missing work
wow! that's a lot of missing work!
this is my 12th year teaching 6th grade--one of my big frustrations is the kid who does very little. i say kid because there is one every year...some years there are 2 kids...sometimes 3 or 4 who just don't care and who have never done much work. i haven't found a way to get to those kids.
but here are some ideas:
*definitely stay on top of grading--progress report time used to always be the time when i went, holy cow! look at the missing work! so i realized i need to do a better job at paperwork to stay on top of that. if you can't grade that rapidly, try this--write the name of your assignments at the top of a clipboard and flip through the turned in stack, checking off kids who turned work in--this way i know right away who's missing the assignment; most of the time when i call kids back, they have the assignment, just didn't "hear" me say to turn it in--duh. (i have a detailed system for my grade sheets--a check for turned in, a circle for late, a square for not here but needs to turn it in and then a notation about when the kid needs to turn it in*was she absent the day it was assigned or the day it was due* i also have some notations that i mark for when i actually grade--if it's a bad grade, i note NF for not finished (why did johnny get an F? he didn't do the entire assignment) and i write NC for not correct--didn't follow the directions, basically. i have a policy where students can redo work (any grade) for an averaged grade....when this happens, i slash the first grade and write the new one next to it--this way i can tell who is taking advantage of the opportunity.
*the day i check over who's turned in work (i try to do it the day it's due/turned in) i write in my students' agendas/planners if the assignment's missing. (all my parents know to look here for missing work)
*i have also had the student call parents--this keeps you from being the bad guy, and the kid has to be the bearer of bad news--i usually give them some type of script: i didn't turn my math homework in and need you to help me remember tonight.
*i have a study hall 40 minutes before school and 45 minutes after--so kids can have a quiet place to work, get help....mostly it's used by kids who are cramming to get something finished or who've forgotten work or books and couldn't do homework. it's not mandatory, but sometimes a parent and i connive to make it so until all work is in, or grades improve.
*my grade level has done the All-Work-In party every month (every 2 months, and then every quarter....don't think we're doing it this year). all the kids who had all work done went to party--things we've done: movie, art lesson, chalk outside, pizza, brain teasers, game hour, just fun activities; other kids had to work on missing work or just a work packet put together by teacher. i don't know how much that inspired anyone--especially when we went to 1 a quarter!
*this year i'm also doing a "Weekly Tracker" where all students have a grid with a column for each day of week and 2 rows: 1 for behavior and 1 for work ethic. if they are missing an assignment, i punch the tracker. all students with no punches get to be in drawing for prize at end of week--they are seeming to like this and are disappointed when trackers need to be punched. (a team teacher told me today that one of my kids was starting to act out today and she said, keep it up and i'll punch your ticket---ha! kind of sounds like punch your lights out...anyway, he straightened right up!)
*it sounds like you might need to make your students aware that "you mean business" about the missing work....oooh...she's gonna write my name on the board...(obviously you didn't know that the missing work was really a problem until now) you need to tackle it! do you have a recess or break period that you can make them stay in for? do you have detention or school-wide discipline policy? we have a "behavior form" that covers all problems--and for those not on there, fill in the blank! so these could be used to make parents aware of issues---build a paper trail for students who continually don't do work. my principal would even back me up if i requested detention for repeated missing work.
*marie mentioned that homework tends to be missing because it might be too difficult (paraphrasing, hopefully correctly). well, homework should be REVIEW--something that the kids can do independently (following directions and looking at examples) in order to reinforce skills--parents should not be reteaching at home. i think homework tends to be what's missing for a couple reasons: it takes more responsibility to do it--you have to remember to look in planner, read it, follow directions, do it, check it over, put it in binder/backpack, remember to get it to school, and remember to turn it in. good grief! what if we couldn't be held responsible for doing our lesson plans and bringing them to school. also, no one at home (well, in my experience and probably 60% of the time) is going to make them do the work before "recess"/watching TV, playing video games....so kids think they got out of something.
*someone posted several weeks ago--on the old boards--something that they do....that i'd like to try... i found a copy and made some, but haven't figured out how to incorporate (i'm already trying so many new things this year, i'll have to ease into it....) but it's an assignment excuse note---so everyone has something to turn in...this way you have a document that tells when/what/why something wasn't turned in---running record. (and the kid can't say "i TURNED it in!")
*do you have a late work policy? mine is 25% off the first day late, after that the paper is worth zero. now...that's the first day i notice it's late....and up until the time i actually grade, so there is some leeway there (but i don't tell the kids that). also, a kid who's really struggling and it's great he got that paper in 3 days late...i'll grade it. why the late grade and zero?(we could start a whole debate, i'm sure) this is in line with the junior highs my kids will attend...and i don't really want to be getting random papers several days after i've graded all the others. (i did start out doing 10% off each day late.....well, it was awfully hard to determine exactly how many days late those papers were!)
i imagine (depending on your area) you will get a lot of feedback from parents about those grades! you might think about sending some sort of notice to parents about missing work first.
advice on progress reports: i don't really want to hear from parents who are upset about the D's and F's (i want the children to hear from them!) so i "explain" those grades on the progress report: had opportunity to redo but didn't, 3 missing assignments, 2 late papers, ...... this way the parent doesn't have to ask, the info is right there.
i also have a policy on extra credit---you may be asked about that. oh-waaaaaa...i/my kid have/has a bad grade; what can i/s/he do to raise it. blech. i say right up front: i do not give extra credit right after progress reports or right before report cards. i DO give extra credit in EVERY subject at least once during the quarter. what can your kid do to ensure a good grade? *do quality work*turn work in on time*put his/her name on paper*redo low graded papers*take advantage of all extra credit opportunities, even if not needed at the time.
hope any of this helps! good luck
I just realized this while I was compiling my midquarter grades, and I will have to send report cards home next week and face parents at conferences. It is so bad that in my English class, only THREE people out of 25 have turned in every assignment. 
It is ridiculous. I feel like I must be doing something wrong, but then I realize that the students who turned everything in have obviously understood what I was asking for. I write students' names on the board with the assignment they're missing, so it's not like they don't KNOW they need to have it in. 
! 