I hear my parents (when they bother to answer the phone) saying that they ask thier kid if they have any homework and the kid says no, which in fact, they do. That might be another chapter.
Here is my spin... You MUST know your students. If you are in the type of school where the parents expect the students to have a couple of hours each night and are prepared to help (if needed), they take that as a green light to give hours of homework. If the parents back you up, no problem. I, on the other hand, know for a fact that my parents don't care about hw. The kids don't care about HW. The research says that if it is meaningful to the student, it will get done. I don't care how meaningful it is, it isn't getting done. It is an uphill battle for me. I give up. It is not a battle worth fighting. I am not at home with them. I don't have parents who do it for them. I have parents who are out at the club until 2 or 3, parents who are strippers, parents who are abusive, and parents who work all the time. The student is left to fend for himself. If you were 13 and you had the choice between watching TV or reading a chapter from a trade book, which would you chose? okay, which would the 13 year old choose? Case and point. Know your students. I give HW for 1 of 3 reasons...(mrs. Maddox, are you the one who taught me this?) 1. study for a test, 2. if the class needs extra practice on a skill, or 3. complete work not completed in class. Chances are, if it didn't get completed in class, it won't get completed at home. If there is a test, they will forget to study, especially if it is just rereading something, and if the entire class needs practice, why send it home? Do a reteaching lesson. My principal thinks we should assign at home reading...so for their HW, they are to read 30 minutes 4 tiemes a week and record it on a chart. They turn that in every 3 weeks. Once a 6 weeks, they summarize a book they read and write a reaction to it. Not much, but hardly any of them do it, especially the summary and response part. there is lots of research about the very subject. Most of it says to make it meaningful and improtnat tot he student, as with every assignment. But, I think it boils down to knowing your students. If you honestly don't think they will complete it, pick a different battle where you have a fighting chance of winning. Ashli On 4/9/07, Melissa Harrelson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > To the members of this listserv, I wanted to know your opinion on > homework. > Do you think that teachers today give to much homework to children? Do > you > think that it is good to have children doing homeowrk for 2-3 hours > everynight, having parents hurrying them up or doing it for them so they > can > get to bed on time and have their homework done? > > Melissa Harrelson > > _________________________________________________________________ > MSN is giving away a trip to Vegas to see Elton John. Enter to win today. > http://msnconcertcontest.com?icid-nceltontagline > > > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
