who Receive Pull-Out Services

First of all, I always recommend having different makeup policies for students who miss classroom work due to pull-out services. If possible, I am careful to arrange my schedule around IEP and gifted services so that my students don’t always miss the same type of classroom instruction. This makes it easier to excuse occasional missed assignments.  As a gifted and talented teacher , I always encourage teachers to consider their pull-out services their work for that time period. I believe in giving different work instead of more work, though this may not always be possible.

Sometimes it’s also possible to coordinate schedules seamlessly. For example, one of my IEP clusters received daily phonics pull-out services at the same time we were working on phonics in our general education classroom. This year, all of our pull-out services (reading, math, and gifted and talented) happened at the same time. Because of this, those students never had to make up any classroom work from that same time.

Laura B. shared this great advice in our group, “As soon as students leave for services I have them hand me their papers and I make a note on them, drawing a line where I feel they should have stopped, which is dependent on the individual student. I give them the percentage they received adjusted for work completed.”

Procedures For Collecting Assignments

It sounds really simple: complete an assignment, turn it in, and receive a grade. However, we all know that feeling when we go to grade a set of papers and realize several are missing. These systems can help with that!

First, set up a specific area in your classroom where students can turn in their work. This will help you ensure that all the work is in one place, and it will make it easier for you to collect it when you need it. 

After trying many systems, I’ve found that subject-specific trays or color-coded folders (Amazon affiliate links) work the best. When I had a free minute during the day, I’d pull that tray and quickly sort the papers alphabetically. We used a numbering system where each student added their classroom number beside their name, which made this process even faster. Then I added a sticky note to the top of the pile with the names or numbers that were missing. As students turned work in late, they crossed their name off the list. By doing this, you can quickly track which students have turned in their work and who needs a reminder. I found that collecting papers the same day greatly reduced the number of missing assignments. As more time passed, papers were accidentally taken home, got lost in the blackhole of student desks, were accidentally thrown away, etc. Oftentimes the assignment was finished and just never made it to the turn in location, so this method helps tremendously. 

Teachers in our Facebook group had similar suggestions. Here are a few:

“I have done this with clothespins on the side of a tub. The kids who haven’t turned them in will still have their clothespin on the tub.” Nancy K

“I use dividers with pockets and hot glue them onto a wall. Each kid has one so I can see at a glance who didn’t turn it in. Then when they get collected they are in the order of the gradebook so that’s a bonus!” Taylor B.

“Make it a daily job. My students put their # on papers. The student who has that job goes through to make sure all numbers are there. They report to me if a number is missing.” Colleen M.

Missing and Incomplete Assignments

As a classroom teacher, you already know how tricky it can be to keep track of missing assignments and provide opportunities for students to complete the work. I’ve found that it’s much easier to stay on top of assignments throughout the grading period instead of waiting until the last minute. I personally track missing assignments daily and provide frequent opportunities for students to catch up..

How I Keep Track of Missing Assignments

• I keep the sticky notes with the name of the assignment and missing names/numbers on my desk. This is an efficient way to see at-a-glance who has missing work each day.
• A spreadsheet is a great way to track missing assignments over time. I keep a main sheet with all students’ names that I can print (or use digitally) as-needed for various tasks during the year (permission slips, assignments, etc). I use one for a running list of missing assignments.
• I enter grades into our digital gradebook weekly. Any assignments marked as missing can be printed or emailed to parents. 
• Consider using digital tools such as Google Classroom, Seesaw, or Edmodo to cut down on paper assignments. You can collect work, grade assignments, and provide feedback all in one place.

How Students Manage Missing Assignments

• Each student has a color-coded folder for incomplete assignments. If they finish other tasks early, they can work through items in their folder next. This specific folder reduces lost papers!
• We have weekly choice time where students can select a center, play brain games, work on projects, etc. All missing assignments must be completed first before choosing a different activity. 
• In years where I’ve been lucky enough to have a teaching assistant or parent volunteers, I’ve used some of their time to help students with these assignments.

More Tips From Teachers

“Post everything, even paper assignments, in Google classroom and have students mark it as submitted when they finish it.” Kristine A.

“Google Classroom keeps track of what has been turned in and what hasn’t. You can set up due dates and if students miss a due date it gets marked as missing. It allows you to return work that you have graded or return work before you grade it if the student turned it in unfinished or incomplete. When I grade my student’s work it gives me a list of those who have not turned in the assignment. I click one button and it puts them all into a BCC email. I add their parents to the mass email too and then send a message saying this work hadn’t been turned in. You need to train your students to check their email regularly. The parents usually see the email first. Google Classroom also gives the kids a To Do list that shows current assignments, as well as all late or missing work that needs to be done. Parents can also sign on as a guardian to get a weekly report of their child’s work history.” Kerri C.

“I make students keep a contract/agenda/must do-may do sheet. It has all required assignments for the week and any extra items they can do if finished early. When students turn it in, they get a piece of candy (you could do tickets, points, etc). I’ve had the best success with it the past few years. I keep a checklist on top of the stack and mark off their name when they turn it in. This helps me see quickly who hasn’t finished.” Angie C.

“I do a weekly 30-minute block for catch up, rework, or complete. We clean out desks and organize as a class before the 30 minute block. Students who are done have a choice of quiet activities to do—games, Legos, art. It’s a chance for me to check in with kids and catch missing/late work. It’s also a time for kids to rework something that didn’t meet expectations. I also have a missing work board that is updated throughout the week. Students can work on missing/unfinished work if they finish something early. To get their name off the missing work board, they complete a very brief work habit reflection slip that is signed by me upon reviewing work with them. There are more names and the need for explicit teaching in work habits at the beginning of the year. Kids learn how to monitor time and work completion. Kids need explicit teaching and practice with work habits.” Tracy S.

Work for Students Who Were Absent

We do a lot of learning every single day, and not all of it can easily be made up when absent students return. I recommend thoughtfully considering which missing assignments need to be completed and which ones can be skipped. I also evaluate which assignments need to be completed together at school and which ones can be sent home. I sometimes have a teacher center during weekly choice time where I can help students with missing or makeup assignments. 

To manage the paper for missing assignments that will be sent home, I write the absent student’s name on each paper as it’s handed out and leave it on their desk. At the end of the day, I staple all assignments together.

If a student will be out for multiple days and a parent has requested makeup work, I collect the daily papers, textbooks if needed, and put everything in a rubber banded stack with a cover sheet. I always write a little note letting the student know how missed they are.

Here’s how other teachers handle paperwork for absent students:

“If a student is absent, I put their names on the papers they will need and put it in a specific tray at the front of the room. BONUS TIP: As soon as I pass it out, one copy goes into a drawer in my cart for masters, and then the rest go into the next drawer for extras (for the inevitable “I can’t find mine” kids). If I’m out in the extras drawer, I can easily find the master to make more copies, without worrying about using my last.” Beth W.

“Our team does an absent packet every day. On the left is what we did during class and the right is any work that needs to be turned in. I only require kids to make up graded work.” Michelle J.

Managing the paper trail of missing assignments can be overwhelming, but with a little bit of effort and organization, you can make it more manageable. By following these tips, you will streamline your workflow, save valuable time, and provide a more efficient learning environment for your students.

Have your own organizational ideas to share? Join our FREE Inspired in Upper Elementary Facebook group to be part of the discussion!

Mary Montero

I’m so glad you are here. I’m a current gifted and talented teacher in a small town in Colorado, and I’ve been in education since 2009. My passion (other than my family and cookies) is for making teachers’ lives easier and classrooms more engaging.

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Find your classwork

This article is for students.

For all of your classes, you can quickly see upcoming assignments and announcements and what’s late or missing. You can also arrange work by topic.

Quickly see upcoming work and latest announcements

Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  [email protected] or [email protected] .  Learn more .

On each class card, you can review up to 3 assignments that are due in the next week.

• (Optional) To see details, click the title of the work.
• Click a class to see the latest assignments, questions, or announcements.

  See work for all classes

• To see work assigned by your teacher, click  Assigned .
• To see work that you didn't turn in, click  Missing .
• To see work that your teacher graded or returned, click  Done .
• Click a title to see details of the work.

See all your work for a class

You can see a list of all your work for a class. You can check your grades, review assignments and due dates, and see any work that’s late or missing. You can also filter your work by class.

• (Optional) To filter your work, under Filters , click Assigned , Returned with grade , or Missing .

Check for late or missing assignments

When your teacher assigns work, it’s marked Assigned . If you don't turn in your work on time, it's marked Missing or Done late as soon as the due date or time arrives. For example, if work is due at 9:00 AM, turn it in by 8:59 AM. If you turn it in at 9:00 AM, it's late.

• On the left, click  Missing .

See work arranged by topic

• Click the class.
• At the top, click Classwork .
• On the left, click a topic.

Related topics

• See your overall grade for a class
• View due dates and events in a calendar
• Use a screen reader with Classroom on your computer

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Need more help, try these next steps:.

• Remote/Hybrid Teaching , Technology in the Classroom

My Favorite Way to Manage Students’ Missing Work

For me, trying to manage students’ missing work used to be such a headache! It was so much work to keep my lists up-to-date and get current information to students.

I tried so many systems, and regardless of what I did, I found myself drowning in small sheets of paper. It took more time for me to track down missing assignments than it took for the students to complete the work.

I guess it took remote and hybrid teaching to help me finally get down an effective system.

First, I created a sheet in Google Sheets™ to record the assignments I assigned each day. Each week, I created a new tab and labeled it with the date. I checked off work once it was turned in, changed the box to red if the assignment was missing, and changed the box to blue if the assignment needed a second look.

Now that it was easy for me to see who completed a given assignment, who was missing it, and who needed a second look, I needed a system of communicating that with the students. I also wanted to make sure this information was available to parents.

Using Google Docs™ allowed this information to be easily shared

I created a separate Google Doc™ for each of my students with each of their names, brief instructions, and the list of what they were missing. Using the share button, I changed the permissions so that students, their parents/guardians, and support teachers were able to edit and view the document. This allowed everyone to have up-to-date information regarding students’ outstanding assignments. 

So I didn’t have to go back into each missing work page to update as students completed their work, I allowed students editing access. They delete the assignments off their list after they complete them. A few students tried deleting their assignments off the list without completing them. For students who made this a repetitive habit, I changed the settings to comment only which allowed them to inform me what was finished without actually deleting their on-going list. 

Initially, it did take a bit to set up each of my students’ pages. However, now that it is done, I can quickly update my students’ pages. I created a bookmark folder on my taskbar called Missing Work. Within that folder, I have each individual page. I just need to click on that folder to access the missing work pages. Compared to handwriting, erasing, searching, forgetting to update, and writing again that happened with my previous systems, Google Doc missing work pages are saving me tons of time. 

Why I LOVE this system:

• Students are responsible for checking their missing work page and managing it themselves by deleting what they complete
• Parents have easy access to see if their child is missing work and help support him/her at home
• When I email parents about missing work, it is easy to reattach this page for the information
• Teaching assistants or other staff members can help support my students complete their work, too
• I don’t have to continually rewrite missing work notes
• All the information is in one place—say goodbye to little notes everywhere
• Students just need to click the hyperlink to find their assignments

Let me know if you try this system! I would love to hear about it.

Happy Teaching!

Julie from Llama with Class

Grab some freebies to help you manage students’ missing work with this system

You will need a Google account in order to get these freebies. Click each picture to force a copy to your Google Drive™

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Why it’s hard for students to “just turn in” missing assignments, and how to get them unstuck

Mar 29, 2023 | Blog

With the end of the semester on the horizon, many students may feel overwhelmed by low grades or feeling behind in some of their classes.

As a parent, it can be stressful to see that your student has overdue work, or get notifications from their teacher that they’re missing assignments. 

It’s even more frustrating when you’ve told them over and over again how important it is to “just turn it in”…but the work is still showing up as missing.

The reality is that no matter how simple it might seem to an outside observer, doing missing work is almost never as easy as “just getting it done.” If they haven’t done the work yet, there’s a good chance that something is getting in their way. 

If you can figure out what the problem is before jumping in to help them (or make them) do the work, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of success.

In our experience, there are usually 3 main reasons students resist submitting their missing work…even when it seems like “just turning it in” would be SO much easier!

Reason 1: They think it won’t make a difference

Once the due date for an assignment has passed, students often de-prioritize it and move on to focus on upcoming assignments instead. It’s tempting for students to justify this by thinking “there are lots of other assignments, missing one or two won’t matter.”

But what they often don’t realize is that because of the way most grading scales are weighted, even one or two zeros can have an enormous impact on their grade. Showing students the difference it makes to turn in just a few assignments can increase their motivation to get the work done. 

Here’s an example of the difference it can make to turn in just a few missing assignments before the end of the semester:

Overall grade with 3 missing assignments: 78.3%

Overall grade when assignments are turned in: 90.1%

It’s hard for students to calculate these averages in their head, so it can be really powerful for them to run the numbers and see firsthand exactly how much they have to gain from making up their missing assignments.

When we do calculations like this with our students, they are almost always surprised by how much this makeup work could improve their grades, and feel much more motivated to submit the assignments when they can see for themselves the difference it will make.

Reason 2: They think it’s too late

Another reason students often resist doing makeup work is that they think it’s too late to get credit for it. 

Even if they’ve done the math and know that submitting the work would make a difference in their grade, they still won’t want to turn it in if they think the teacher won’t accept it.

Especially for introverted or anxious students, it can be very intimidating to have conversations with their teachers. They might think they’ll get in trouble for asking to submit their work late, or worry that the teacher will say “no.”

The good news is that many teachers are flexible with their late work policies and allow students to turn in overdue assignments even when it is past the “official” deadline to submit them.

So if students can find the courage to ask for help, there is a good chance that their teachers will respond positively and allow them an opportunity to make up the work.

For students who are struggling to reach out to teachers, we often find it is helpful to roleplay these conversations in coaching sessions if they’re not sure what to say, or work with them to email their teachers if they’re not sure what to say.

Reason 3: They feel overwhelmed

Students who are behind on their work often have challenges keeping track of due dates, managing time, breaking down complex assignments, prioritizing work, staying focused, or following through with plans….which is why they fell behind in the first place. 

These challenges can become even more daunting when they are behind in their classes, and trying to complete makeup assignments on top of their normal workload.

This can feel so stressful that a lot of students avoid or put off doing makeup work even when they   know   how much it would improve their grade.

For these students to get their work submitted, it’s essential to help them find ways to…

• Break down the assignments so they have a realistic plan for getting the work done that they’re confident they can actually follow through with
• Lower the stress they feel while they are doing the work so they will be less tempted to avoid it
• Visualize the progress they are making so they can see that their efforts are making a difference

Providing support

When students have a lot of makeup work to complete, having some additional support to help them work through it can be invaluable. 

For some students, this may mean finding a tutor to help them with the content they didn’t understand when their teacher was first presenting the material. 

For other students, having a family member or friend nearby as a source of moral support to keep them company while they are working (and a motivating reward to look forward to as soon as the work is completed) can be enormously helpful.

Other students may benefit from working with an academic coach to help them get unstuck and started on their missing work. Sometimes, having someone else who is not a family member step in to help can reduce stress and conflict at home and make it easier for students to take the steps they need to get back on track in their classes. If you think this type of support would be helpful for your student, please feel free to reach out and we’ll be happy to help! 

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A Better Way to Handle Missing Assignments

Published: November 04, 2022

In a perfect world, all students would submit their work on time. However, for a variety of reasons, this is rarely the case.

Google Classroom is great for allowing teachers to assign work and for students to submit work. As a classroom teacher, I enjoy the convenience of finding student work organized in Google Classroom rather than trying to manage a stack of papers for each assignment. However, I run into the challenge of providing a list of what a student still needs to complete.

Missing Assignments Report

Google Classroom lacks a missing assignments report. When a parent or guardian requests a list of what their student is missing, I cannot send the list from Classroom. In a particular class, I can go to the People tab and drill down to a student, filter for Missing Assignments and then copy and paste that information into an email. 

Customizable Missing Assignments Reports

Fortunately, there is a free and better way to share a list of missing assignments. Schoolytics allows teachers to sync their Google Classroom classes. After logging in, a “Missing Assignments” report is easily accessed.

Create a Filter

Do you just want a list of what a student is missing this week? Or maybe just homework assignments that are missing? Schoolytics allows you to use the filter options at the top to customize the information you want to share. Change the date range from the default “Last 30 days” or filter for class or grading category.

Post to the Stream

If you want to communicate with students about their missing assignments, the Stream is a great option. When selecting to message student assignments the options are “Email” and “Stream.” Click on the Stream to send a list of live links that only the student can view. This shows up right in Google Classroom. The note, either for Email or the Stream, is customizable.

Share with Guardians

Use the 3 dots menu throughout the Schoolytics platform to export information to a Google Doc, Sheets or PDF. Selecting “Save to Drive” creates an editable and customizable missing assignments report that you can send to a parent or guardian. As a classroom teacher, I particularly love this feature since I have control over what information is being shared rather than a generic report that might generate more questions than it answers. 

CC Guardians

A district-wide Schoolytics plan allows you to directly share missing assignments reports with parents and guardians. Under the email option, there is a checkbox to allow you to CC Guardians. 

• Select the email option.
• Checkbox CC Guardians to send a list of missing assignments.
• Customize the email subject line.
• Customize the assignment message. The list of missing assignments will be dynamically generated for each student.
• Document that you notified students and their guardians of their missing assignments.
• Bulk send to students and guardians the report

Save Time with Schoolytics

I save hours of time each week by using Schoolytics to gain insights into student performance, quickly know which assignments have been submitted, and creating reports for better communication about student performance. Schoolytics is a tool that enhances my use of Google Classroom and saves me time. 

About the Author

Alice Keeler is a teacher and author of the book “Stepping Up to Google Classroom.” Find her on Twitter @alicekeeler and on her blog, alicekeeler.com . 

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The Magic Solution to Missing Assignments

One my biggest struggles as a 5th grade teacher was getting kids to do their homework. I’m guessing you can relate! I was never a fan of loading kids up with homework, but I did expect them to complete whatever was assigned. Most of my homework was finishing classwork, returning a signed paper, or reading for 20 to 30 minutes. Yet precious minutes of class time were wasted every day while kids looked for missing assignments or worse, wasted my time trying to explain why they didn’t have it.

Then I discovered the magic solution to missing homework … Fun Friday! I can’t take credit for the idea, but I can tell you that it works! It was definitely the most effective system I’ve ever used for dealing with the problem of missing assignments.

How Fun Friday Works

Fun Friday is a weekly event that 3 or 4 teachers organize and implement together. On Friday afternoon, each teacher hosts one activity in his or her classroom for 30 minutes. One or two teachers take a group of students out to play or organize indoor recess activities. Another teacher hosts a free time in the classroom where students play board games, draw on the Smartboard, use iPads or play with a class pet. Sometimes a teacher will offer a special arts and crafts activity.

At least one teacher supervises a “study hall.”Students who have not completed all homework for the week attend the Study Hall and use that time to make up missing work. Each week teachers rotate activities so that all share the responsibilities equally.

If there aren’t 3 or 4 teachers at your school who want to participate in Fun Friday, you can implement the program with just two teachers. One will take students outside or provide indoor recess, and the other will split his or her room between a study hall and a quiet reading or game room.

Why Fun Friday Works

My students loved Fun Friday and looked forward to the chance to get together with friends in other classrooms. It was one of the few rewards that actually motivated them to complete every single assignment all week. I kept a homework chart where I checked off those who completed all assignments for the week, and I was pretty strict with my requirements for Fun Friday. If a student even had one missing or late assignment during the week, they went to Study Hall. If you think this is a bit extreme, let me say that after just a few weeks of implementing Fun Friday, most kids would earn it every week. I was amazed at the difference this program made and how much time it saved me from dealing with late and missing assignments.

Fun Friday Sign-up Freebie

One thing that helped make Fun Friday easy to implement was a sign up chart. Right after lunch on Friday, I allowed those who had completed all assignments to sign up for their preference of activities. I’ve created several variations for you to try that you can download here for free .

Convincing Administrators

Over the years I did have a few principals who needed to be convinced that the 30 minutes we devoted to Fun Friday were not wasted. My rationale was that we easily made up this time by not having to deal with missing and late assignments all week. Also, everyone, teachers and students alike, are downright brain-dead by the time Friday afternoon rolls around! Have you ever seriously tried to teach a lesson on a Friday afternoon? Trust me, it’s a wasted effort. You’ll just have to reteach it on Monday!

Do you implement a similar program in your classroom? Have you found it to be effective? If you haven’t tried it, I hope you’ll test it out. I believe you’ll discover the magic of Fun Friday, too!

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End the Unfinished Work Battle: Catch-Ups and Pickles

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Are your students struggling to complete their work? Up to your eyeballs in missing or unfinished work assignments? Then you might need to institute a “Catch-up and Pickles” routine in your classroom as a way to win the missing or incomplete work battle! This is seriously my favorite unfinished work routine!

A few weeks ago, I posted a Reel on Instagram about some of my more “controversial ” grading practices. Between you and me… they really aren’t that controversial… just good teaching! But folks LOST THEIR MINDS! And honestly, it shed light on a bigger problem: the struggle of incomplete work.

Controversial Grading Practices

You’re probably wondering what those controversial grading practices were. I’ll let you watch the IG Reel to see all three, but the one that had most teachers up in arms was the belief of not putting anything less than 50% in the grade book.

This one line led to me being called many things, but most teachers asked, “What about missing or incomplete work?”

To which I responded that I rarely struggled with incomplete or missing work. I can think of one time I had to put a zero in the grade book because of a missing assignment – ONCE – in 13 years of teaching. Those are some pretty good odds!

Unfinished Work Routine

So, how can this be?

First, let’s clear up some things:

• No – I didn’t have perfect students who completed every assignment without asking.
• No – I didn’t work at fancy schools with high volumes of parents involved who made sure the work was completed at home.
• And, no – I didn’t work myself to death chasing down students.

I rarely had missing or incomplete work because I planned time in my week for students to work on missing or incomplete assignments.

Today, I’m sharing this simple yet HIGHLY effective routine that basically eliminated the struggle to get students to complete missing or incomplete assignments.

This magical weekly routine that solves the missing work problem is fondly called, “ Catch-up and Pickles. ” But, that’s really just a fancy name for a time set aside on a Friday morning so students can work on unfinished work.

What is Catch-Up and Pickles?

I shared about this concept a while ago in my “Small Group Time Exposed” post , but I feel like after all the hoopla that Reel caused, it warranted its own place on the blog!

Each day, I had 60 minutes of time built into my schedule for small group rotations. That worked great Monday through Thursday. But, I noticed that Fridays were a bit cramped. Not only did we have our spelling and vocabulary test that day but we would also have a reading comprehension assessment. Time is needed to complete all these assessments, and that ate into a portion of our small group time.

Rather than try and stuff the small group instruction into the 30 minutes that were left after completing everything else, I decided to transform that awkward time slot into productive work time.

So at the end of the week, instead of formal center rotations, I did a “Catch-Ups and Pickles” routine. Students who had not finished their work used this time to “Catch-Up,” while those who were done were allowed to “Pickles” a reading-based activity to complete.

For students, this time was dedicated to completing their work or choosing a preferred activity to complete.

For the teacher, this routine provided time to reteach lessons, pull students for  assessments , or conference with students one on one.

And let me just say… this was a wildly popular time in my classroom!

How to Find Time?

So the big question here is, how do you find the time? Everything you are required to teach in a day leaves very little time in your schedule for “makeup work,” but like I shared before… I was able to find time by reallocating the time I was using for reading centers. It wasn’t working for us on Fridays, so we changed it up.

I suggest you take a look at your schedule. Do you have some awkward or weird times?

I like the idea of doing Catch-up and Pickles on a Friday, so it’s easier to track the work that needs to be completed. But maybe Fridays don’t work for you. Look for a block of time (at least 20 mins!) and see if it works. If it doesn’t, restructure or choose a different time. This could even be something you do at the end of a unit in reading or math or on the last school day of the month.

Warning:  I wouldn’t do this one day a quarter… that’s too big a chunk of time to complete everything. Doing that is like saving all your laundry for a month and trying to do it all in one day. Someone will get overwhelmed, and it’s not going to get done.

How to Get Started with Catch Up and Pickles

Once you’ve found your time, it’s time to plan the “Catch-Up and Pickles” activities.

In my classroom, I allowed students to “catch up” on any work, whether it be math, reading, or something else entirely. You need to select what students will be working on. Maybe it’s just reading, so you do only reading makeup work.

Whatever you decide, be specific. The unstructured nature of this routine means that chaos could happen at any minute. Being clear on what students should be working on at this time (and reinforcing it each time you have a Catch-up and Pickles session) can help keep the crazies at bay.

Who is a Catch-Up and Who is a Pickle?

From there, you’ll need a system for knowing who is a “catch-up” and who is a “pickle.”

Right before we started, I’d scan my grade book for any missing assignments. Those students with missing work would go on my “catch up” list.

Another way I identified students was through their “Unfinished Work” folder. Any classwork that didn’t get completed went in there (not tests or quizzes, just classwork). Right before we’d begin, students would pull out their folders and check to make sure there wasn’t any work that needed to be completed. If there was, they were on the “catch-up” list.

Let me just say, just even having an “Unfinished Work” folder helped a great deal with handling incomplete work! It was much easier for students to keep track of their work. If they finished an assignment early, they could either grab a book to read or work on unfinished work from their folder. The finished work folder lived in their desk, and I always told them, “If you aren’t done, put it in your finished work folder!”

You can read more about the unfinished work folder here !

I kept this routine real simple, guys! No fancy slide shows…just a whiteboard and names. In one column, I’d write “catch-up” with the students’ names and a list of work they needed to complete. In the other column, I’d write “Pickles” with the names of students who had completed all their work. When a student completed assignments and turned them in, they could erase their name and put it under the “pickles” side instead.

Activity Idea for Pickles

Now, remember, the name of any student who had completed all their work or their I-Ready minutes would be placed in the Pickles column.

My students loved being a pickle! They loved the idea of choosing their own activities (even if they were reading-based).

Some activities my students could pick from:

• Writing and illustrating stories – Pretty popular! Especially the illustrating. I showed students how to make a mini-book with lined paper folded and stapled together.
• Playing an educational computer game – Probably the most popular!
• Creating or playing on the IPad – Don’t worry, I was very clear about which apps they could use during this time!
• Completing a reading center game – Students could do this with their friends. I’d put any stations we had completed that week in an area towards the back of the classroom, and students could grab one to play. This also worked well for any student who needed to complete a station activity for their “catch-up” activity. Need reading center ideas? These were always a hit !
• Free choice reading – They could choose their own book and where they’d like to sit and read. They could also read with a buddy.
• Helping a friend complete their work – This one was pretty popular! I allowed it as long as they weren’t just telling their buddies the answers. Honestly, it was a win-win: The student got help, and the student helping was learning more! Bonus- it freed me up to complete DRAs, fluency checks, or reteach skills as needed.
• Teacher assistant – Sometimes I needed help, so if they were done and didn’t want to do one of the other activities, I’d put them to work, helping to organize papers or filling the mailboxes with returned work.

Unfinished Work Routine- Catch-up and Pickles

So there you have it, teacher friends. This is the simple, routine way I kept my students on top of their work. I mean, what teacher wants to feel like they are constantly chasing students around trying to get them to finish their work? NOT ME! Now you don’t have to!

Free Catch Up and Pickles Download

Want to grab a few resources to help you get started? Click below and have this resource sent straight to your inbox! Now you can easily implement a Catch-up and Pickles routine in your classroom this week! This free download includes printable tracking sheets, whiteboard labels, and an editable PowerPoint file.

More Great Ideas!

Check out these other great ideas to try in your classroom!

• 5 Tips for Dealing with a Chatty Class
• How to Organize Your Google Classroom for 2nd Grade
• Help Students Take Ownership of Their Learning without a Data Notebook
• End of the Year Survival Tips
• Categories: Classroom , Classroom management

Hi, I'm Leigh.

The Applicious Teacher is all about creating hands-on and engaging lessons that align with the standards while still having time for your life. This is your place for ideas, tips, and resources for the REAL teacher!

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How to deal with missing & late-work: one teacher’s approach

Hey readers! It’s been a while since you’ve seen anything from us at Three Teachers Talk. We, like all of you, feel like we’ve been trudging through this year. Between the zooms, the Nearpods, the screencasts, the quarantines, the cleaning protocols, the bandwith issues…well, you get the picture. It’s been a lot.

Now we’re at the half-point of this year and so many are struggling with engagement. How do we “hold kids accountable” in the midst of all this? And what can we learn that might go beyond the crisis teaching we’re doing now? I’ve been loving following Tyler Rabin’s (@tylerrabin) journey around these issues and invited him to share his thinking with all of you.

We hope you’re safe. We hope you’re well. We hope this helps.

I’ve gone through this cycle more often than I’d like:

• Realize that grade penalties on late work are bad.
• Eliminate all grade penalties.
• Immediately get overwhelmed by late work and a lack of organization.
• Rush to reimpose late penalties.

I would argue that in most classrooms, grade penalties don’t exist because the teacher likes them; grade penalties exist because we don’t feel like we have an alternative.

On top of that, they work. For some things. The things they work for are the easily visible pieces. Do students hand more things in with grade penalties than without? Typically, yes. 

But, let’s also point out some of the things we know about how extrinsic motivators, especially punishments, impact student learning. This blog captures some of the key points from Daniel Pink’s work on motivation well, and the first point that we have to be aware of is that, while extrinsic motivation does increase short-term motivation, it actually hurts it long-term. This means that we can use it once or twice to convince someone to do something, but eventually that ends up no longer being motivating. Sound like any students you’ve had? 

The second piece is the more concerning piece. Extrinsic motivation increases someone’s drive to complete basic tasks, but it hinders their ability to engage in complex process. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I believe learning falls under the latter category. While I wish I could put this softly, I don’t know a way around the harshness of this fact: an emphasis on late penalties values compliantly completing a task more than it does the student’s ability to learn. 

Now, here’s where we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Late penalties are, in essence, a barrier to learning, but in most cases, there doesn’t appear to be a sustainable alternative for teachers. We don’t want to have to use grade penalties, but we are human. We need to have lives, and the constantly ebb and flow of late work is exhausting and time-consuming. 

This concept was weighing heavily on me a few months back. I too often criticize the act of using grade penalties without acknowledging the reality of our context or providing possible solutions. As I wrestled through this in an attempt to provide a solution, I recorded the most helpful info I could into the longest thread I’ve ever posted on Twitter. However, as it always goes on Twitter, it lacked the depth the conversation needs. 

As such, I’ve broken the thread into segments so that I can provide additional details about how to address the late work issue in meaningful ways without using grade penalties and without losing your sanity. 

Part 1: Organizing Assignments into Essential vs. Non-essential

This Tweet probably needs the most explanation. If you remove grade penalties and allow students to turn in ALL their work whenever they want, you will lose every ounce of free time you have. The key is to really identify the assignments that carry the most value. This isn’t to say that the non-essential assignments aren’t valuable, but the non-essential assignments should mean that their function is to allow students to practice specific skills and demonstrate their current level of understanding. They should have more than just that one opportunity to do that for each skill. But…I’m getting ahead of myself. 

Part 2: Non-essential Assignments – Multiple Attempts for Learning

The key with these assignments is that the student will have further opportunities to demonstrate their learning, but these missed assignments demonstrate a need for a different type of support, a support that grade penalties just frankly don’t offer. For your sake, don’t take late work that falls into this category. Tell the student that they missed this opportunity, but they will get another shot at it later. However, if you end there, kids will receive the message that every educator fears: deadlines and completing assignments aren’t important. 

This is why there must be a system or process set up to hold students accountable in a way that actually focuses on building those skills. Like I mentioned, my favorite is to have them stay after class and schedule their week with me. I can also put them on my list of students who receive my Remind messages about upcoming assignments. Somehow there has to be a clear next step for students who miss these assignments so that they know (a) you’re paying attention, (b) it’s important, and (c) you want them to get better at self-management and executive functioning. 

Part 3: Final Evaluation

All of this comes down to the fact that we should be averaging scores over time to determine a final score. Not only does that result in an inaccurate report of student learning, but it means that missing assignments will almost inevitably factor into the final grade (unless you drop scores, which I’m always a proponent of). 

At the end of a term, the goal is that you are doing a summative evaluation (preferably with the student) where you are looking through their data to determine their final scores. If this step isn’t happening, missing and late work usually ends up being a significant factor in a student’s grade. 

Now, I know a lot of people are thinking, “What about the student who doesn’t turn in ANY work?!” At some point, a lack of evidence is a lack of evidence, and that student hasn’t given you enough to demonstrate proficiency in the skill. I have found that this happens WAY less often than we think it does, though. 

Part 4: Authentic Consequences for Authentic Assessments

Tweets: 

While I probably don’t need to elaborate here, I want to make sure one word shines through: authentic. How are we creating experiences where students get to apply their learning in authentic ways so that the cost of not doing something is actually meaningful for the student? Is this a one-size-fits-all thing? Absolutely not. For a consequence to be meaningful, there must be an element of choice in it. The student has to have had some control and ability to bring in their full self – their passions, interests, goals, etc – to the project. That is when the consequences become powerful. 

Part 5: Final Thought

This is why I get so worked up about grade penalties. I know we do them because it feels like we don’t have an alternative, but so often these grade penalties are just kicking a horse who’s already down. These are students who often have already been told they’re bad at school, maybe not explicitly, but the message has been sent over and over. They don’t need another reminder that they can’t do it. We teach them nothing when we add penalties on top of self-doubt. What they need is someone who notices they are struggling, but instead of blaming the student and calling it good, that person goes, “Here’s how we’re going to do better next time. Let’s let this one go and move forward together.”

This is why we have to stop depending on grade penalties. They are a way of washing our hands of the responsibility of educating our kids, of helping them see their best selves. We can do better. It’s not easy, but we can do it, one small change at a time.

Tyler Rablin is a current instructional coach and National Board certified high school language arts teacher in Sunnyside School District in Sunnyside, WA. On the side, he is a consultant with Shifting Schools, contributing writer for Edutopia, and a Google for Education certified trainer. His educational passion is focused on the ways that meaningful technology integration, modernized assessment strategies, and strong cultures of learning can allow us to provide meaningful, powerful, and personal learning experiences for each of our students. In his personal life, he enjoys reading, running, and spending time hiking and camping with his wife and two dogs.

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Missing Assignment Reminder & Warning Forms

This collection contains information about procedures for dealing with missing assignments from students. Some of the posts also have documents that can be used to help track, warn, or remind students about missing assignments.

I've used this weekly check-list format with my classes from 3rd grade up to 6th grade. I've tried lots of different things, so this form has evolved over the years and has proven to be the most efficient for me. My students sit in table groups. Each table group marks their homework on a check list, first thing each morning. They each take a day, marking whether or not the homework was done. They must actually see the page to verify that it is done. For questionable work effort, they bring the work to me and I decide how it should be marked. These are the marks they use: 0 = No Work/Poor effort √ =Work completed √+ =Work completed with extra effort √- = Work incomplete At the end of the week the pages are filed in a binder. For most assignments, we correct the homework as a class when we get to each subject area.

I am also thinking and making changes for next year and homework collection/checking was at the top of my list. I just developed a table that will be attached to manila folder with brads(like you see in the doctor's office for the patients) one for each student. I will start by students that do not have his or her homework will get a citation/mark in their school provided agenda then I will transfer the missed work into the manila folder. The student will fill-in the HW missed and sign and date and when the HW is complete I will check it off and sign. Until I have signed the missed HW as made up the student will have consequence; like not participating in fun Friday. I am looping with my students, so I really needed to change things that did not work because some students would get off not making up HW or would not mind missing recess to make it up. This new system helps me keep track of how many times a student has missed homework on a weekly and within the 9 week grading period. This is also more documentation for the parents at parent-teacher conferences. I think I am going to add a place for parents to sign weekly. I am going to try to attach now. Maybe this will help. I also like the one provided by Risa.

This year, I just walked around and checked it off on my clipboard,or had students hold it up and I would check it off that way. This year,may be different.A co teacher has a large pocket chart,and when students come in in the a.m., they put their work in their name pocket. She could then quickly look and see whose was missing. I may try it.

I take 10 points off for late work. I also send a note home to parents the first time an assignment is late, requiring their signature. After 10 missing assignments, I send students to the office. I am attaching the form that I use to track missing work. I found the idea on here and modified it to fit my own needs. You would make a folder for each child with this form in it and fill it out as need be.

7th and 8th grade science so it is a little different for me as far how my day is set up. However, I have the same problem with this age group. They just don't want to do homework. Towards the end of last year I was ready to pully my hair out. This year I'm going to really focus on what I assign as homework. I plan to be much more hands-on this year than I have been in the past. Students won't be assigned books, so that will really limit my homework assignments. My mentor told me she doesn't really assign homework. Any assignment she gives them, she makes sure they have plenty of time to do this in class and whatever they get done in class is what they get done. Obviously she adjust if she sees they are all struggling or whatever. This ensures that everyone gets a grade and a 5% is better than a 0. I'm going to try to do this in August. However, our prinicpal will be giving us longer periods with homework at the end of class in mind instead of more "teaching time" so this will be easier for me to do. All that to say I've just been really evaluating the assignments I want to give as homework. What is their purpose?

While you will always get at least one or two who just never seem to catch on to any system you come up with (it is murphy's law or something ) you can use Homeworkopoly in your room as a positive reinforcement. The 2 years I have used it for have given me much better results with homework being turned in. I also do Fun Friday with a colleague. What happens is, one teacher takes the kids who have not been completing assignments (we called it Homework Club last year, but I am going to think up a new name) and they sit in her room silently and either complete that work or do something like practice math facts flash cards (I don't like them to silent read b/c I don't want them to see reading as punishment). The other teacher takes the students who did complete their work and they are allowed to play board games, draw with friends, play on the computer, etc. It does work wonders and I also use it for behavior consequences.

Several teachers at the school where I student taught used the following policy: 1st late/missed HW: do it at recess, then go play 2nd late: do it at recess and stay in afterward 3rd late: parent contact and administrative form 4th late: not allowed on field trips Every quarter they were given a clean slate. You better believe only one kid missed a field trip before everyone fell in line. I understand at some public schools students cannot be held in at recess, so I guess it would need tweaking for that. Also, I've read that making the homework part of a fun activity that is continued in class the next day is THE way to go, but that just seems easier said than done to me (like much of educational theory). There are some things that just can't be made fun, so I can't see it working on a daily basis in every subject. Maybe it's just me.

I also teach 4th grade. I do weekly homework packs so checking homework is much easier since it only comes in once a week. I have a student collect all of the homework and actually makes an announcement saying that it is final call. Then the student puts them in numerical order (each student has a number.) I have a chart near my desk that has all of the students names on it and then the collector puts a check mark next to the names of the handed in papers. The students are allowed to hand in homework one day late and the homework collector will write a "L" for late. This is a nice graph to look across the columns and see how often a student misses homework. I actually use it when I meet with parents. It is also helpful because I can look up at the big chart when I am filling out weekly reports. When the student is finished checking all homework onto the log he/she will come to me for a binder clip and then it is all nicely organized. :)

I also have been using Homeworkopoly for about three years now and I really like it. I teach fourth grade also. I adapt the rewards to my class and they even come up with some, like help to be Paul (our janitors) Pal for lunch recess, or sit in a cusion chair for the day, bring their own game on Fun Friday. We do not give any food rewards, but I do let them pick out of my treasure box. Also to answer another question asked about where to put homework. I bought at Office Max a gray cardboard file with eight sections in it. I label each one with a subject and that it where they hand in all there assignments. That way they always know where to had them in. Never do they hand it onto my desk, that is considered the black hole. LOL Hope this helps. :)Good Luck! I do also like the missing assignment log too. So you can keep track of them.

I collect homework daily and I use to tear my hair out trying to keep track of missing papers until I came up with this system. I purchased 2 long red pocket charts, the kind with the pockets that are big enough to put a piece of paper in. Each pocket has a label and I wrote the students' numbers on the labels in alphabetical order, with the lowest numbers at the bottom. When the kids come in, they put their homework papers in their pocket and I can tell at a GLANCE who did not turn in their work. I can quickly check with students who are missing papers and often find that they had just forgotten to turn it in. If the student did not do the work, I quickly jot their name down and they stay in at morning recess to do it. Once I have checked with everybody, I can pull the papers out of the pockets in about 5 seconds and best of all, they are in alphabetical order!! I use the pockets to collect most of the work the kids do because it is so easy to see when everyone is done and check with those that haven't handed in their work. I don't even have to touch a piece of paper to be able to do this and I can tell from across the room. It is so easy to pull the papers, that I usually pull them after each assignment is done, so the pockets are empty for the next assignment. I LOVE THIS POCKET CHART. It has saved me tons of time!! Here's a link to the one I use: http://ateachersupply.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4

I do the Homeworkopoly game. How the kids get to play is that they have to have their homework punch card punched 10 times (2 weeks of completed homework) in order to play. I use index cards, write their name on them and number 1-10 on each end of the card (that way you can use it for 4 weeks). They have to turn in their completed homework with the homework card paperclipped to it (I keep the homework cards in a basket next to the homework basket). Then I can easily tell who hasn't turned in their homeowork. If the homework is comleted, the card gets punched. At the end of 2 weeks, whoever has all 10 punches gets to play. If their are some that have just 1 day not punched, they get to go into a drawing and one gets picked to play. It is a real motivator for 5th graders. I have a class treasure basket that I also use along with the cards.

My 5th graders come in and turn their homework in a basket. Then they "sign-in" on a checksheet that I created for the week during their morning procedures. They find their name, write down a #1 (turned in all homework), #2, (turned in some homework), or a #3 (didn't turn in homework) and then they initial. Before our lesson in which they did homework for, I have two students help pass back their homework, so that we can check it together, and so I can also see whose desk is "empty" because no homework was passed back to them. I quickly check the clipboard with their morning sign-in sheet to make sure everyone was trustworthy about writing down the right # for their homework. I have had a couple of students not tell the truth when they sign in. For example, they would write down a #1 when they either didn't turn in their howework at all, or was missing a piece. I them call them out in front of the class for not being trustworthy, and it usually doesn't happen again. :) I LOVE this system because it helps keep documentation of every student's weekly homework and it also helps academically to pass the homework back out to check together because it's a great review of the upcoming lesson. Those that didn't do their homework also benefit from watching the review. It usually only takes me about 5 minutes to go over the answers. I also love it because it makes it easy to see who's absent, if their name section is blank. :) I would attach my sign-in sheet, but I'm a new member and I don't have that luxury yet. :) I use homeworkopoly on Fridays too. The student of the week grabs the clipboard and calls the students that had all #1's on their sign-in sheet to roll the dice. I don't manage the game at all....which they LOVE!! Students that don't have all #1's work on making up one piece of their missing homework during this time.

I make checklists of all my kids and use them for EVERYTHING! I use baskets for each subject as well. I have one kid go through the basket towards the end of the day and check off who has it. If someone doesn't have it, then that child goes and asks them for it. Those that don't finish, I give a verbal reminder and then they are responsible for getting it back to me. Trust me...I still get holes in my gradebook, but it is usually from the same two or three. Much easier to track. Then I attach the checklist to my stack and then when I grade it I can see at a glance who has it and who doesn't. If they are absent, I mark A by their names. I use my checklist from everything to returning report cards to collecting field trip $$$. I can always tell in second who is missing it. My kids are third graders. I have several girls that are very dependable about getting things checked off for me. HTH!

When missing assignments have been a big problem, I send home missing work notices. I've attached mine, feel free to edit and use it. :)

Like Teachtoscrap, I keep copies of the list of students in my class (see attachment), so I (or a student) can easily and quickly check off who turned in what. My students love to help with this. I keep the list attached to the stack of papers. If I'm not near my computer to enter grades, I can put the grade on the checklist too to put in the electronic grade book later. Rick Morris wrote a book called New Management that has lots of fantastic techniques for reducing the time we spend on these kinds of things. I use many of his ideas in my classroom.

I teach 4th grade and our school has a system in place to use when a child doesn't do his/her homework. It consists of a homework slip, 3 slips = afterschool detention. That works for some kids, but it doesn't seem to bother others. However, in my classroom we play a math game every Friday and a winner is chosen (random) from the winning team. The student who wins gets a rubber duck ( I bought them from Oriental Trading). This is a BIG DEAL to the kids.........and, you guessed it, if you didn't do a homework assignment that week you don't get to play on Friday! And there goes your chance at winning the weekly duck! I know it sounds silly, but my homework is usually at 100%!

I actually got this idea from my nephew's school and have used it for several years successfully. Now grades 3-6 in our school use it....Here is how it works: At the start of each nine weeks, I have a green sheet for each child in my binder. On each preprogrammed sheet it explains that the child forgot their HW on a particular date, and I write down what it was, send it home for the parents to sign and return. I then return it to my binder for the next time. Missing HW #2-4, the form is filled out the same way, but the student stays in at recess to complete the missing work. The sheet states that this is happening. Missing HW#5 is an afterschool detention with the principal! Since I have instituted this plan, I very rarely have kids forget homework. In years past, at the end of the nine weeks, those children who have NEVER had a green sheet during that time are invited to "Breakfast of Champions", which is where they come to school about 15 minutes early, and I provide them with donuts and juice. They LOVE it! For those who can't come early...we save a donut for them to eat when they get there. (This also motivates the others when they see the yummy treats!) I wish I could attach my sheet for you, but it was lost on a disk sometime back, I only have my original hard copy. Sorry!

Our district has a policy that we must assign homework. The amount is determined by the grade level. I teach sixth grade ILA & SS and have partners who teach ILA & math, science, etc. Our grade level is assigned 60 minutes a night. My team has divided up that hour into minutes for the required subject areas so that we meet the district policy. (We don't agree but are already fighting that battle on the correct level.) Anyway, the policy includes that after three missed assignments a madatory after-school detention must be assigned. Because I had a problem with such a negative approach when I arrived three years ago in this grade level, my partner and I decided to acknowledge the hard work the children who DID the required homework. We instituted the following: If a student does all the homework in every subject every night for a marking period, we treat them to lunch and give them a free homework pass to any subject. Sometimes we order Chinese food, Taco Bell, subs, pizza, etc. Parents were notified, kids responded positively, and administration supports it and is even looking to fund us since my partner and I foot the bill. We have four lunches which is one for each marking period. At graduation we give an award to those who did all four lunches. Last year we gave a certificate of recognition and a gift card to the movies. When I taught Kindergarten I was always picking up little things to add to my centers and theme days. I saved a huge amount of money moving to sixth and feel this expense is well worth it. The children who always do homework always will...we hope to catch the ones on the fringe and push them over to the responsible side...plus we wanted to let all the homework doers know that we appreciate their efforts. PS: We are in a small district...36 sixth graders! That makes a huge difference! If you are in a bigger situation, this would be way out of line unless you had funding!

Missing Assignments Tracking Sheet

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