edutopia If you’re assigning the same homework to all of your students, you may not be helping them reach their full potential. Consider this scenario: Marly and Evan are in the same math class, but they’re having very different experiences with homework. Marly completes most of her work in a few minutes. After all, she already knows how to divide fractions. Evan, however, spends an hour and a half struggling through work he doesn’t understand. This scene is, of course, nothing new. Fortunately, there’s a way we can offer students more appropriately differentiated learning tasks for homework while not crushing ourselves with work. A Few Key Ideas About Homework Before we dig into how we can use choice as a vehicle for differentiated homework, let’s first be clear about a few principles of effective homework in general. Focus on reinforcement. Use Choice to Help Students Self-Differentiate Here are a few strategies for making homework more effective: Teach students how to choose well.
Is Homework Helpful?: The 5 Questions Every Teacher Should Ask Posted 10/13/2014 5:16PM | Last Commented 12/02/2014 4:29PM @Gable Denims/500px The Common Core has asked teachers to increase rigor by diving deeper into the material. Consequently, everything has been ramped up, classwork and homework no exception. My nephew, a fourth grader, has 40-50 minutes of homework a night plus independent reading and projects. The National PTA recommends 10-20 minutes per night in the first grade, and an additional 10 minutes per grade level thereafter (e.g., 20 minutes for second grade, 120 minutes for 12th). Yet, high school students in Finland rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. So, are we misguided with all this work? 1. There are no surefire guidelines or golden rules that say how long students should work, especially since they progress at different speeds. Yet, here’s the rub. 2. Often, teachers make assumptions about the time it takes to complete an assignment based on the middle-of-the-pack kid. 3. 4. 5.
Education Week It's a question that most math teachers have probably heard. Why do I have to learn this? What is math even for? On Twitter, I asked math teachers from various grade levels to share how they answer that question. Here's what they said: I also asked a handful of math teachers to share their answers more in-depth. Nicole Smith, a high school math teacher in North Carolina, said she tries to proactively address this question before students even ask: "I look for connections between upcoming topics and the real world to show students how the skill is used outside of this class. Here's what John Trout McCrann, a high school math teacher in New York and a blogger for Education Week Teacher, said he tells students when they ask why they need to learn a math concept: "You don't. Justin Minkel, an elementary teacher in Arkansas, said he uses simulations to make math fun and relevant for his young students: Teachers, share your answers to the question "Why do I have to learn this?"
What Would Happen If Students Assigned Their Own Math Homework? Is homework worthwhile? Does doing it make a difference in learning? These questions are the source of much debate nowadays. Some may say homework is good practice, and practice makes perfect. Others insist homework is unproductive and pointless. What benefit is there in doing 20 of the same type of math problem? What if homework could be a means for promoting self-efficacy, agency, and motivation to learn? In this light, the following option for math homework was born. The “What I May Need… What I Loved…” Math Investigation The “What I May Need…What I Loved…” math investigation below was crafted out of a desire to teach students that learning requires a personal commitment, in class and at home. In this assignment, students choose to focus on either an area they didn’t fully understand or something they found interesting or engaging. Making This Homework Option Work 1. No paradigm shift will work without some personal investment. 2.
Supporting Excellence: Real Support for Teachers Starts With the District’s Curriculum – Achieve the Core Aligned Materials Through my work with the Council of the Great City Schools, I’ve had the opportunity to visit school districts throughout the country, speaking with leaders and staff at all levels of the system. Often, what we hear in these conversations is a wide range of interpretations of district standards and instructional expectations. What is consistent, however, is that teachers and principals do not feel they have the resources and support they need. This is one of the reasons we at the Council of Great City Schools have shifted our focus over the last year or so to ensuring that clear guidance and standards-aligned resources are actually making it into classrooms. And we feel that this work begins with the development and implementation of a strong district curriculum. What is a Curriculum? Now, curriculum is a word that means many different things in different places. As far as definitions go, we take a very expansive view of what a curriculum entails. Seven Key Features of a Curriculum Save
Freeing Students—and Teachers—From Homework I stopped assigning homework to my second-grade students last year, and something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home. This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them. Even better, they excitedly reported their findings to their peers—who then became inspired enough to explore their own areas of interest. I wish I could say that this was part of my master plan and that I’m just that good, but my students get all the credit for this one. These are just a handful of examples of the in-depth learning that occurred at home once my students were given the gift of time: Student 1: After learning about weather patterns during our science unit, she decided to learn more about the effects of Hurricane Sandy on our local community. Student 3: After learning about the Civil War, he made a 3D model of the Battle of Gettysburg and a trifold display with key figures, a timeline, and interesting facts. 1. 2. 3.
Designing Effective Homework - Achieve the Core Aligned Materials Homework. It can be challenging…and not just for students. For teachers, designing homework can be a daunting task with lots of unanswered questions: How much should I assign? What type of content should I cover? The nonprofit Instruction Partners recently set out to answer some of these questions, looking at what research says about what works when it comes to homework. Does homework help? Consistent homework completion has been shown to increase student achievement rates—but frequency matters. Average gains on unit tests for students who completed homework were six percentile points in grades 4–6, 12 percentile points in grades 7–9, and an impressive 24 percentile points in grades 10–12; so yes, homework (done well) does work. What should homework cover? While there is little research about exactly what types of homework content lead to the biggest achievement gains, there are some general rules of thumb about how homework should change gradually over time. How Much? The Big Picture Save
What’s the Right Amount of Homework? Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less. The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “10-minute homework guideline”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it. The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. video Small Benefits for Elementary Students Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students How long will it take to complete?
The role of “practice” in mathematics class. A few weeks ago a NYTimes published an article titled, Make Your Daughter Practice Math. She’ll Thank You Later, an opinion piece that, basically, asserts that girls would benefit from “extra required practice”. I took a few minutes to look through the comments (which there are over 600) and noticed a polarizing set of personal comments related to what has worked or hasn’t worked for each person, or their own children. Some sharing how practicing was an essential component for making them/their kids successful at mathematics, and others discussing stories related to frustration, humiliation and the need for children to enjoy and be interested in the subject. To many, the term “practice” brings about childhood memories of completing pages of repeated random questions, or drills sheets where the same algorithm is used over and over again. “Practice” for both of the views above is often thought of as rote tasks that are devoid of thinking, choices or sense making. Like this: Like Loading...