Day 2,587 —Why Due Dates Matter— with a PICTURE of the SUN and TREES

The way we learn is that we try, and we come up short, we fail, so we have to try again. If you are an active learner, you are very familiar with these steps, and most likely complete them without much thought; however, imagine if no one ever forced you to try? If you never took that first step? What would happen? 

Nothing would happen and you would stay stagnate and stop growing as an individual. When I no longer have due dates for assignments, students wait and wait to turn in work. When they do turn something in, they usually cheat or turn in incomplete work. 

They explain to me that this is just part of their personality that I need to accept. They are procrastinators that’s just how they learn. 

I have no strong moral problem with turning in something late; however, when you don’t bother to try again after your initial attempt, you will not learn. 

This is my last couple of weeks with kids, so this stuff always floats to the surface. Is it really too much to ask for kids to try, and then learn from their mistakes and try again? 

I am thankful for the people in my life who advocated that I do work on time, so I could learn from my mistakes and next time fail a little better. I am still learning, and I still deal with fear of failure, but I am getting better at dealing with it.