"My Dog Ate It”
January 1, 1970
Welcome to Issue Eight!""My Dog Ate It"
"God gives every bird his worm, but He does not throw it into the nest." ~Leonardo da Vinci
Many mysterious mishaps can befall homework assignments. If this is your first year as a teacher, you are probably not yet familiar with all of the ways students explain their homework mishaps. “My dog ate it” is a favorite that most veteran teachers have heard at least once, along with “I left it in my pocket and my mother washed it.” Other teachers will heartlessly snatch up homework assignments, printers will run out of ink, and homework will frequently be left behind in lockers or on the bus. The problem of unfinished homework is so pervasive that there is even an extensive page on wikiHow (www.wikihow.com/Excuse-Yourself-from-Unfinished-Homework) with detailed advice on how to create “a believable response to unfinished homework.”
Obviously, homework can be an enormous headache for everyone involved or a useful learning tool for students and their teachers. In this issue of The Practical Educator, you can learn various strategies to improve the way that you and your students deal with homework assignments so that it can become a positive part of your school day instead of a hassle.
Here is what you will find in this month’s issue:
• The advantages of good homework assignments
• Some positive homework assignment suggestions
• How to formulate a homework policy
• Assigning homework
• Why students may not complete assignments and some suggestions for dealing with specific issues
• What to do about cheating
• Quick suggestions about how to grade homework
• Eighteen homework mistakes to avoid
• Two good books about homework
• Some interesting Internet sites
• A writing to learn activity
• The discipline tip of the month
“New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become.” ~Kurt Vonnegut
The Advantages to Good Homework Assignments
Although the issue of homework is a continuing debate among American educators, many teachers believe that homework serves many useful purposes. Here are just some of the advantages that many teachers have found when homework is correctly assigned and completed by students:
• It can provide opportunities to explore topics for which there is no time in class.
• It can help students prepare for the next day’s class.
• It can help students learn time management and project management skills.
• It can offer extra practice and review opportunities.
• It can allow teachers and students to monitor progress.
• It can lead to greater understanding of the material.
“Things may come to those who wait...but only the things left by those who hustle.”
~Abe Lincoln
Some Positive Homework Suggestions
There are several positive steps to make sure that the homework you assign is appropriate and beneficial to student success. The first is to allow students to decide for themselves (with teacher guidance) what they need to accomplish for homework. If several students are working together, for example, and need more time to finish a project, then they can self-assign homework that involves finishing their work. While this may result in different assignments for the individuals in a class, the result is worthwhile. As often as you can, you should allow students a strong voice in homework decisions.
Asking students to keep journals, writing to learn logs, or to design puzzles, games, or other creative, higher-order thinking activities will be more likely to motivate students to learn than rote drills. While not all students have access to technology resources, research based assignments are also positive experiences.
One of the reasons many students do not read with fluency is that they do not read often. Allowing students to read for pleasure and to discuss what they read with classmates is an assignment that students, with direction and support from their teachers, will find enriching. If students are to improve their reading skills, reading should be part of every subject.
Involving students in community activities and volunteer efforts is an excellent way to bring real-life activities into the classroom. Class projects such as recycling or fundraising for disadvantaged community members present many teachable moments that can be aligned to most state standards as well as provide authentic assignments.
"Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
How to Formulate a Homework Policy (Adapted from The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide)
You will avoid many of the problems associated with homework if you involve parents and guardians early in the year, communicate with them frequently, alert them promptly if a problem arises, and are organized about homework. One way to begin is by developing a homework policy for your class.
Start by finding out whether there is a formal policy for your school district or your school. If there is no formal policy, then you should find out how the other teachers in your school handle homework.
Next, you will have to determine how you want to handle each one of these concerns:
• How much weight will you assign to homework grades?
• How long should each homework assignment take?
• When will you assign homework? When will your students not have homework?
• How will students know what their assignments are?
• What types of homework will you assign?
• How will you communicate with parents and guardians when problems arise?
• How will you grade homework?
• What will you do when students turn in late homework?
• What will you do when students do not do their homework?
“If you hold a cat by the tail, you will learn things you cannot learn any other way.” ~ Mark Twain
Assigning Homework (Adapted from The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide)
Successful homework completion begins before your students leave the room. Be sure you include these in your homework strategies to ensure your students’ success.
• Make sure the assignment length and difficulty is appropriate for the age of your students. One rule of thumb is that very young children should have no more than 15-20 minutes of homework a night (all subjects combined), students in grades 4-7 should have less than an hour (all subjects combined), and secondary students should have no more than 2 hours a night (all subjects combined). An alternative rule of thumb is that there should be no more than 10 minutes per grade level each night. For example, third grades have no more than 30 minutes, fifth graders no more than 50 minutes, etc.
• Follow your district’s homework policy, or make sure that your own policy is in line with that of other teachers in your school.
• At the start of the year, spend some class time each day for several days discussing how you want assignments completed. Practice together so that students can be confident about your expectations and their own ability to do the assignments correctly.
• Teach study skills every day so that your students can complete their work with less anxiety.
• Have a well-structured schedule for homework so that students can anticipate assignments. If you give your students a syllabus, you can avoid many homework-related problems.
• If you teach young students, make sure they put the work in their take home folders and actually take it home with them. Older students need time to write the assignment into an agenda or assignment planner.
• Inform parents and absent students of assignments by using the technology available at your school. Update your homework voice mail and your class Web page if you have one. Use a syllabus when appropriate. If you would like an electronic template of a sample homework letter for parents, please e-mail Julia at thompson_juliag@yahoo.com.
• Spend enough time going over the assignment and checking for understanding so that students comfortable about how to do their work. Show examples, estimate how long it will take to complete, offer suggestions, and explain your expectations so that they know how to succeed.
• Don’t wait until the last few minutes of class to assign homework. If you want students to take it seriously, it should not be a last-minute item. Instead, many teachers take a three-step approach. 1)Have it posted on the board when they arrive and go over it as they copy it. 2)Discuss it as part of the lesson. 3)Review it at the end of class.
• Use varied modalities when giving directions. It is a good idea to write the directions on the board or some other easy way for students to see them, go over those directions orally, have students record them in an assignment book, ask a student to recap the directions, and, at the end of class, go over them one more time.
“The job of an educator is to teach students to see the vitality in themselves.” ~Joseph Campbell
Why Students May Not Complete Homework/ Some Brief Suggestions
Although there can be many reasons why students don’t always complete their homework, some seem to be universal. Luckily, alert teachers can manage these. Try some of these suggestions if you find your students (and yourself) struggling with homework.
Students did not record the assignment when you made it.
• Allow enough time for students to record the assignment at the start of the class. Have them copy it from the board instead of just writing it down as you say it. Monitor them as they do this.
Students don’t seem to take the assignments seriously.
• Make sure students know the purpose and benefits of each homework assignment you make. Take a serious stance when discussing the work. Collect it and check it for accuracy. Enact your policy to involve parents or guardians.
Students leave their books and materials at school.
• First, allow your students sufficient time to gather their belongings. Be sure to stress the importance of the work and then problem-solve a solution with students. If the problem persists, even after you have worked with them, contact a parent or guardian.
A family crisis keeps a child from being able to complete the assignment.
• Be compassionate and offer assistance. Allow parents to write a note to you when a child does not finish an assignment. Ask them to include a phone number where they can be reached if necessary. You will find that parents will greatly appreciate this simple act of understanding and cooperation on your part.
Students “forget” to do their homework frequently.
• Talk with individual students to determine the underlying causes and offer assistance. Check to see that they have recorded the assignments so that they know what to do. Communicate with parents so that they know what the assignments are and can offer support.
Students claim they do their work, but leave it at home.
• Sometimes this can happen, but a student does this frequently, contact parents.
Students have other assignments that are more pressing than the ones you assign.
• Talk to the other teachers involved to see if you can avoid schedule conflicts. Be as flexible as you can.
Students are overwhelmed by homework assignments.
• When you make an assignment, ask students to estimate how long it will take them to complete it. This allows you to adjust an assignment when necessary and teaches students to become good project managers. Offer help to students who may need extra assistance in doing their work. A bit of extra time with you after school will often clear up problems and boost students’ confidence.
Students don’t really see why they have to do homework.
• Focus their efforts by showing them how to set long-term and short-term goals. Make setting goals a part of your classroom and you will give your students a steady purpose for doing their work. Make it a priority to build in motivation as often as possible.
Students have other interests (sports, video games, television, etc.) that they claim are more important than homework.
• Work with students to set goals, hold them accountable for the work, and call home when necessary to ask for support.
Students say they don’t know how to do an assignment.
• Take this seriously. Remediate the instruction and allow students extra time to complete the work. Avoid assigning a new skill as homework before students have had an opportunity to practice in class.
Students don’t have access to technology and other resources at home.
• Show them how they can find what they need at school, but be sensitive to the type of homework assignments that you make.
Students are capable of doing the work but just don’t get around to it.
• Often underachieving students are not lazy, but are paralyzed by a subtle fear of failure. Talk with the student first. If this does not succeed, then involve parents and the counselors at your school to help your underachieving student.
“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” ~Mark Twain
What to Do about Cheating
Many students find it tempting to cheat on homework assignments. While teachers do not have full control over this because they are not with students when they complete homework assignments, the strategies in the list below may offer help for this problem.
• Allow students to work together on assignments whenever possible and appropriate.
• Avoid busywork assignments that lend themselves easily to cheating: looking up definitions, questions at the end of a chapter, math problems that don’t involve showing the process, labeling a map or diagrams, etc.
• Offer homework assignments that appeal to students’ learning styles and interests, that are relevant, and that deal with real-life situations as often as you can.
• Make sure students know how to do the work and how they will benefit from it.
• As previously stated, allow students to have a voice in planning homework. Spend time discussing assignments, possible due dates for longer assignments, and other any other aspect that will allow them a sense of ownership in their work.
• Consider a homework contract where students can choose among assignments.
• If you suspect that a student has copied another’s work, speak to him or her in private before making accusations. Often, if a student is aware that a teacher is alert, cheating will diminish.
“Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly.” ~Arnold Edinborough
Some Quick Suggestions about Grading Homework
• Be selective. Not every assignment has to be completely graded for accuracy, especially if it is practice.
• Grade some assignments for completion only.
• Have students discuss and correct their assignments with a partner or in a group before handing them to you.
• Quiz students on the material covered in the assignment instead of on the assignment itself.
• Ask students to keep a portfolio of assignments and grade only selected ones.
• One of the most important things you can do to help students learn from their homework assignments is to offer generous praise and constructive feedback on assignments. Even when you are only recording a completion grade, take time to write a note on the student’s paper. Useful comments can range from “Thanks for the very neat work!” to “Don’t forget to show all of the steps in the process on tomorrow’s test.”
“Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.” ~Albert Camus
Eighteen Homework Mistakes to Avoid
1. Never assign homework as punishment.
2. Be sure your students have the knowledge and skills they need to do the assignment.
3. Be sensitive to the amount and difficulty of the work you assign.
4. Don’t use a “No Homework” pass as a reward. If you want to reward students, teaching them that an assignment is not necessary is not the best choice you can make.
5. Be aware that not all of your students will have access to computers or other resources that an assignment may require.
6. Just telling students the assignment at the end of class is insufficient. Use more than one modality to get the information across.
7. Don’t neglect to communicate your homework expectations to the parents and guardians of your students at the start of the term.
8. Don’t allow your voice mail, syllabus, or Web page to be so out of date that it is no longer useful.
9. Strive for assignments where students will find it difficult to cheat.
10. Don’t neglect to offer feedback on assignments. While not every assignment has to end with a recorded grade, students do need to know how to do their work successfully.
11. Don’t assign difficult new material without discussing it first. Introducing upcoming material with a graphic organizer is okay. Asking students to complete questions or problems on cold material is not.
12. Don’t design boring assignments. While not all students will find every assignment fascinating, they should be motivated to do their work.
13. Don’t refuse to hold students accountable for their learning. Involve parents and counselors, work with students individually, and make sure students know the value of homework instead of just giving zeros.
14. Don’t neglect to follow your school’s homework guidelines.
15. Don’t tune out your students when they complain about an assignment. Even if you don’t find their complaints legitimate, you will gain helpful insights about your students and the work you assign.
16. If you assign reading homework, don’t forget the pre-reading and guided reading activities that can make it a positive learning experience.
17. Don’t tell students to “study” or “look over notes” instead of a more specific review assignment.
18. Don’t give homework every night.
"Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems." ~Descartes
Two Good Books about Homework
If you would like to learn more about homework, here are two books that can help as you reflect on this topic. The Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn describes the negative aspects of homework. Published in 2006 by DeCapp Lifelong Books, this book is an excellent resource for those teachers who are opposed to assigning homework. Ending the Homework Hassle by John Rosemond (Andrews McMeel Publisher, 1990) offers strategies for making homework manageable for teachers, students, and parents.
“A torn jacket is soon mended; but hard words bruise the heart of a child.” ~Longfellow
Some Terrific Homework Internet Sites (Some adapted from The First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide)
For Teachers
• Homeworkopoly (www.teachnet.com/homeworkopoly) Here you’ll find an interesting game to download. It will motivate your students to complete their homework in a friendly competition.
• Homework Spot (www.homeworkspot.com) This large site offers terrific resources for various grade levels and subjects. You can find advice on assignments as well as links to other helpful sites.
• Yourhomework.com (www.yourhomework.com) This user-friendly site allows teachers to create free Web pages to post assignments.
For Students
• B. J.’s Homework Helper (www.school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck). The moderator of B. J.’s Homework Helper is B. J. Pinchbeck, who offers more than seven hundred links to sites that students can access for homework help.
• Pearson Education (www.factmonster.com). This user-friendly site offers many categories of information that students can search when they need information for reports or other homework assignments.
• Homework Center (www.infoplease.com/homework). At the Homework Center, students can find information on core subjects as well as skill builders and online reference sites.
• National Geographic (www.nationalgeographic.com/homework). National Geographic offers a student-friendly site with topic categories such as animals, history, culture, or science.
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. ~Albert Einstein
Writing to Learn
• A writing to learn activity that you and your students should find useful is to ask them to write about how they did their homework. Depending on the age of your students, you can ask them to tell you the methods that they used to do their work, describe the parts that they found most helpful, offer suggestions, explain their study habits, ask questions, tell you about problems they had, or ask for help. Metacognition is a powerful way to learn.
Discipline Tip of the Month
• If a student does not submit homework on time, ask that student to write out the reason for not doing the work and a phone number where parents or guardians can be reached. Not only does this make students aware that you area serious about homework, but it could be useful documentation in a parent conference. If you would like an electronic template of this form, e-mail Julia at Thompson_juliag@yahoo.com.
"You got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there." ~Yogi Berra"