'YourKids' Teacher

"Homework stinks."

If you're a teacher, you've heard this before. If you're a parent, you've heard, or maybe have even said, this before. As a student, you've almost certainly uttered this phrase in response to the workload assigned by your teacher/s. Why is the phrase so universal among students and the practice so despised? While my thinking on homework continues to evolve, the phrase is approaching a truism for me. Even though my philosophy and practices are still not aligned, I am getting closer to the coherency that I would like to achieve.

I had the opportunity to complete my Masters Degree this summer and aside from that achievement, I was able to devote a significant amount of my classwork towards the role of homework in our classroom. I've had a draft post on the topic for some time now, but the topic is so complex that I just never could seem to commit the time needed to address in a way that I felt it deserved. So I'm going to 'eat the elephant' one post at a time, four in total.

What the posts will try and accomplish or address:

Start the conversation. I'll try to get people thinking about homework and provide some background on homework, its issuance, tradition, and new thinking on the topic.
Tackle the homework issue from a student and home partner perspective. Its impact on learning, personal interests, relationships, and motivation.
Look at homework from an Teacher's perspective. What are teachers, administrators roles in homework and how do their attitudes and practices (issuance/grading) impact student learning and motivation.
My verdict on the issue for my students. What I will try and do and maintain for the benefit of student learning and motivation.

Even as I write the outline for these posts, the task seems too large, but here I go. I'm an elementary teacher so my perspective on the topic addresses homework solely from that perspective. Feel free to visit my Delicious bookmarks on the subject (tag: homework)

Homework and its issuance have been a part of classrooms school culture since the one room classroom of Laura Ingalls. The issuance of homework is entrenched in not only teaching theory, but in the daily practice of the modern classroom. Homework has been considered the "job of childhood" (Cornos/Xu 2004) and just an assumed part of school life and learning. Many teachers assign homework as a way of helping the school-home connection, build responsibility (self regulation), to develop self-directed behavior, and as repetitive practice of concepts learned in the classroom. Some research has found that homework can develop student self efficacy, enhance learning, and improve performance on standardized tests. (Cooper 2001; Hong 2011; Ramdass 2011;Trautwein 2004, 2006)

Some however, have called homework 'the most reliable extinguisher of the flame of curiosity" (Alfie Kohn.The Atlantic 2009) Many teachers are starting to understand that despite increasing pressure to cover multiple content standards, navigate sometimes competing direction from administrators, and loss of class time that homework is not an answer to student learning. There is a growing movement that seeks to either alter or eliminate the practice of homework issuance. Here is a prominent example http://www.endtherace.org/

"Break the legs of an old tradition" - Italian proverb

Some questions around homework.

Why do teachers assign homework?
What does homework contribute to student learning? Is it an effective practice and is it based in sound instructional theory?
What, if any, conditions need to be met for homework to be a productive practice?
Should homework be graded?
What is the social impact of homework?
Is the impact of homework the same for all students? Low income youth?
Can teachers claim or demand time outside of their classroom? And does homework take away from student creativity or the development of their personal interests?
Does homework facilitate deeper home partner relationships and involvement in student academics? Or does it add stress and frustration to students and their home partners?
Does homework improve the home-school connection?
What in terms of assessment or feedback does homework produce? Is the educational product valuable?
Is homework the result of poorly planned lessons or mismanaged class time?

Tell me what you think. I'd love to hear where your thinking is. Thanks for reading. The second post of this series is here. Homework Stinks #2 Students and Home Partners

Get Follow Me Buttons

It's been a while since I posted something here, but please don't remind me that apologizing for not blogging is the first rule of blogging. I've been busy. Really busy. Actually, the next person who says that teachers "get the summer off" might just get punched in the face. No, not really, but it feels nice saying that for some reason. Maybe an overreaction to the overwhelmingly negative press teachers seem to getting far too much of recently. I will however, give them a quick lesson on what we do in summer. A post that covers that topic is already in draft mode.

Anyways, I thought I'd share one of the fun things I'm doing to stay connected to my former students and start building a relationship with my next class. I've written about how I felt about last year's class and how hard it was disconnecting from them towards the end of the year. So I thought I would try a novel idea that allowed me to interact with them a little longer.

I followed one teacher on Twitter last summer who let his students choose what stuffed animal would travel with him on adventures small and large throughout his summer. He posted pictures of him and his companion throughout the summer on his blog.I thought it was a very cool idea and I thought I would put my own spin on the idea, so I launched my version of 'Flat Stanley this summer.

I created the "summer me" in the form of a gnome. Of course I had to create his own Twitter handle (@MrJohnsonsGnome) and Facebook page. I threw in some history, geography, and guessing into the mix to keep it fun and fresh. The reactions have been terrific, albeit a little smaller than I would have liked, but the effort has been a lot of fun and certainly worth the time!

He's been clothes shopping.