I am taking a year long Marzano training with many teachers from my school. So far they have said homework should be: 1. meaningful, relevant to what is going on in the classroom 2. short 3. used as re-enforcement 4. students can do it without parental help since so many students have no one available to help 5. never assigned just to keep them "busy"
I agree but think they need some out of class work to learn to work and prepare for high school and college. This was a HUGE topic with a great deal of disagreement at the training. Thank you for the articles that you posted, Bill. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ashli and Paul Andersen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades." <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2007 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [LIT] Discussion on Homework >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 > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.26/751 - Release Date: 4/7/2007 > 10:57 PM > > _______________________________________________ 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
