Getting Middle School Students to Actually Turn in Their Homework

Anyone who has taught middle school will tell you that one of the most challenging aspects is the students’ struggle with organization. From their lockers to their binders and notebooks, it is a constant stream of “I can’t find the worksheet from last class,” “I think I lost my packet,” “Can I have another copy of...” and on and on. One day as I stood before one of my classes, giving them the dates for upcoming summative assessments, I noticed that none of my students were writing anything down or adding the dates to their Google Calendars.

Organization simply looks different at the elementary level compared with the secondary level. At the elementary level, there is rarely a need to keep track of assignments. The information was posted for them on the board in the classroom where they spent their entire day. Now, they have eight different teachers in multiple rooms, scattered all around the building.

As a teacher, I wasn’t giving the transition from elementary to middle school the attention it deserved. I knew I needed to develop something that would be simple, effective, and creative to help keep my students on track. That was when I came up with the idea of the Tarea Tracker (tarea = homework).

Tarea Tracker

The tracker is a simple Google Doc with a four-column table clearly labeled with the date an assignment was given, a brief description of said assignment, its due date, and the date turned in and grade received. An important benefit of a digital tracker is that my students have more than one way to access their assignments in the event that they did not have their Chromebook. I felt that I had found the answer to our problem, the Holy Grail.

When I pushed out the tracker to my students through Google Classroom, however, it fell flat. They didn’t take to it at all. I was deflated. I quickly realized I had forgotten my audience. I had presented the Tarea Tracker as an option, and not a part of our classroom culture. I presented it as a stand-alone tool, not a holistic one. I needed to embed it into as many aspects of their school experience as possible.

Whole class work. I started displaying my copy on the interactive whiteboard and having them fill in their copies on their Chromebooks whenever anything new was assigned (about twice a week). I also incorporated a reminder on our daily to-do list and included it on our daily WIN (“What I Need”) time calendar. As an added layer, I pushed it out to families on our school communication app and our special education resource teachers as well.

Longer time frame for homework. Another change that was a significant part of this shift was that I made the time frame for turning in work specific yet broader. Students now had four or five days to get work turned in, and even after that, an extra three days to turn in an assignment late.

Reflecting on the Homework Transformation

This holistic approach to organization and homework has been amazing. Students who historically turned in their work late or not at all are now turning things in early, and some students even use the Tarea Tracker for their other classes, not just Spanish. The tracker takes fewer steps than our learning management system: With the tracker, they can go to their Drive, type “Tracker” into the search bar, and there is the doc. With Google Classroom, they have to go to our launchpad, find the tile, find the class, then click on Classwork to get to their assignments.

My grade book is now full of actual grades, and the overall percentage of assignments turned in has improved dramatically. Additionally, more assignments are turned in early or on time, and far fewer are turned in late.

A few days ago, Tyler walked into my room with a proud smile on his face as he turned in an assignment three days early. Students who haven’t experienced much success now feel a sense of accomplishment. This also has had a positive impact on their class participation.

Families now have something specific to ask their students about, allowing them to be proactive. Families now message me, asking questions like “Has Brandon turned in the blue warm-up sheet yet? I know it is due tomorrow.”

After over 20 years in the classroom, I’ve learned to put myself in my students’ shoes and to package ideas in ways that they will embrace. The Tarea Tracker works because it’s integrated into our class culture in a way that can become part of the routine for my students. While the positives for students and families are the most significant, there are also some positives on the teachers’ side. Resource teachers now have another detailed tool to access to support our individualized education program students. Study hall and WIN teachers are looped in. And finally, my grading has become much less cumbersome and time-consuming, and my grading folder is much less chaotic. This translates into more time to invest in my planning, collaborating, and communicating with parents and families. In addition, grade submission time goes more smoothly.