No Name Papers

It has become an epidemic ... no name papers are flourishing in fourth grade ...

Ms. Leom's No Name Paper Basket

In some fourth grade classes and several fifth grade classes and beyond, no name papers end up in the recycling bin. For Ms. Leom, they are place in the "no name basket" in her room. On any given day, Ms. Leom may assess nearly 200 papers. When names are missing, it can make grading them and recording the score for the right student a challenge.

What is most puzzling, we start nearly EVERY learning with the directions, "Write your name on your paper." In addition, Ms. Leom will often walk AROUND the classroom and check to see if name are on papers, unless it is a time she is working with small groups. The other reality, writing your name on your paper has been an expectation since kindergarten. By fourth grade, students have had five YEARS of practicing this expectation.

Students will even find their paper IN the no name basket and turn it in, STILL forgetting to write their name on the top.

Ms. Leom wasn't "crabby" today. She was using her "stern" voice. There is a difference. No name papers was a trigger for the stern voice today.