Homework. Students hate doing it, teacher hates
grading it, students don’t do it, teacher gets frustrated at students for not
doing it – and then the whole cycle starts over again when the teacher assigns
the next night’s homework. If we know how the cycle will go, why do we as teachers
continue to repeat it?
One reason homework is assigned is to see if students
are comprehending the content of that day’s lesson. This is quite counterproductive
when you actually think about it. If the students are not comprehending it,
they either don’t do their homework and get points taken off, or they do it,
get it wrong, and still get points taken off. Teachers are often rushed through
explaining the homework at the end of the class period while students are
packing up their things and thinking about everything but listening to the teacher
explain some assignment they will (maybe) complete hours later. In such cases,
homework is not a reliable account of comprehension.
Another reason of assigning homework is to keep
students accountable for contributing to the class. In my MT’s class, the homework
is often used the next day as bellwork. For example, students will write Daily
Oral Language sentences as homework and bring them the next day for the whole
class to correct together. However, when students don’t complete or bring the
homework to school, it affects the entire class.
I will often ask students where their homework is and
why they do not have it with them. Many students will answer that they left
their homework at mom’s, dad’s, grandma’s, etc., but did not the other
parent/guardian was the one that drove them to school. This is obviously a
consequence of students that come from divorced or single parents. In Robert J.
Marzano and Debra J. Pickering’s article “The Case For and Against Homework”,
they state that homework is often particularly harmful to “economically disadvantaged students, who
are unintentionally penalized because their environments often make it almost
impossible to complete assignments at home” (Marzano and Pickering).
While teachers are not
purposely penalizing students at an economic disadvantage and others whose home
situations cause them to be at a disadvantage, it is crucial that teachers take
all students and all home situations into consideration when planning homework
assignments. One quote from Marzano and Pickering’s article which I found
particularly intriguing was that “teachers are not well trained in how to
assign homework” (Marzano and Pickering). Looking back on my Curriculum and
Instruction courses, I can’t remember a time where we explicitly went over
strategies on how to assign homework. Is there even a way to teach teachers how
to effectively do this?
Marzano and Pickering do
suggest several strategies for assigning homework, keeping in mind those
students that would struggle with completing homework in their home
environments. One thing they suggest is to have the child “show or explain
their written work or other products completed at school to their parents and
get their reactions” (Marzano and Pickering). I love the idea of having
parents included in the learning process without forcing them to be experts on
the subjects.
Articles cited:
Marzano, Robert J., and Debra J. Pickering. "The Case For and Against Homework." Educational Leadership 64.6:
74-79. Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development. Web. 25
Sept. 2015.
<http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar07/vol64/num06/The-Case-For-and-Against-Homework.aspx>.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the name of your blog cracked me up--nice reference!
This post really hits me where it hurts. Just yesterday, I was telling me mentor teacher that I feel overwhelmed when I start to consider how I will handle homework; I agree that sometimes it seems like such a pointless exercise. You raised many of the same questions I have, including: How much, if any, should I assign? If I do assign it, how many points should I assign to it? What would be a better alternative as a formative assessment?
I am pretty addicted to Bomer's workshopping model, in which the teacher conducts a brief mini-lesson, followed by a long period of work time, during which she circulates and checks for individual progress and comprehension. In this way, homework remains school work, students are still assigned grades, and teachers are immediately aware of how well her class is latching on to a concept. In this way, she can more effectively plan for the next day's lesson, knowing full well whether she can safely move on to the next learning objective or not.
Finally, I appreciate that you brought up the issue of socioeconomic status as it relates to homework. I worry that many teachers get burned out and easily frustrated with students who do not bring materials and completed homework to school; they would do well to look at the larger picture, as you have so thoughtfully done.
Thanks for a great read!
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteTHIKNING ABOUT THE TOPIC OF HOMEWORK MAKES MY HEAD SPIN, and I am very glad that you posted about this. I feel so conflicted about it because I know how helpful it can be. I think there are certain concepts we will teach that students will need to practice in order to understand. Practice really does make perfect, and there is one part of my brain that is super thankful that I was assigned certain assignments, and also that I completed them. I know I gained a lot from the extra effort I put into schoolwork outside of the classroom, and I want my students to have this opportunity as well.
However, there is the other part of me that realizes that students are young. And they deserve to explore and do other things. And when it comes down to it, there is no way we can inspire them to do their homework if they do not want to. We can do our best to make them interested in class, but what they do at home is out of our control. Also…sometimes I wonder if I spent too much of high school locked up in my room doing assignments when I should have been out mixing it up. My dad always says “Never let school get in the way of your education,” and maybe I could have used less homework and more fun and real-life experience.
This part of me also agrees with the article you mentioned in your post that said that homework really is for the students who live in a somewhat privileged environment. I’ve heard a lot of parents of elementary school students complain that their child’s homework is too hard and that they don’t even know how to do it…and most of these are English speaking adults who have a college degree. Can you imagine how the parents who don’t speak English or did not get a higher education feel? THEY MUST FEEL SO OVERHWELMED. And ultimately their kid is also missing out because their parents aren’t able to offer that support.
So basically I just reiterated what you said in your post. But it really does pose an interesting question: Is homework beneficial? I think it depends on the class. And I think ultimately when it comes to most students, you need to expect that the homework will not be completed, and that you should plan your class time accordingly.
***side note: there is a really cool thing called flipping the classroom, where students watch short lectures at home or in a study hall, and then do the homework/practice in class. I would love to try this especially in a math classroom. WOW IF KIDS BOUGHT INTO IT, THAT WOULD BE PRETTY COOL I THINK.