In my first student
teaching field placement, (I am in a split placement, the second half being
special education) my cooperating teacher wanted the students to have a rather
significant amount of homework each night. With many objectives to be covered each
day, time spent to go over homework almost never occurred. I know from my own
memories as an elementary school student that homework is especially dreaded if
it seems pointless. For the children in my student teaching class, the homework
that they were assigned each night, I am sad to say, did seem a bit pointless.
It was never collected, never looked over, or never even acknowledged. When I
took over instruction and began assigning the homework myself, I thought it was
important to check it the next day in order to make sure the students
understood the previous day’s objectives. However, when walking around to check
homework, I was shocked to see that only 5 of 22 students completed the
assignment! I talked to them and asked them if they were confused about the
instructions. I was told that they did not even attempt the homework, because
they were used to being assigned large amounts and then never having it
assessed.
Perhaps I am being too optimistic in believing that in a
real life classroom every assignment should truly be meaningful and count for
something. I wish that homework were something that the students realized was
given for the purpose of reinforcing skills and being of benefit to them.
I would like to pose the following questions to all of
you: What type of homework routine have you been observing in your student
teaching classroom? Does your
cooperating teacher assign homework every day? Are you in charge of assigning
the homework now that you have taken over instruction? It is collected? Does it
count as a grade, or is homework something that is not even considered? I await
your responses! Thank you.
I truly believe that homework is important in order to reinforce the skills taught that day. I have found the homework routine that I have been observing in my second grade classroom to be meaningful and the routine I will use in my future classroom. My cooperating teacher believes homework is important and assigns it Monday-Thursday. There is no homework on the weekends. She assigns two assignments, three at the max, to practice the skills. The homework is usually one sheet to reinforce math skills and one for language arts. Then the next day, the students hand in the language arts homework and she corrects. The math homework we go over as a class during the math lesson. This routine shows the students that the assignments are important and meaningful. Majority of the time every student has his/her homework completed, occasionally one or two students forget but it is not often. Homework is collected and its completion does count as a grade. I really like this routine.
ReplyDeleteI feel that assigning large amounts of homework each night and not collecting it or going over it is pointless and a waste of time. It seems to me that the homework is like busy work and the fact that the students recognize that it is pointless to do the homework since it is not collected or checked proves that the homework routine in place is not working. Since you have taken over, maybe you could try to create a new homework routine to show the students that homework is important.
I also believe that home is important. However, I believe that the homework that is being assigned needs to reflect the lessons that were taught that day. My cooperating teacher also feels the same as I do. Every week my teachers, and now I, assign a one page math and a one page language arts assignment (Monday-Thursday). These assignments reflect what we are doing in class and are handed in at the beginning of each day. During the day I correct their homework and the students get it back at the end of the day. However, if I see that multiple students are misunderstanding the same problem or question, I will go over it that day in class so I can fix any misunderstandings before moving on.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could look over their homework during the day. Then you can refer to something on it so the students are noticing that you are seeing their homework. Also, if there are students who are misunderstanding the homework you can point it out and reteach the material if necessary which will make the homework meaningful. I do not believe a lot of homework is necessary especially if it is not meaningful. If homework is given I think that the teacher should hand it back in a timely manner.
I agree that homework is very important because the skills taught in the classroom need to be reinforced! In my regular education setting, there was language arts/writing homework and math homework every night. At the beginning of the week, the homework assignment is to write their spelling words in sentences. It was usually split into two nights, half the words on each night. This was a very important assignment because it helped students practice their spelling words and remember their meanings. Their other homework was a math worksheet that went along with the lessons being taught, again, extra practice to reinforce new skills. The student's homework was collected everyday and checked for understanding and completion. If my cooperating teacher or I noticed a student was having trouble with their homework, it was addressed and worked on with the students. Due to the fact that this was a first grade classroom, it was not technically counted as a grade, however their grades often reflected the work we saw coming in from home! The students were aware of the importance of homework, and therefore completed it accordingly. Their homework routine was the same weekly, so it helped to maintain stability in their schedule too!
ReplyDeleteNow that I have switched to my special education placement in a resource room, I have noticed that homework still plays a vital role in their education. I have a 6th grade math push-in period at the start of the day. During that period, the class spends time going over their math homework, therefore it is checked and corrected, as well as gone over together as a class and worked out on the board. This helps provide struggling students with extra practice and examples. The rest of my day is spent with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade language arts students. They have one homework assignment that is usually small, to prevent from overwhelming them. The students' homework is gone over and if completed to the best of their ability, they get a hole punch on their homework card. When the card is filled they receive a homework pass. The students really want to get these passes, therefore they work hard on their homework!
Depending on the grade of your class, try using some sort of incentive to get them to finish their homework. It is also important to make their assignments reasonable, not too big and not too easy!
I too believe that homework is important. In my second grade class the homework routine was very productive. The students received homework Monday – Thursday and usually from Language Arts and Math. The amount they receive is feasible; they rarely receive more then 2 items a night (unless they need to study for a test). The next morning the students put the homework in the bin and the teacher will go over the homework. She does correct the homework but does not mark them wrong if it is incorrect. The homework does count, the students will get marked down on their homework grade for that day if they do not have it. The only way students can get out of doing their homework a night is if they get a free homework pass from completion of their sticker chart. The homework does coincide with what the students are learning day to day. A few times my coop noticed that many of the students did not understand the homework and she took time during the day to go over the same exact problems with the class. I do not like the idea of bombarding the students with homework and then not collecting or going over it. Children are smart they will catch on and say why even bother if it is not collected. I think homework also teaches students responsibility at a young age by having to complete and bring back the homework. I would certainly try and give some positive energy towards homework and its importance.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I hated homework growing up (didn't we all?!) now that I'm in a classroom teaching, I see the benefits. First of all we have the ability to see if students are actually "getting" the instruction that has taken place that day or the previous day. It is a great indicator of who is struggling with a certain lesson or concept. My cooperating teacher prepares a "Homework Sheet" the previous Friday and it is handed out on Monday (on colored paper) and it shows what homework is due each day. It's really helpful and the kids actually refer to it daily. It's also great for the parents to see what the week will look like. We check homework every day and go over math in the morning along with the morning work math. It's amazing though, how many students say "I forgot….or I left my _____ notebook home." If students don't do their homework, they go to the office during their recess and do it there….this is a 4th grade class and will be going to middle school next year and the principal warned the kids that they can't not do their homework in middle school so she is getting them prepared now.
ReplyDeleteMuch like the others, I also believe that homework is important and very necessary, even though we hated them as children. In the resource room that I am now in, we give homework regularly except Fridays. The homework is never graded because it serves more as a practice assignment. It is always collected and gone over. For the fifth grade math, the homework is doing the computations taught during class and some word problems. Word problems tend to be harder for this group, but they are encouraged to use keywords and the material learned in class to attempt the problems. Neither the teacher nor I reprimand the students about getting the answer incorrectly. The objective of the homework is to have them practice the skill and then push them to work on more challenging problems. Their learning is then supported the following day. For the third grade language arts group, the children are on the Wilson Reading program, which teaches them different rules to decode, read, and write multi-syllabic words. The homework for them is primarily for practice. They mostly break up and mark different types of words in a list. Each student is on a different level in the program depending on his or her skill, so his or her homework is differentiated. The teacher always checks that homework, and they are to read that list of words. All in all, I feel that homework serves as good practice and enables students to challenge themselves without the pressures of a time constraints that they have in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI believe homework is important for many reasons. It reinforces the skills they have learned that day. If a teacher assigns homework and never checks it the students will begin to not take the homework seriously. The students will not try their best and know its okay because it won't be checked. Therefore, it is only hurting the students. My cooperating teacher assigns spelling and math homework every night. The spelling sentences are checked in the morning when they come in and they read their sentences aloud during spelling. Before the new math lesson for the day we go over the math as a class so I can address any problems the students didn't understand. Overall, I feel homework is very important but if it isn't checked the students will begin to not try as hard as they may if they knew it was going to be checked for accuracy.
ReplyDeleteI believe homework is very important as well. I think homework really reinforces what the student has learned during the day. I observed a second grade class in the Charter School and homework was given in a packet form on Monday. Every Friday the teacher collected the homework and graded it. The students had the worksheets labeled for them so they knew which one they were completing on Monday etc. I believe homework can help the teacher assess in a way who understood the work and who didn't. This way the teacher can work with that individual student or with the class as a whole to make sure that they understood the work.
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