It’s
one of the hot topics today. Homework or
no homework? How much homework? Everyday?
Some days? On weekends? Grade it? Check it? The list goes on and on.
I
fall into the pro-homework for math category.
After thirteen years of teaching I’ve heard all the excuses, moans,
groans, blame game, temper tantrums, and reasoning. And that’s just from other educators. Bring the kids and parents into the discussion
and it gets even more interesting. I am
not a homework for the sake of homework teacher. But, I feel strongly that students need to
practice math skills in order to become fluent in them and there is not enough
time during the school day for this. I
honestly wish there was practice time each day and no homework was
necessary. In our present secondary
system, not only do I not see that happening, I see the problem getting worse.
At
the beginning of my teaching career I had an opportunity to attend a class
taught by a “soon to be retired” high school administrator. They are the best instructors of teachers
because they have seen it all, done it all, and at this point in their careers,
are willing to spill it all. Early in
the class he handed out a chart (which I really wish I had kept) showing that
public education between the late 1800’s and late1940’s were essentially
responsible for teaching children about 20 things. There were the normal academics, but also
lessons on friendship, manners, civic responsibilities, etc. Between the 1950’s and 1990, that list grew
to include over 130 teaching responsibilities (think drugs, alcohol, drivers
ed, nutrition, stranger danger, etc.). He predicted (in 1994) that we would easily
top 200 in the next 20 years. If all of
these “new” teaching responsibilities are completed within the same school
day/school year, it stands to reason that the amount of time spent on the 3 R’s
has dramatically decreased. As a parent,
I totally get it when they tell me “you have them in school for “x” hours each
day, why can’t this be done during that time”, but the reality is I don’t have enough
math minutes each day to give students a solid understanding of the concept and
then allow them enough time to practice the concept to create fluency.
I
do try to give my classes about 10 minutes at the end of each class to start on
the assignment. My thinking in doing
that is I can pick up any questions or misconceptions the kids have before they
go home. I am not expecting any parent
to teach the math – I have already done that during class and all students
should be heading home with solid notes and a portion of the assignment
done. A more recent problem I have been
encountering is students opting to not use this class time for the intended
purpose. Many seem to feel it is “their
choice” whether to start the assignment or not.
Renaming it classwork/homework did not make a difference. Lately I’ve taken a page from Sheldon’s mom
on Big Bang Theory and say “I’m sorry, did I start those directions with the
phrase if it pleases your royal highness?”
The majority of my kids are Big Bang fans and since I say it with a smile
they laugh, sometimes toss in an eye roll (just to assure me they haven’t been
switched out with a clone), and pick up the book and start on the
assignment.
I’ve
seen recent media stories about teachers declaring the end of homework in their
class. Typically these are elementary
teachers and I have no problem with that.
They typically have more flexibility in schedules and can have a kid
that needs more time continue working on the assignment because they know they
will need less time in another area. Homework
is also less beneficial to elementary students than secondary students
according to the most recent studies on the subject. I do have a problem with secondary teachers
making the declaration by stating that students only need to finish their
classwork at home if they didn’t get it done in class. I’ve seen first-hand the length of some of
those classwork assignments and doubt many children could complete them in the allotted
time. If you know you consistently give
more classwork than can be done in class, so students technically do have
homework, it is just semantics at best, pandering at its worst to declare your
class “homework free”.
Like many of you, I grew up with
homework. I didn’t love it, but also
there were times that I didn’t hate it and felt I was learning from it. If the studies on the amount of time today’s
teens spend on social media is even remotely true, they obviously do have time
to do homework. The most recent American Time Use Survey that
I have seen (April, 2016) showed that high school boys spend almost 3 hours
each weekday on social media (non-educational) and girls spent almost 2 hours a
day compared with both groups spending about 6.5 hours each weekday on attending
school and homework. The social media numbers do not include watching
television and movies, which accounted for approximately another 1.5 hours each
day.
That’s
a whole lot of opportunity time. Another
15-20 minutes of practice each school day might be more beneficial and valuable
to our students in the long term. Not a
random number of problems, but practice that reinforces necessary skills taught
in the classroom. I agree with keeping
holidays and breaks family time, and do not assign homework or projects during
these times. How about you? Do you assign homework? How much and how often? Does it benefit or hurt the students?
Happy
teaching!
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