3 Observations on Homework

1. If homework can be copied, it is bad homework.

Most kids will cheat on homework if they can. Why not? It usually feels like a waste of their time, especially if the teacher just checks it off and doesn’t give constructive feedback on it.

What kind of homework can be cheated on? Fill in the blanks, word searches, crossword puzzles, end of chapter summaries, math problems, etc.

What kind of homework cannot be copied or done by someone else for you? Reading for pleasure, personal journal entries, & studying for a quiz or test.

What kind of homework is good homework? Homework that turns the students on to whatever it is they are learning. This could include just about any type of homework, but typically it will involve: working on something of interest to the student that they can do on their own (or with a classmate) that they have plenty of time to complete, like a really creative, student-driven project. This may also include reading for pleasure (if they enjoy reading) and writing for pleasure (if they enjoy writing).

But how will a teacher know if a student understands material if she doesn’t give worksheets and chapter summaries? Instructional devices like work sheets, writing and reading exercises, and discussions are formative assessments teachers should use during class time. These learning activities are practice for students and will help the teacher evaluate her instruction. If these activities come home as homework, the teacher doesn’t have a true gauge of the student’s learning because someone else can do the work for the student. See this article: “To Grade or Not to Grade Homework”

2. If homework must be given, make it the exception, not the rule, and please make it creative.

If teachers occasionally must assign homework, it should be teacher designed (not copied out of a text book or a work sheet).

This tip is from one of Alfie Kohn’s articles: “Changing the Homework Default”

“Assign only what you design. In most cases, students should be asked to do only what teachers are willing to create themselves, as opposed to prefabricated worksheets or generic exercises photocopied from textbooks. Also, it rarely makes sense to give the same assignment to all students in a class because it’s unlikely to be beneficial for most of them. Those who already understand the concept will be wasting their time, and those who don’t understand will become increasingly frustrated. There is no perfect assignment that will stimulate every student because one size simply doesn’t fit all. On those days when homework really seems necessary, teachers should create several assignments fitted to different interests and capabilities. But it’s better to give no homework to anyone than the same homework to everyone."

3. If homework must be given, do NOT grade it.

Students tell me they must do their homework because they cannot lose points. What is wrong with this statement? Wouldn’t it be ideal if students said they had to do their homework because otherwise they wouldn’t understand something they were supposed to be learning in school? Or, better yet, that they wanted to do their homework because it was so interesting to them and they were really getting excited about something they were learning in school.

When teachers make homework about points and grades, the emphasis on learning disappears and students begin to focus on grades instead of the content of the subject. Additionally, “of all student work, homework assignments are the most likely to receive zeros. The accumulation of zeros can unfairly skew the total grade far below the total grade as indicated by tests. And, the effects of zeros on beginning learners can place many dangerously at-risk. Failure does not motivate, but frustrates and discourages.”

Read more at Suite101: To Grade or Not to Grade Homework: Homework is for Diagnosis and Practice http://skill-assessment.suite101.com/article.cfm/homework_to_grade_or_not_to_grade#ixzz0obxKE7uk

Your thoughts on any of these 3 homework observations?

No Homework Instead of Zeros

I just came across this story from Bloomfield, MO, "Bloomfield Middle School issues no homework policy". You can read the story here.

What I really like about this story is the way the principal reacted to a situation where many students were failing because of zeros from incomplete assignments. Instead of mandating after school make up sessions or instituting a "Zeros aren't Permitted" policy, or blaming the students for their incomplete work, the principal eliminated homework assignments. Now, the students will complete all of their work in class.

This solution gives the teachers the opportunity to provide immediate feedback to the students for their work done in class. This "no homework" policy also takes the pressure off the parents to feel like they must "help" their children with homework. Often when parents help their children too much with homework the children establish a pattern of learned helplessness because they feel they can't complete their work without outside help.

I'm not suggesting that parents remain totally hands off in their children's learning. But I am suggesting that instead of doing homework with or for your child, a parent should simply ask their child what he or she is learning in school and have a discussion about it. Read over some of their writing samples, talk to them about their different subjects, and ask them how they feel about what it is they are doing in school. If they ask you for help, give it, but don't do their work for them.

And if your school electronically posts grades and homework assignments, resist the temptation to look at your child's grades on a daily basis and resist the urge to question them about every homework assignment, quiz or test. Let them take ownership of their learning. And relax about their grades, instead put the focus on what they are learning, not on what kind of performance they are giving their teachers. We need to see our children for who they are, not for what they do, or don't do.