This blog is a practice exercise for EDM 510. This is a discussion of homework in the elementary grades.
Homework: That dreaded word! Kids hate it! Parents hate it! What's a teacher to do! I personally only give homework that is a review of what has been taught in class. I think students should be able to complete homework with very little assistance from their parents. I also think homework should not take a long time to do. I use homework to help create intervention groups for some of my students that don't understand concepts. What do you think? How should homework be handled by teachers? Should parents have to help students complete homework? How long should it take to complete? Most importantly, what should a teacher do with it once it has been turned in?
I think homework is essential, but I think it is more essential in some classes over some others. I think Math, Science, and English should have homework. I do not think it is necessary to have homework in Social Studies. I think Social Studies is a learned subject, while the others are subjects that need constant practice and understanding.
ReplyDeleteI think homework should be handled at the teachers discretion. I would use it to make sure children were getting the practice they need to enforce learning.
I think it is important for parents to be actively involved in their children's education. This is vital for parents to make sure that their child is on task and is truly understanding the material being presented to them. I think the more the parent is involved the more chance of success the student will have in their education.
I think homework should just be something the spend maybe 20-30 minutes on a night. Just enough to reinforce what they learned that day in class.
I think the teacher should grade the homework. I think sometimes grading for completion and understanding is the best way to grade.
I think that homework should only used in extra-credit situations. Homework can really become a nuisance to the teacher more than a helpful tool to students. In many cases, the students who need the extra practice don't complete the homework, while the diligent students who more often than not don't need extra practice are the only ones who complete it. If you MUST give students homework, make sure that it is interesting and instructional. Busy-work only exasperates students and parents. Today's family is busy and short on time, and you don't want to add extra grading work to your plate for something that isn't absolutely necessary for proper instruction. The only exception I can think of would be Math. Math concepts should be practiced as much as possible. Even in that case, teachers should play close attention to the problems given.
ReplyDeleteMost of the homework I give is Math. I agree that Math concepts need to be practiced to acheive fluency. I do also give spelling homeowrk, but I give a choice board where the students pick their own assignment from a list of 16 possibilities. They really seem to like that and most turn it in on time. I also agree that the ones that need it the most are usually the ones that are not going to do it, and that usually leads to an unsupportive parent. I simply have to talk to them about the importance of the extra practice, and it usually improves the frequency of the returned work.
DeleteStudents frequently ask for extra-credit work. I'm ususally glad to do just that. I assign math problems, tough ones, that allow thought and effort to complete. Their assignment is to do the problem at home and present it in class by working the problem on the board for the others. I give them a list of 20 or 30 problems to choose from, with various levels of reward depending on their difficulty. The reward is very substantial for the most difficult of them. Doing two of those would almost certainly raise a grade by a letter. Despite the high numbers of students demanding extra credit, I usually get only 3 or 4 that do the problems.
DeleteHomework is a dreaded and terrible word in my classroom as well. However, I still give it. My students don't have to do much, however, and I only give it for grammar and not literature. I think if you give too much the students won't complete it at all. This is what I do. I give around 10-15 sentences covering what we went over in class that day. My students turn it in at the beginning of class where I stamp it and give it back to them if they completed it. Each stamp is worth 10 points. At the end of the week, I count their stamps and give them a grade. They still complain but like that it boosts their overall grade in my class. It works for me but not for everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI think homework is an important part of learning and I think it depends on the grade for how much should be assigned. My daughter has homework already and she just started kindergarten. Her teacher has 21 students in her classroom and finds it hard to spend any one on one time with the students. I personally enjoy working with Lauralyn on her homework but I have found it to be a struggle with working full time, graduate school full time and mommy full time. I think as children get older they should be able to do most of their homework with only a little adult supervision.
ReplyDeleteI think homework should be assigned, but my school experiences were from 50-minute classes instead of the block schedule. My students get daily assignments that they have time to complete in class. That has the advantage allowing me to circulate through the class and stop to help individually. If they don't do the work in class, then they probably would not do it at home, either. Students are free to take their work home or get help elsewhere. My problem is, how big do you make the assignments? Some finish quickly, others struggle.
ReplyDeleteActually, whether or not I think homework should be assigned is immaterial. I have been told by the school administration not to assign homework.
You make very interesting points. How much home work should teachers assign to students, after all? I think that homework can be helpful to students, particularly for those who are struggling in class. I think homework should be consistent with what the student is currently learning in class, and continued on this pattern on a daily basis. Though I think too much homework can discourage the student from learning, in that, they may miss the point of why the homework was assigned in the first place. Also, I think a homework should not take too much time to be completed, and with little assistance from a parent. And once the assignment has been turned in, the teacher should make sure the student completed it, and not just copied it from another student.
ReplyDeleteMy son is now in the second grade and his homework takes about 15 to 20 minutes to complete and I am always there to check his work and guide him. We all may dread it but its a must.. I want my child to succeed and in order to do that it takes a concerted effort on my part and the teachers. I don't feel its up to the teacher to do everything, we as parents must teach our children that practice is required to master skills. Once homework is turned in I think it should be reviewed and checked by students (not the teacher) if time permits to make sure everyone understands the concepts being taught.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of having the students check the homework. In my class, I look over the homework as I check to see if it is complete. I make a note to myself about any students that completely missed the concept. I use this information to make small intervention groups. When that subject time comes, I pass the homework back and we go oever it. You said, "if time permits." Usually we don't have much time for this, so first I ask if anyone had a problem they didn't understand and would like us all to go over. Sometimes there are a few, sometimes none. I usually pick a few problems to go over, but rarely go over every problem assigned.
DeleteI agree with the fact that you only assign homework that reflects the concepts covered in a given day and that students should be able to tackle most assignments without the aid of their parents.
ReplyDeleteBy middle/ high school I think the kids should be doing it without the help of their parents. I personally don't assign more than 10-20 minutes a night and it is over something we have done in class or it is an introduction for the next day's matieral. I usually come around and check it rather than collect so I don't have to keep it. After checking it for completion, I go over it as a class.
ReplyDeleteWe should not be giving them more than 20-30 minutes a night per class. I personally do not give them a whole lot of homework unless it is a very meaningful activity. It it is a worksheet or workbook, nine out of ten times they will copy it from someone else totally defeating the purpose. Projects they often have to work on sometimes outside of class. I don't collect worksheets or homework, they put it in their notebook, I check it and it becomes part of their notebook grade. It is evident when test and quiz time comes who is doing their work and who isn't.
ReplyDelete