Before my students left for break, I emailed them, my parents, announced in class, AND posted on the board that there would be no work over break because it's BREAK.
I told them they were welcome to take their independent reading books home if they wanted. No assignment, now work, just read. But that I encouraged them to play, see friends, enjoy family, recharge.
When I was in high school, and later taught at the high school I graduated from, there was a math teacher (and sorry, but it's usually the older math teachers :-( ) who took great delight it seemed in assigning HUGE, MONSTROUS packets of work that not only had to be done over break but which the teacher insisted be MAILED by a certain date in order to be graded. They failed students if they didn't. Ignored tears about family issues.
I never understood one, why they were allowed to do this, and two, why parents and students did not revolt.
I kind of feel the same way about athletic events/conferences scheduled over break. It's a BREAK.
I survey my students at the end of the semester to see what I can do better, get them to reflect a bit, see what they're struggling with. Overwhelmingly this semester my students said they struggled with anxiety and depression and I think educators need to seriously consider how we're contributing to this.
This past semester as I helped struggling students with other classes' work or during Saturday school, I saw math and social studies packets upon packets. One student struggled with a social studies packet. I asked, honestly wanting to know, if doing that helped them learn. They said no, they just looked it up online and filled in the blanks.
Another students had missed a lot of school because of hospitalization. Was given a handful of packets to do for math. Now, I can build furniture, figure out lumber orders, cook, and balance my checkbook, so freshman algebra is about my limit. This student was an English Language Learner, and was struggling with writing out expressions. So I sat down, read them outloud, and we worked through them. Student started to "see" it. We did a whole page, which first of all was like 30 items. And poorly designed, not enough space to work through. I went to get up and the student said, oh no, there's a whole back.
That's ridiculous.
I truly believe that each teacher should be required to answer, for every assignment, "What is the pedagogical reason for assigning this?"
If you can't answer that, you are doing something wrong.
So, what is the purpose of homework? Most teachers will tell you it is for practice. But here's the problem with that. You spend a class period teaching a concept. Then you send the student home with work to practice. But what if they don't get it? How long do they struggle with those 30, 40, 50 problems? What about students who have no help at home? What does that do to the socio-emotional status of our students?
I know some teachers do better. The best practice I've heard for math is that the last 10-15 minutes of class were set aside for the students to start their homework, so if they needed help the teacher was there to help. When the bell rang, the students had to then do 5 more, wherever they were. That was it.
Homework does not replace teaching, instruction, but I think as what teachers have to cover has increased, and time to do it has decreased, homework has become a convenient place to dump "coverage." I've heard teachers point to Common Core State Standards and comment that they can't cover it all. I know math teachers in my school say they spend fall semester reteaching material from pre-algebra, getting further and further behind. And I sympathize with all of these challenges.
But sending work home that students can't do does not help. Homework that depends on technology and resources punishes your poorer students. Homework over breaks, weekends, and requiring hours and hours, hurts your students.
My students have 7 periods on Monday, 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th on Tuesday/Thursday, and 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th on Wednesday/Friday.
Let's do our own math. Let's say each class gives 30-60 minutes of homework (and from what the kids tell me, that's less than half of what they have). That's a MINIMUM of 2 hours of homework a night. Not including time spent on the bus. Or watching siblings. Or working.
Ask your students what a typical day looks like for them. Do the homework math.
We're doing active, avoidable, harm to our students.
My students do not have homework. We do all the work in class. The only time they have homework is if they did not finish work in class, and this rarely happens. I design my station rotations to include weeks of class time to work on projects, writing assignments, walk them through the steps, provide the technology, materials, resources.
Because a guiding principle in my class is that if it's important for them to learn it, it's important for them to learn it. Which is why I take make up work, late work, let them retake tests, revise assignments.
Most schools are on winter break, and I'm seeing more and more posts about parents angry, justifiably so, about their children having to complete useless assignments over break. Stressing about getting things done.
Instead of assigning book reports, on the day back, ask students to talk about what they did, read, watched. Share what you did. Start conversations, share. Show interest. Studies have proven that rote work robs students of a love of reading.
Do not assign packets.
Tell and show your students and families that you respect them, their time, their calendars, by not assigning work. Tell them, teach them, that unplugging, respecting family, taking time off is important.
Teachers get new starts twice a year, even if you're like me and teach year long classes.
So January is a new start.
Ask yourself why you give the work, assignments you do. What is the goal? Does the assignment meet that goal? If you're using homework to check a box, is there a better way to do it? There is, trust me.
Have you asked your students what you could do better? What they need? What would help them?
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