Homework in the Classroom
Posted by PLB Blogger · 2 Comments
Most students dread homework. They just want to be done with school during the time they must be at school itself and not continue studying at home. However research says that a gap in studying during holidays can significantly slow down the learning process. Moreover, recalling what has been learned in the classroom, and working on additional projects at home does enhance learning.
So, presuming that there’s no getting rid of homework, how can we make it easier (and maybe even exciting) for our students? One idea is definitely to give homework projects that are creative, fun or even play-based. Another way to help students cope with homework, is to teach them organization skills that can help them to plan and pace their work. In addition to reading, math or science- students will learn an important life skill that they can use after they graduate. Help students create checklists, break up projects into parts, and determine their own milestones or deadlines.
I’m sure you have tried different ideas and strategies to make homework easier. I would love to hear more about what you’ve done.
What are some strategies that you use to decrease the burden of homework in your classroom?
Students love technology. If everyone has access to a computer at home, teachers can assign interesting research topics. There are SO many great sites for students to learn information. The Library of Congress has oodles of Primary Sources students can react to. If teachers set up a “Moodle,” or site where students can get on and share their reactions together at a specific time, great “home” conversations can be had. Students can read a few chapters of an assigned novel and interact with the book on-line. Students can “study” reviews of books on Goodreads.com and write their own on the Moodle site the teacher has set up. There are also hundreds of differentiated math sites that can be accessed for students to practice what they have learned in class. On line is where students want to be, so why not make on-line learning activities work for students? (If there are students without computer access, there are ways to donate computers for families, or time after school where students can work on the computers at school).
My district has 2 sites that we may use to create assignments online for our classes. One is via our own teacher webpage – create surveys and the site corrects the work for you! The other site is StudyIsland.com – I have to create my own material because my district doesn’t subscribe to the Spanish activities. This site also grades the student work for you. I have my students grouped into their respective classes so it’s very easy to load their grades onto our gradebook. Students who finish the homework assignment early than the due date receive a bonus of 5 points to that assignment. They then compete to see which students did the work with the greatest frequency. I use that data and create spreadsheets showing the correlation between extra practice at home and the grades they received on the assessment associated with those activities!