As a freshman, I am still just beginning to find my footing. When the year started, high school was not something I was used to, and I didn’t exactly know what to expect. It is only natural that a freshman might forget to hand some assignments in on time, right? Well, not all teachers realize that.

There are certain teachers who absolutely refuse to accept late work for a grade. When you think about it, this is not fair at all to students. Teachers say that they want their students to get as much out of their class as possible, right? Well, how exactly is this backwards policy going to help?

Teachers might say that in the real world, you only get one chance to get something done. And if you screw up, it’s over. While that is true, there are much more important things to be teaching your students in an English class. For example… oh, I don’t know, maybe English? If a student misses a deadline in a class where it won’t be accepted late, that student now has little motivation to complete the assignment. Now, there’s a whole assignment down the drain.

If the student had been allowed to complete the assignment and turn it in late, he still would have had the practice time, and, in turn, he would have had an easier time learning the material at hand.

Teachers might also say that it is the students fault that the assignment did not get completed in the first place. Yes, that is true. But just because someone screws up doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have the opportunity to still learn the material.

Another thing teachers might say is that if a student really cared about his or her education, they would still complete the assignment regardless of the grade they will get for the assignment. Come on, let’s be realistic here. Students already have so much homework as it is, and I don’t know about you, but I feel that my time is better spent doing the work that is actually going to help my GPA. Why would I spend my precious time that I could be using to finish current work doing work that I’m not even going to get a grade for? Just think about it for a second.

Although I understand where these teachers are coming from, I think that it is definitely very counterintuitive to not accept late work. If you want your students to learn the subject you’re teaching, then it only makes sense to start accepting late work.