That’s what your teachers are there for, after all-to help you learn. Explain your difficulties and ask for their help. If you find yourself getting bogged down by homework or can’t get the assignments done because you’re struggling to understand the subject matter, ask for help. Don’t gripe about or be ungrateful for partial-credit-it will make it less likely that your teacher will extend you a similar opportunity in the future.Īsk for help. More likely, though, your teacher will offer to let you turn in the assignment late, for partial credit. The best case scenario here is that your teacher will grant you extra time to complete the assignment and won’t penalize you for turning it in past the original deadline. Ask for another day to finish the assignment.If you make forgetting your homework habitual, your teacher will not only stop believing your excuses, they’ll rapidly become less sympathetic to your apologies. And-this part is important-keep your word. Let your teacher know that this was a rare instance of you lapsing on a responsibility and that you’ll be careful that it doesn’t happen again. Explain that it won’t happen again-and make sure it doesn’t.

If you don't feel comfortable talking to the teacher directly, feel free to send them an email or leave them a note. Don’t gloss over this part-the sincerity of your apology will impact how likely your teacher is to want to help you. After giving your reason, sincerely apologize.

Don’t sugarcoat your reason, but do use some discretion if you didn’t do your homework because you were at an all-night kegger, keep your reason general (ie, “I didn’t get home until late”) rather than overly specific (ie, “I was too busy doing keg stands”).

Explain why you didn’t do the homework-maybe you forgot about the assignment, got home late, fell asleep, etc.

It shows that you’re willing to own up and take responsibility and that you respect the teacher enough not to try to mislead them with a cooked-up story. In most cases, being honest and direct is the best course of action.

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