I agree with many of the people who have written already. I do not assign homework just to assign it. It must have a purpose. When I was in the classroom, my students had to read 70 or more pages of a book a week and write a reflection. I assigned weekly pages rather than daily because of the population at my school - many students had sports, etc. after school and I wanted to give them flexibility on the days they chose to read. They could read a little every day, or take a night or 2 off. At an inner city school I worked at, I assigned reading daily. The other homework my students have is if they do not finish something in class. I always give students time in class to do assignments/papers, and if they choose not to use that time wisely, they can finish it at home.
I do not believe in just assigning homework for homework's sake, and it must serve a purpose and move their learning. On 4/9/07, Bill IVEY <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi! > > Here's an interesting quote from Alfie Kohn's article: > "time on task is directly correlated to achievement only if both the > activity and the outcome measure are focused on rote recall as opposed to > problem solving." > > And from Marzano's article: > "a number of studies have provided growing evidence of the usefulness of > homework when employed effectively." > > So I find myself wondering if the fundamental questions here might not be, > "When some research seems to prove that homework isn't much help in > learning and other research seems to prove that it is, is that more a > commentary on the questions being asked and assessments being used by the > researchers than a commentary on homework itself?" and "What does it mean, > to employ homework effectively?" > > I'll admit, I work in a private school, and not to assign homework would > be economic suicide. So I do my best to assign the kinds of homework that > genuinely move their learning forward - making progress on unit projects, > working on independent writing or independent reading. I also assign > Readers' Response journals and try to get enough of a dialogue going with > them that I can help them deepen their thinking. Finally, I do have them > make up vocabulary lists and take vocabulary quizzes, as much as anything > so that parents and students who ask "But when do students learn how to > study for tests?" have a legitimate answer to the question. Such are the > compromises I am currently making. But perhaps one day I will no longer > have to do so. > > My 1.2 cents after taxes. > > Take care, > Bill Ivey > Stoneleigh-Burnham School > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > -- - Heather "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." --Clarence Day "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little good evidence exists that there's any educational substance behind the accountability and testing movement." —Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. " —Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate _______________________________________________ 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
