By Tom
Homework's making headlines. After enjoying a heady period as a great way to boost test scores, it's starting to take some heat, most notably on the Today Show by the authors of an anti-homework blog and companion book. According to them, homework is hurting our children.
Where were they when I needed them?
I hated homework as a child. Especially in high school, when it began to gain substance. As a junior, I completely neglected my history report on the Reconstruction. It was due on a Monday, and I had plans for the weekend that did not include rebuilding the South on my IBM Selectric. I actually did the report over the next two weeks in what was to be my high school slacker shining moment. I kept it in my Pee-Chee until that morning when Mr. Schmull (head football coach) had Tim Lane (starting offensive tackle) pass back the graded reports. I silently slid mine out. "Hey Lane," I griped, "Schmull didn't even grade this!" Lane brought it up to the front. "You didn't put a grade on this report," he said, resuming distribution. The poor man bought it. He obviously wasn't going to sit and read it right then and there, nor did he wish to take it home to read, having spent the better part of two weeks reading a history report from (almost) every eleventh grader in the school. So he did the next best thing. He counted the pages, looked at his grade book to see what I usually got, and gave me another B.
Fortunately I outgrew my slacker ways and was a surprisingly adequate college student, where I learned how to teach, allowing me to encroach upon the free time of a whole new generation. I started off giving "homework packets;" stapled sets of dittoed phonics papers and math sheets that had absolutely nothing to do with what my students had worked on during the school day.
And then I had kids, and justice was finally served, like some horrible appetizer, right before dinner every night, as I had to cajole my own children through their homework packets. Karma.
So I've looked at homework from three sides now. (Sorry, Joni) And I think I've figured out why and how I should do it.
First of all, it should give students a chance to review what they learned during the day. One of my college professors (See!) told us that without review, you forget half of what you hear within six hours of hearing it. Then you forget the rest of it during the next six hours. Or something like that. The point is, unless you review it, you don't learn it. Hence homework. Of course, if homework isn't a review of something a child learned, it's pointless busywork.
The second reason for homework is for parents to see what their children are learning in school. Every parent I've met wants to help their child learn. But they can't, unless they know what their child is supposed to be learning. If all they see is a packet of busywork, they'll lose interest as quickly as their children. Or worse; they'll assume that's what we're doing in school. Yikes.
So homework should be a relevant review of the school day, allowing students to practice skills and revisit concepts that they learned in school, and allowing parents to see what their kids have been up to. That's been my homework philosophy. (I post mine on-line in case you're curious, but keep in mind that it looks a lot better in Word than Google Docs.) It only takes me about ten minutes a day. I simply open up the file from the previous day, change the questions to reflect what we're doing today, update the anouncements, and print it out.
I pass it out in the morning, so my students get an idea of what they're up against. We go over it again at the end of the day, so they can get a quick review. They do it at home, and then we go over it again while scoring it in the morning, so they can get that crucial second review. Third, actually. Parents love it. They know what we're doing, and they also know where their child needs support. And there's a cool side benefit: since the parents know from day to day what we're working on, and since I announce upcoming events at the top of the page, I don't need to publish a newsletter. Sweet!
So there you have it. Tom's homework program. And Mr. Schmull, if you're still out there; I apologize. Seriously. That report was only worth a C.
I feel homework is a necessary evil for classes such as math or foreign language, constant repetition. For all other basic subjects only minimal review is needed. Good repetition and practical application in the classroom and daily life experience is sufficient. Maybe a marker for that would be less homework and more weekly quizzes.
“If all they see is a packet of busywork, they’ll lose interest as quickly as their children. Or worse; they’ll assume that’s what we’re doing in school. Yikes.”
You mean might kids might be doing something in school other than pointless busywork?
My oldest is in fifth grade. When she was in kindergarten, we made sure she had a quiet place to do her homework, made sure she did it right after school, turned it in the next day etc…
Over 90% of her homework from K-5 grade has been pointless busywork. Over 95% of my second grader’s homework has been pointless busywork.
Now, homework is often done on the car ride from school to home. Little thought or attention is given to it by my children or myself. We know that the teachers won’t look at it. We know that at least half of it is pointless review of spelling words that are already mastered. We know that we have productive things to do.
Homework has made a significant contribution for our distrust of the school system.
Unfortunately, it is also the only indicator I have of what the kids are doing in the classroom.
What do you do with a child who is brilliant but doe snot always turn in all her homework? IF she does it, it is straight A’s, if she does not it is F’s. She doe snot struggle, have talked with teachers. Even receive emails if something is due and it is late. Check assignments every night. Not always getting the full story. Do not want this to be trust issue.
This discussion about HW also makes me think about our whole grading and assessment paradigm (at least at the secondary level, or perhaps only in my building, I don’t know). When I look at my gradebook, I always get that feeling that there is not enough in there…not enough assignments, not enough grades, not enough quantified assessment. On one hand is the pressure for “coverage” of material as supposedly represented by those numbers, and on the other is my philosophy that grades should reflect the actual skills of the kid and my belief that not everything should be quantified (I think this was discussed in an earlier post by Tom or Travis…somewhere).
Sorry, Mark; your comment slipped in while I was replying to the other three. You’re absolutely right, teachers have the responsibility to teach kids how to manage their time. I think what you’ve described is what I hope my students will be doing in in four or five years, and I hope my HW program is preparing them for you and your colleagues. Obviously, at third grade, the parents need to be involved to a greater extent than they do with your students, but if we all work together systematically, we can prevent the next Slacker Tom and his Magic Pee-Chee.
Three things:
1. ms teacher: Don’t worry; I’m sure your lessons and assignments are more compelling than those of Mr. Schmull. They would have to be. And I appreciate the compliment, although I was far more devious than intelligent!
2. Jolynn: Well said. There’s a lot of things a family should be doing besides laboring over their child’s homework. That’s why I tell my parents at Curriculum Night to not spend any more than 45 minutes on homework. If their child is still working on it after 45 minutes, I want them to write me a note, pack it in and move on. I do not want homework to be the way in which any family spends the evening. (At least until the kid is in 11th grade and has a history report that’s due on Monday. And was assigned three weeks ago.)
3. Travis: Your comments are always spot on, especially this one. Teachers should never, never, never introduce new learning with homework. It’s unfair; especially to those children whose parents speak languages other than English, struggle with literacy, or simply come home exhausted from work. And I like your euphemism. I’ll try it out this week with my kids!
Tom, great post. I hope more teachers can see the value of using the web like you describe. Parents love it, at all grade levels. I battle this HW question every year, and for years seemed to swing widely between “virtually none” and “ridiculously excessive.” Doing NB certification helped me make my HW more meaningful, focusing on the learning that the activity demanded rather than assigning homework just because every other teacher in my dept seemed to be piling it on. There is obvious value in the review aspects as well as the independent practice. But I see another valuable layer to the necessity of HW at high school at least: teaching/reinforcing prioritization and time management.
I teach 9th and 10th grade English, and I’ve managed to get good turnaround with writing assignments, but when I assign reading or vocabulary work in particular–which traditionally have lower completion rates with my kids–I try to emphasize with my students the need to plan their time very specifically to accomplish these tasks. Time management, obviously, is a learned skill for most (one with few seem to master, I’m working on it…) but the little reinforcers go a long way to model effective work/life skills: “Okay class, you have four days to read fifty pages, let’s get out our calendars and plan when and how much we will read each night…if you know you absolutely have to watch American Idol’s three-hour results show or whatever, how can we plan around that?” As high school shifts students toward more supposed self-reliance and independence, the ability to prioritize tasks, break work into manageable chunks, and creating plans of action, are aspects of HW that are also valuable lessons we can impart. When students see that I as their teacher actually value their time, and encourage them to make time for relaxation and recreation, they start to see that perhaps I am not the monster I’ve instructed the upper-classmen to tell them I am.
That is all great, of course, if the teacher makes the time to teach time management skills… isn’t that someone else’s job? (hardly) Shouldn’t they already know how to study and do homework? (if they don’t, then what?) One of the greatest compliments I heard about a tough-as-nails colleague of mine who teaches AP History: student said something to the effect of “I learned a lot, and he didn’t just pile on the homework, he taught us how to do it, how to actually study, which no one really taught us before.”
Tom, perfect post for this time of year. The time of year where everyone starts to feel bogged down. Homework is a touchy issue with many as it has connotations, connotations just attached to the word. In an effort to change this view, I use the term “extension activity” in my class. Sure, it is the same product with a new name (New & Improved!!!–Buy it today!!!). However, about 1/4 through the school year, students start to use that term and it is not used in a negative way so the name change (along with my philosophy and practice of extension activities is working).
I like your points on how homework (or extension activities) should be used: review, practice, for parents. I would like to add one to the list that is implied in your first two, but not outwardly stated and often abused: extension activities (homework) should not be the first time a student learns a skill, unless exploration and confusion are part of the lesson. Teachers are amazing people. The time in the classroom with one is the best time for a student to learn and practice a skill.
Extension activities, like you say, give students a chance to practice a new skill (hopefully taking it to another level, or using a different aspect of the skill), review the skill (cyclical teaching is crucial), and keeping parents in the loop (some of this one can be done through posting or sharing or working online).
I have checked my district’s policy on how much homework, per class, per day is “approved”. It is quite a bit. Everyone should check into their district’s policy just for interest. I think the district’s approved amount it too much and infers busy work. I agree with your point on keeping it relevant and simple. Practicing a skill does not have to be a monumental task.
Hi Tom,
Yes – as a mother of 3, the homework monster has definitely reared its ugly head in my house! So much of what my kids bring home is “busywork”, or not very authentic learning. It definitely made me rethink homework assignments and their purpose. I’ve also begun to resent the time it takes for my kids to engage in this “busywork”, when I would much rather be interacting with my kids with other activities, such as preparing dinner together, taking walks, or playing board games – which unfortunately, are activities that we often don’t have time for during the school week. So, I love your “pruning” of your homework, and your use of technology in making sure that the homework is meaningful and accessible to the parents. It is definitely and idea I will pass along!
May I just say that your deviousness in 11th grade shows a truly intelligent mind! However, I will need to keep this little trick in memory in case any of my students try to pull it on me 🙂