Laura
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:49:32 -0700
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 9:32 AM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] First Grade Homework Homework and pencils must be the two biggest tedious issues for teachers. When I was teaching in a regular classroom, the district homework "guidelines" suggested that homework should be approximately ten minutes per grade level. That meant ten minutes if it was a first grader, twenty minutes for a second grader, etc. (Let me insert here that sometimes my homework was review of something in class, sometimes it was practice, sometimes it was a creative thinking thing, and every day there was some reading at home, so no, I didn't hold to the ten minutes per grade level guideline, but some of my homework was a lot of fun, like playing "Stump the Adult" with parents.) Since I taught 2nd/3rd, I let my parents know about this guideline and also that it would fluctuate for each child depending on the child, BUT that if it seemed like their child was working too long, I wanted to know about it. I also let parents know that any child's homework would be excused as long as there was a parent signature and quick note at the top (so, child brings it in, undone, with parent signature, voila! everything's peachy). I also let parents know that I was a big advocate of family time, soccer games, music lessons, dance lessons, birthday celebrations, etc., and if there were any family things happening that got into the way of homework, that family should come first and all parent needed to do was write a note on the top of the homework and child should bring it in, and they'd be excused. From some peoples' perspectives, this doesn't make any sense, because what is the good of homework if the child doesn't do it? But my philosophy of homework was first to help teach the responsibility of bringing something home and back again, finished or not, and second to do the work. Yeah, yeah, I'm backward. I'm different. Oh well. The thing is, one day a parent came in and told me the previous night's homework took their child *forever* to do (like two hours or something) and caused some family fights and I said, "no, no, no this should never, ever happen!" and made sure the parent knew to stop the child at 20 minutes, write a note on the paper, and send it in and stop worrying about it. On the other hand, I did not really *accept* late homework without a good excuse (because if they had to go to a birthday party they were supposed to not do it at all) AND for any worksheets that went home, there were no extras. I also didn't grade the homework. I just checked it off if it was turned in, and then gave it a plus, check, or minus for "correctness" and handed it back. In other words, I didn't really record grades on it. Plus, I am quoted in Alfie Kohn's book, "The Homework Myth." Imagine my surprise one day when I got a phone call from him! hahaha Renee On Jul 27, 2010, at 11:09 AM, Jan Sanders wrote:
Is homework an option? Most research shows that there are no benefits tohomework until 8th grade. How about just read and share what you read witha friend the next day? I was fortunate in that my principal read up on the homework issue and we went to read for pleasure and share your thought about what you read to a partner the next day. LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! And students gained a love forreading -it was no longer a chore. They had complete control over what theyread. Jan You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. -Albert Einstein On Mon, Jul 26, 2010 at 4:55 AM, <kuko...@aol.com> wrote:I tried this too.... but found that errors (especially in math) that occurred during the week became more engrained because of all the faultypractice...even though I work in an affluent district... I am surprised toobserve how many parents do not check or sit in on homework... I am not askingparents to do homework... but monitor.... every back to school night I makea big deal that this is a parent's teachable moment... a way to implantgreat questioning and strategies.... but I can count on my hands those whodotake the opportunity.... i understand it... high powered jobs... commutestothe city... at home after the kids go to bed .... but it seems to me that learning as a social function of the family is dwindling in my neck of thewoods.. and i think that is sad because it is at least in my opinion a joyful and hopeful act that occurs best when coached and celebrated by those who love you.That much said... i did try something that I think made homework worthwhile (esp. in math).... in my district we use everyday math... and have lots of smattering of Japanese math,too.... so.... my assignments are not based onwhat we covered in class during the day or that week but rather usuallyfollow about a chapter behind.... by then I feel i have met with kids insmall group and independent conferences and have better secured the strategies for strugglers to be successful with assignments.My team and I tried to develop a differentiated approach to homework ....but creating assignments on the run is murderous... so we came up with a generic grid that goes with most assignments based on strategies of comprehension.... ex:(consider an algorithm) what connections can you make to this problem.... when in your life do you think you might need to use math inthis way.... draw a picture of your thinking about this problem.... which strategy/tool will you use to solve the problem... and then finally createa word problem that based on this math sentence.... I think that when kids are able to transfer their knowledge then I feelsecure that their learning is secure. That's also why most of my spelling tests are based on unseen transfers of words that are similar in phoneticrule or spelling pattern if you will to what we've studied in class.... this kind of test always yields screams from parents in the beginning of the yearbecause they are words not on a list.... but most of my families agree by the end of the year that their kids are fearless spellers.... most with ahigh degree of accuracy....my case in point... spelling homework is explicit study of phonics and spelling patterns.... with lots of word hunts...transfers.... you get my drift... no spelling list except for example ofwhat we are working on in class. In a message dated 7/26/2010 1:32:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, kauraw...@yahoo.com writes: My first graders receive their homework folders on Monday that includes all of the homework for the week. They are not required to turn the homework folder inuntil Friday. That way, I have the weekend to check over the papers andre stuff the folders for the next week. Hope this helps:-) ________________________________ From: Robert Kolvek <bobker...@yahoo.com> To: Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Sent: Sun, July 25, 2010 1:09:33 PM Subject: [MOSAIC] First Grade HomeworkI was wondering about ideas for checking homework for first grade class.Currently students place their H.Q. in a h.w. folder in a h.w. basket I spend mylunch hour marking the h.w. and then putting in the following night's h.w.It'sdifficult to do in the AM as I have about 15 students in for the 37 1/2min extra help required in NYC. Some children skip some days, others come late. Ihate to wait until the end of the day, because it can get late and hectic.Any ideas that work? When they come in from Kinder, they have had the h.w.placed in their folders for them by the Kinder paras. I don't have a paraand may have 28 students this year. I think it's too much for them to mark theirown. If I start walking around checking each folder, I'm afraid it willbe too time consuming! Thanks! _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive._______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me-- and there was no one left to speak out for me. -Pastor Martin Niemöller, 1945 _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.