Here’s What I Do: Zero Papers for Missing Work, Part One

September 24th, 2008 By: Diane Trim in Articles, Teachers' Corner

Syndi Carlson has been using this Zero Papers system for dealing with missing work in her Hemet, Calif., middle school language arts classes for 10 years.

When a student has a missing assignment, the student writes the usual heading on a blank sheet of paper. In addition to the heading, he writes the name of the assignment, the date Carlson collected it, a phone number where a parent can be reached, and the reason the assignment was not completed. Carlson calls these Zero Papers.

The Zero Papers System.
For every assignment, each student turns in something: either the assignment or a Zero Paper.
Carlson’s students sit in pairs, so when a student is absent, her partner turns in the same blank paper, but writes that the student was absent.

At the end of the day, Carlson collects the Zero Papers and makes phone calls. “For the Zero Papers to work efficiently, I really need to call every parent that first time, even though it is going to be a massive chunk of time,” Carlson said. “The kids need to know as early as possible that not turning in work gets a call.”
Carlson makes 30 phone calls a day the first week of school. It’s a massive time commitment, Carlson said, but the dividends are worth it. After a week or two of phone calls, she makes just a handful of calls each day.

“Usually by the end of the month, I make sporadic calls, mostly to chronic offenders, rather than calling every Zero Paper,” Carlson said. “However, I still collect the zero papers from every child.”

Next post: phone calls home

Tags: grading, phone calls