Gilmore 1

Kate Gilmore

Mr.Smith

Junior ELA

6 November 2023

Due dates compromise a student's learning.

We’ve all been there, it’s 12AM and you're looking at the red “Missing” next to your

literature essay, you feel like a failure. When it's graded and returned to you, you see a grade that

leaves you feeling awful. You aren’t alone, 75% of high school students report feeling consistent

stress as a result of school work. That's not an accurate representation of yourself as a student,

it's a representation of yourself at a time of stress. Student’s and/or athletes, amongst many other

time consuming things, often find themselves cramming to get assignments done at the last

minute. If teachers assign more open due date assignments, perhaps students would be able to

complete and submit higher quality work without any stress or interference with our personal

lives.

After researching this topic, It was found that most kids reported doing better when they

were able to follow their own due date, rather than one being assigned to them. Of course, due

dates establish structure and remind the students that they have work to do. But they also create

an unnecessary amount of stress. Furthermore, some colleges such as UCONN and Fairfield

assign their work as “semester long”, meaning they are not officially due or graded until the

semester ends. High schools are constantly reminding their students that they are trying to set

them up for the next chapter of their lives, and although not everyone is going down the college

path, many will. If students aren’t learning how to complete assignments the way they are given

in college, they won’t be able to adjust easily to them when they finally get there. This is
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expressed by John Warner, in his article Deadlines in the "Real World". Warner states that “As

professionals we are given the autonomy and latitude to push deadlines when it’s agreed that

pushing that deadline is in the interests of creating the best possible end product” (Warner, 1).

This proves that some teachers understand the importance of time to result in the best work. In

the real world, the work we submit is about quality not quantity.

Many claim that by allowing students to work on assignments for longer periods of time,

they would procrastinate and put it off all semester. While that may be true in some cases, hard

working students will work proactively and complete their assignments earlier on in the

semester. This will eliminate the added stress of completing multiple assignments when the end

of the semester arrives. A teacher by the name of Sue Ishaq decided to test this theory by

allowing students to establish their own due date, and the results were fascinating. “ I think the

soft deadlines kept me in check, however it’s nice to know that if things unexpectedly get crazy

for me that I won’t be penalized for taking extra time to make sure that I submit quality work.”

(Ishaq 1) one student claimed. By practicing time management overtime, students will develop a

much stronger ability to complete assignments in a timely manner. Understanding how to

manage time on our own is an essential aspect of life. when due dates are given to students they

aren't able to develop these skills. I also feel that when we are given semester long assignments

our work can in a way “grow with us”. in the sense that as we acquire new information we can

add to our work. This way the work can be top quality by the time it is ready to turn in.

Due dates demote meaningful learning. By eliminating due dates, students will develop a

more meaningful sense of the importance of the information they are taking in. When

assignments are given rigid deadlines, students focus more on getting the material completed,

than evaluate the information and learn about it. Although due dates keep students on track and
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focused, the quality of their learning is much more important than the quantity of assignments

they can complete in a certain amount of time. Christopher Koeppen, a professional in Education

claims that “It puts a deadline and limit on learning” (Koeppen, 7). Learning is a skill that takes

time, it's not something that can never really be mastered but it can be grown and strengthened. If

students are cramming to get the information down, they don't really learn it. Students are given

such an extreme time crunch to complete work, the assignment becomes pretty much useless, as

the student isn’t benefiting from it, rather, it is promoting extreme stress. Study shows that when

an individual; especially a younger person, feels repetitive emotions of stress, or failure in a

class, they start to feel negatively towards the topic. For example, when a student gets multiple

bad grades in one science class, they may continue to dislike science throughout the rest of their

years in school, despite the fact that they may be a strong learner in that specific subject. In

contrast, when a student is excelling and succeeding in a class and does not feel pressured or

stressed when completing assignments, not only will they have more positive thoughts associated

with the class, but they will also learn the information much better. So important to take into

consideration that every student learns at a different pace. Therefore, expecting that all students

will be able to complete work at the same time just isn't fair.

To conclude the argument I have stated above, students are tired. Sometimes teachers

may forget to take into consideration that we aren't just doing the work of their class. We are

given work from 5-7 other courses. In addition to working, playing sports and other various

extracurricular activities. The workload piles up quickly and due dates just add to the stress that

we are already facing. by allowing more assignments to be open due date, students will be

given a more thorough and less stressful learning experience.

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Works Cited

Ishaq, Sue. “Reflecting on “suggested deadlines” for assignments – The Ishaq Lab.” The Ishaq

Lab, 18 February 2021,

https://sueishaqlab.org/2021/02/18/reflecting-on-suggested-deadlines-for-assignments/. Accessed

9 November 2023.

Koeppen, Christopher. “8 Reasons Your Deadline Policy Is Damaging to Your Students.” Grit,

Rigor, & Accountability, 12 January 2017,

https://gritandrigor.com/2017/01/12/8-reasons-your-deadline-policy-is-damaging-to-your-student

s/. Accessed 9 November 2023.

Warner, John. “Deadlines in the "Real World."” Inside Higher Ed, 7 October 2019,

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/deadlines-real-world. Accessed 9 November

2023.

“What is the difference between assignment due date...” Instructure Community,

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/What-is-the-difference-between-assignme

nt-due-dates-and/ta-p/897. Accessed 9 November 2023.

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H Argument Essay Rubric

Skill Not Yet Foundational Proficient Advanced

Identifies a basic claim Appears in first Thesis establishes a

Thesis paragraph complex claim

Thesis establishes a Establishes

topic and a claim counter-argument in
claim

Topic sentences Topic sentences have Topic sentences have

Claims/Reasons contain basic claims clear and distinct clear and distinct
claims that relate to claims that relate to
the thesis the thesis and make
nuanced points that
consider alternate
perspectives or
counterarguments

Uses some brief Uses multiple pieces Uses a variety of

Evidence examples, or one of evidence (personal evidence (see
example, to support experience, anecdotes, previous column) that
each claim; may all be survey, research etc.) supports each claim;
personal experience to support each claim different types of
evidence in each body
paragraph

Use of reliable outside

sources

Brief explanation of Explains how Provides strong

Analysis how evidence evidence supports explanations of how
supports topic topic sentence/claim evidence supports
sentence of individual of individual topic sentence and the
paragraphs paragraphs and the thesis while also
thesis considering
counterarguments
Includes at least 2
concessions in body Seamlessly mentions
paragraphs concession, and offers
response/rebuttal

Counter- Makes some mention Structure Well-structured and

Argument of opposing argument counter-argument effective
which: counter-argument
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Mentions the which:

opposing argument, Establishes an aspect
some mention of how of the opposing
opposing argument argument, clearly and
may be disproven logically disproves the
argument
Some elements missing Heading is correctly No errors in MLA
MLA Format or some errors in MLA formatted format
format
Pages are numbered

In-text citations are

correctly formatted (if
sources are used)

Works Cited format:

hanging indent,
double-spaced,
alphabetized, starts on
a new page (if sources
are used)

Works Cited: each

source entry is in
correct MLA format (if
sources are used)
Shows evidence of Quotes are correctly Quotes are correctly
Conventions basic proofreading integrated most of the integrated
time (if sources are
used) Shows evidence of
careful proofreading
Follows essay
organization (claims in Includes fluid
topic sentence; transitions between
evidence; analysis; ideas
concluding sentences)
Eliminates wordiness
Shows evidence of
proofreading
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Utilizes mostly simple Some varied sentence Consistently varied

Fluency sentence structures structures sentence structures

Some use of advanced Advanced use of

vocabulary vocabulary; including
use of active verbs