My partner and I recently finished teaching a science unit in our placement and I'm almost positive that we learned more than our students! We included a variety of activities and teaching styles in each lesson and tried to reach every student by using different types of materials. The students were engaged for a majority of the class and were never assigned homework. Our cooperating teacher mentioned that he does not like to give homework on the weekends, but that their homework during the week consisted of either reading, spelling or math assignments. The assignments would never exceed more than 30 minutes and I felt that this was a great idea. One key object that has changed since I was in grade school is the amount of homework. I remember filling my agenda up as an elementary school student and spending hours on homework. Not only did the teachers load it on, but every worksheet and assignment counted as a grade. I felt pressure every night to get the exact answer and complete every task that was listed in my agenda. In our classroom today, our 5th graders are not graded on their homework but are still give expectations. Their reading assignments apply to their lit circle groups which gives them a feeling of responsibility, especially if they are working with others in a group environment.
So I began to think about the entire idea of homework and research what is important and what isn't when it comes to assignments. Yes I believe that students need a number of repetitions to learn something and I feel that homework can assist with this, but at times assignments can be too time consuming and unnecessary. But if student's take away more from the lesson and are fully engaged, is there an extra need for homework? I started researching this topic further and came across an article from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh actually about a study that was completed.http://www.maa.org/saum/maanotes49/91.html. The article stated that when the teacher informed the students that they would be graded on the assignment they payed more attention. Although, this was an interesting observation, the problems assigned were more challenging and not very exciting.
Another website brought up a few more interesting points. On another website (http://www.maryannsmialek.com/resources/articles/homework_tips.html) the point that many students don't have an environment at home that keeps them engaged was mentioned. This leads me to believe that homework is necessary in many situations, especially for repetitions on core topics, but if the students are engaged in a lesson that does not require extra practice, it might not always be the best option.
Desiree, I can not agree with you more! Often times when I younger and even now day, I feel that my homework at times was just busy work and had no connection to what I was learning in the classroom. Also there were more times than I can count where the homework was graded and you never received it back or went over it in class. If teachers don't go over the assignment in class then students never know what they did wrong or how to correct it for the next time. I think that homework is important but it has to be beneficial, and it has to relate to what the students are currently learning. In addition with the way families are today I believe homework should not take children more than 30-45 minutes to complete.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, to give homework or not to give homework?! Seems like researchers and teachers could debate that topic forever :) It seems like I side with you and your cooperating teaching on this one. A light load of homework probably is ideal. This could be to overview the next days lesson, or to wrap up and finish some classwork. But assigning 20 chapter review questions to answer...just to answer, seems a little useless.
ReplyDeleteDesiree, clearly this is one of those subjects that is controversial but I think you bring up a good point! If I were researching the same subject I think I would have come to about the same conclusion that you did. Our cooperating teacher assigns small amounts of homework to our 3rd graders and, in some cases, because their family lives are so dysfunctional, homework doesn't even get completed. Because of situations like these, I think the homework that is assigned should be 100% relevant, valuable, and quick. If students are able to reach the benchmarks for that lesson, I see no need in giving extra work that has to be done at home.
ReplyDeleteAs a mother of a second grader, I can tell you that for some students homework is really needed, especiall in the grades where they are beginning to learn how to read. Last year my daughter was in first grade, and her teacher sent home their list of 15 spelling words home every Monday, and we were to go through these with her nightly until she had her test on Friday. She then had a break until Monday. I helped her with her spelling list every night, and she did very well on her spelling tests. One week she was sick and we skipped studying for two nights. That was the week she scored the lowest on her spelling test. This year her teacher only sends home half the list and I never know what the other words on the test will be. She is still doing good, but not as well as last year.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher in my placement this sememster gives her 3rd graders homework every night. They are to read 15 minutes, which I think is a very good idea. They are also supposed to do a "home link" from their math journals. They are required to bring this back every day, but what I don't like is that she has the students mark off if they were returned, and then they are thrown in the recycling. To me this seems like a waste of time. She doesn't even know if they were done correcly. They could have confused themselves more than helped.
I feel that the homework a teacher assigns must have a purpose. Don't send home busy work for the student to do. Today in my science practicum, the teacher will be giving the sixth graders a homework assigment for the first time this year. She is only giving the students an assignment because school is canceled this Friday. I think that homework has good and bad points. As a parent, my children had at least an hour or two of homework each night. That is just way too much! But I understand Jessie's point that some students may need homework to practice skills while at home. I have heard other paretns complaining about too much or too little homework. I think the decision should be to only send homework home when absolutely needed, otherwise, don't bother!
ReplyDeleteDesiree,
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with you. I feel like if students are engaged with an activity in school and really learning then there is no need to give them extra busy work at home. I feel like when students are given homework they aren't engaged in the content as much as they were in school, therefore they may not learn as much or understand their homework. I feel like when students are given homework or "busywork" they aren't really learning because the teacher isn't there to observe or understand their thinking and you don't know if your student is doing their homework correctly because you can't see what their thought process was when they did their homework.