At the beginning of each school year, I stand in front of my students and I state, “Homework is a bad word. We don’t use it in my classroom. However, if you end up with homework in my class, know that it was a choice you made when you chose to do other things instead of your assigned classwork.” I even go the extra mile to state my reasons for not giving homework which involved my son nearly failing his favorite subject.
Homework may have its place in some classes where extra practice is required, but in ELA, I find that the only thing that homework brings is endless late night emails. If I’ve assigned essays or projects, I generally provide time to work on them throughout the week in class, even if we are working on something else entirely. By doing this, I can answer questions as they arise rather than at a time when I am in bed.
Why the sudden interest in homework?
Currently our school is completing its School Climate surveys. The teachers, students, and parents all take this survey. One of the questions is about homework, and I noticed that a student made the remark that hardly any teacher gave homework.
It’s true. Homework is a rarity, and it is mostly due to the fact that our district decided that homework cannot be counted as a grade. You may give a participation grade, if you like, but you cannot grade it right or wrong, and then give them a failing grade, or a zero for not turning it in.
Even before this, I had already made my stance on the subject prior to becoming a teacher. I had to go to a parent conference with his social studies teacher about his failing grade. This was odd because he was an honor student and history was his favorite subject. Even today, you could ask him anything about geography or historical events and he could tell you.
The teacher told me that he always made an “A” on his tests (this was when an “A” was 93 and above) and if he missed a question, he could even tell her which one he missed or was unsure of when he turned his test in to her. So why the failing grade?
As it turned out, she gave them vocabulary words to complete each week for homework, and he didn’t do them. I looked at her and said, “You do realize that he has an extended vocabulary, especially about history, right?”
Her reply was that he generally got the vocabulary right on the test despite the fact that he didn’t do the homework.
My suggestions was that she give him a pre-test of the vocabulary, and he would be responsible for only those that he didn’t know. I also argued that homework should not make a difference as to whether or not a child passed a class because it didn’t necessarily prove knowledge of the subject, only knowledge of the terms used in discussing the subject. I further argued that if a child did not have the resources or the capability to complete the assignment, then it was punishment for what a parent couldn’t provide, and not necessarily what the child could do.
I have no clue as to whether or not she took my idea, but he did go from failing to passing. Maybe it was just to get me to stop making valid points.
My observations through my children
My biggest pet peeve has to do with children being punished for something that was the fault of their parent.
When my oldest son was in elementary school, I had a teacher inform me that it was a shame so many students in her class couldn’t read and that they were failing. The students were not doing their homework. The students were not doing their reading at night. She just didn’t know what else to do.
These were children who were being raised by grandparents who could not read or write. The teacher was the only teacher in their life. Parents were in jail or on drugs, and they definitely were absent from their child’s life. The only people who were available to help needed help themselves.
Illiterate grandparents are not as common as they were 25 years ago when my son was in school, but their are quite a few parents and grandparents who do still struggle. It is the reason why here in South Carolina so many parents complained about the Common Core standards and new math. It wasn’t necessarily new, but the teaching concept was unfamiliar to adults who were not taught that same way. For this reason, they decided to do away with the Common Core standards, but it was still some time before the textbooks were replaced, and these teachers are still having to attend classes to show them new ways to teach.
To be honest, just leave the classwork in the class, and let homework be getting rest or unwinding for the day.
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