The Homework Myth

At the recommendation of Kelly from Physics! Blog!, I am reading the book "The Homework Myth" by Alfie Kohn.  She knew I was debating the idea of homework or no homework and how I had leaned towards the latter.  This book has really opened my eyes.  For any of you who use SBG, even though I've just started, I do recommend it.

So far from the first two chapters, I've gleaned a few important facts.

1) Homework takes the student away from their family while they are home.  I have always believed the family is essential to a child's well being growing up.
2) Homework is a continuation of "school" at home.  They need a break.  They need to be able to take care of themselves - spend time with their family, play sports, socialize, get some exercise, play games, read a book for enjoyment, or just hang.  The list can and does go on.
3) Parents are asked to become "teachers".  They need to just be parents.  Can you imagine working all day then coming home and have to teach your child what your teacher couldn't do?
4) Homework often creates family conflicts.  Nagging from parents can lead to arguments.  Can you imagine being a student coming home and the first thing out of your mom or dad's mouth is something along the lines of "So what do you have for homework tonight?"  No "how are you" or "how was your day" or any similar question that wants to connect with you.
5) Is learning really happening?  Parents have been observed high-fiving their child just for completing the homework.  Not "what did you learn about?" or "what did your studies help you understand about this subject?"  This one was a eye-opener for me.  Seems parents were more interested  and sending the message, intentionally or not, that homework was just something to be done, not something that fosters learning.
6) Homework does not help.  Kohn went through lots of research dating back to 1897 related to homework.  He did not find any research that supports the use of homework. Most research he found actually showed homework hurt student achievement.  The few positive results he did find were very minimal gains and did not present a strong case for using homework.

What the author is doing is asking people who use it to prove the benefits of homework and have the data to back it up.  He hasn't seen it yet, which is why he's against homework use.  I'm inclined to agree with him.  If you know of any research that does, I would be happy to read it and I'm sure the author would too!

One final note that struck me.  If a student has to do homework, I'm not doing my job.  They are not learning.  Comments from a couple of teachers: one said "the students are compelled to be in my class forty-eight minutes a day.  If I can't get done in forty-eight minutes what I need to get done, then I really have no business intruding on their family time."  Another said, "I am forced to create lessons that are so good that no further drilling is required when the lessons are completed."

I've only read two chapters so far, but I'm hooked already and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the book. I'm going back to my classroom now to take on this challenge of becoming a better teacher with the class time I have to teach the students.

My Decision About Homework in SBG

Standards Based Grading does not do homework.  The #1 principle is that homework is practice and should not be graded.  See my other post about this.  However, the students I teach present a different challenge.  Some, if not most, are not motivated.  They just want to get a good grade and move on.  This means they put just enough effort.  That's one part of why I want to do SBG - I hope it will challenge them to learn, not just tell me what I want to hear.

Now to the homework million dollar question - to give or not to give?  More specifically, to grade or not to grade.  That was the big question.  If our students don't have to do it, they won't.  I do believe that.   After reading about how others did not give homework and talking with other teachers I work with (since we know our students best), I decided on a happy (I hope) medium.  I have taken the leap and will not grade homework.  However, I still will give them "practice" problems/questions.  This will be completely optional for them.

To encourage them to do it, I've decided to implement a positive reinforcement system.  I will track their homework using a spreadsheet.  They'll get a check for each assignment they do - completely ungraded.  I'll tie it into the incentive program I've developed and will ask them to help me finish it the first week of school.   The incentive program I think for now will be in the form of "money."   This blog post gave me some ideas and I'm going to give 1 cent (dollar?) for each check they earn regarding homework.  Other things I think I'm gonna include are organization, a Wow factor (something along the lines of "I really like what you did there"), and for acts of kindness that are not your usual polite manners.  It'll be up to them how to use the money they earn.  I usually like to have students give me input for the incentives - when its something they want, they'll work harder for it.  I just have to develop a fair system - not too easy to get something they want, but not too hard.  At the same time, they can practice money skills.

Now to be careful not to fall into the trap of "I did the practice" when they just make up stuff just to get the check.  I'll have to watch this carefully to see how effective it'll be.  Any of you have any ideas or suggestions?

It's Done!

Earlier I posted that most of my SBG skills lists were done, but not all.   Well, NOW they are all done!  I am so excited about how they look.  I'm anxious to find out how it will go over with students, with myself, and how the grading will stand up to the challenge this year.

A colleague I was working with said something I had already felt: "I feel like I know what I'm going to look for and what students are going to learn for the entire year."  (emphasis mine)   Zing!   Isn't that a great feeling?  A nice feature of SBG!  Pacing guides are great, but they are just general ideas of what topics we'll be diving into.  SBG will help assess (ready for it?)  - learning!

Of course, as usual, our human nature comes up after a good feeling --- what if this doesn't work !?!  I cannot say that I'm not worried.  I have read all about it, researched it, followed people who use it, and looked at countless examples.  So it should work.....right?  It is a big change (risk?) and that's something I'm not used to.  However, I do have confidence in the evidence that is out there.  And if I fall flat on my face, I'll shoulder all the blame.  Isn't that part of growing and learning - trying new things?   I just hope it doesn't come at the expense of student growth.  I have usually been against using students in some "research project" or something similar because I don't want to mess with their education.  But I find myself in the same shoes that I was pretty much against.  We shall see....

Now on to the assessments themselves.  That'll be the challenge.  I know I'll be doing these on the fly -- not ideal, but considering the time I have left, I'll have to do it week by week.  I'll be browsing around some of your blogs for ideas, but any suggestions from you SBG users?