We all want our students to put in their best effort and not hand in sloppy work. It makes grading miserable as a teacher and it makes students feel dejected to see a bad grade.

What can we do as teachers to avoid receiving bad work?

In Carol Dweck’s seminal book, Mindset, she explains the research behind getting the best work out of our students.

One of the most effective strategies that I’ve found to apply her research to the classroom is to explain to students BEFORE they begin their work that what they are working on is a “draft” of their final assignment. (This obviously won’t work for quizzes and minor tests). But for larger assessments that we want our students to invest a lot of effort into, we need to explain to them from the outset that they will be receiving many opportunities to redo their work. Their first draft is just that- it’s a draft!

Sometimes the teachers I mentor ask me: but isn’t that cheating?

Here’s what I think: I’ve seen this scenario happen over and over again.

I tell students that we’re working on a big assessment that will be presented at a public exhibit/or will be judged by members of our community who are experts in the field they are working on.

Inevitably, students who were once satisfied to submit subpar work and “just get it done” are suddenly motivated to keep working until their “draft” is exhibit worthy. I don’t think that’s cheating. That reflects how work gets down in the “real world.” When my lawyer friend receives sub par work from his associate- he tells him to redo it until it is ready to present to the judge or client.

One of my most memorable student moments was when a student of mine who would typically submit very subpar work was so excited to show his family his project that he redid his project 3 times- and in his own words said to me: “this isn’t reflective of my true potential. I need to redo this.”