Extensions - Let's Work WITH Our Students...

Yes - life has deadlines. However, let me offer another point-of-view... We are constantly telling high school students that they need to get involved in high school: Join clubs, go out for sports, volunteer in the community, accept leadership opportunities, etc... Then, we force them to revolve their lives around OUR grading calendar? The IRS will give adults extensions on their taxes provided they request one in advance. My question is this... Why don't we do that for our students? A child who wakes up at 6 a.m., sits in class all day, then rides a bus to another school an hour away to compete in a sporting event, competes and then rides another hour home isn't going to be in the best place to focus on the unit assessment in class the very next day. This child has been awake for 16 hours and hasn't even started their studies for the evening yet. So - they stay up to get the work done and come into school the next day exhausted and starting over on the same cycle. There has to be a better way to work WITH kids.

My philosophy is simple... allow students to come to me in advance to request extensions on assignments, projects, tests, etc. In the six years I have offered this policy (yes, I once made students revolve their lives around my calendar...) I have never had a student abuse it. However, should one ever get into that habit, I would host a meeting with the parents, child, and myself to discuss how to get out of that rut.

Benefits of this policy?

1. Less cheating. Kids don't feel the pressure to copy an essay from a peer or the internet because of lack of time due to their busy schedule.
2. Better grades. Students do a better job with their project or assessment because they have the benefit of time.
3. IEP compliance and discretion. Students with extra time built into their IEP's have an opportunity to get things done on a schedule compliant with their needs without having to lean on an IEP requirement to get it done. No embarrassing questions in front of the class from other students: "Why does Johnny get extra time?" etc.
4. Less complaints from parents. Families don't have to rearrange their lives around the classroom teacher's grading calendar. Helps build a bridge between parents/teachers/students.
5. Students gain ownership and time management skills. Kids feel empowered and be at the helm of their learning. It also forces students to organize their lives into a calendar and plan ahead. Some would say that I'm not forcing students to be responsible for deadlines. My response is that students are now much more responsible and gain some much-needed time management skills as a result of this policy.

There are many more benefits as well.

For those fearing that this extension policy removes students from learning about deadlines, consider the following. There are still plenty of deadlines. There are still dates that end semesters so there are absolute dates in life. Progress report dates are still firm and students want their grades in good shape when those are sent home. In addition, students do not want to dig themselves into holes with a pile of extensions. Deadlines still exist, but students simply now have a little more flexibility in arranging those deadlines. In the end, this policy has worked well for my classroom. My students (and their parents) seem to appreciate the flexibility and agree with the logic behind it.

I am eager to hear from any teachers who might have a similar policy in their classroom. Please feel free to share other benefits, your policy's structure, and the response from your colleagues, administrators, parents, and students.