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
to
homework until 8th grade. How about just read and share what you read
with
a 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
for
reading -it was no longer a chore. They had complete control over
what they
read.
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, <[email protected]> wrote:
I tried this too.... but found that errors (especially in math) that
occurred during the week became more engrained because of all the
faulty
practice...even though I work in an affluent district... I am
surprised to
observe
how many parents do not check or sit in on homework... I am not asking
parents to do homework... but monitor.... every back to school night
I make
a
big deal that this is a parent's teachable moment... a way to implant
great questioning and strategies.... but I can count on my hands
those who
do
take the opportunity.... i understand it... high powered jobs...
commutes
to
the 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 the
woods.. 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 on
what we covered in class during the day or that week but rather
usually
follow about a chapter behind.... by then I feel i have met with
kids in
small 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
in
this way.... draw a picture of your thinking about this problem....
which
strategy/tool will you use to solve the problem... and then finally
create
a
word problem that based on this math sentence....
I think that when kids are able to transfer their knowledge then I
feel
secure 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
phonetic
rule
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
year
because 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 a
high 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 of
what we
are working on in class.
In a message dated 7/26/2010 1:32:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] 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 in
until Friday. That way, I have the weekend to check over the papers
and
re
stuff the folders for the next week.
Hope this helps:-)
________________________________
From: Robert Kolvek <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sun, July 25, 2010 1:09:33 PM
Subject: [MOSAIC] First Grade Homework
I 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 my
lunch hour marking the h.w. and then putting in the following
night's h.w.
It's
difficult to do in the AM as I have about 15 students in for the 37
1/2
min
extra help required in NYC. Some children skip some days, others
come
late. I
hate 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 para
and
may have 28 students this year. I think it's too much for them to
mark
their
own. If I start walking around checking each folder, I'm afraid it
will
be too
time consuming!
Thanks!
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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
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