Thoughts on Homework

I am sick today. I have laryngitis so there is no point being at work. If I can't talk, I can't teach. If I can't teach, the kids play up. If the kids play up, I can't tell them not to. If I can't tell them not to, I find myself yelling hoarsely. If I yell hoarsely, I can't talk. If I can't talk...
So, I'm having a day off talking - hoping that my voice will heal miraculously with juice, vegemite on toast, water, fruit and lozengers.

Whilst lying in bed this morning, I caught up on what has been going on in my computer world. Loonyhiker from Successful Teaching had 'tweeted' about a Conversations Show at EdTechTalk, so I lay and listened to the show. It was all about pros and cons of homework - why we do it, what we expect, what we could do instead. I was really happy as I listened because I feel that my school is actually doing pretty well with this.

When I was in New York, the curriculum I taught had set homework for students every night - usually two sheets of Math homework. On top of this, I sent home a book for the children to read to their parents. And this was in KINDERGARTEN! Here in Australia, that is unheard of.

Homework is generally more relaxed here. In my current year 1 class, students are encouraged to change their readers daily. And that's it. However, we provide other opportunities for children to explore their learning further at home.

As part of our Jackie French Author Study, we started sending home a stuffed wombat with a diary. Students take turns to take the wombat home and write about what he got up to. They see this as a reward - not homework.

During our units of work, we encourage kids to think more about the topic at home. For example, at the moment I have children who bring in artifacts from the past and interview their grandparents for our The Way We Were unit. It's not 'set' homework that parents sign off on - just motivated students taking it further at home.

This week my class has been learning about postcards, so one girl asked her dad to send a postcard from the place he is visiting with business. Another boy went away for a week's holiday, and may send us a postcard while there.

Our P&C raised enough money to provide membership to Mathletics for all the students. It is an online Maths program with questions the students answer, levels they progress through, and live mental arithmetic competitions against other kids. This is one way that students can practice relevant maths at home at their own pace and level of difficulty. Teachers can monitor student activity and set tasks for students to complete. I often use examples from Mathletics during maths lessons, so students are familiar with them and can practice them more at home.

I'm really enjoying doing homework this way, and see benefits for the children's learning. The kids are taking responsibility for their learning, and are really motivated by the whole process. For me, there is no marking to have to do, but I can still see what the children are doing and achieving.

What are your thoughts on homework? Leave a comment below.

Teacher Sick Days

I'm having a sick day at home today, having fought with an incoming cold for all of the week. I find it really difficult to keep going with teaching when a head-cold hits.
I usually notice it first by how tired I feel at lunchtime. Then my throat starts to get croaky, and I have to work twice as hard to keep my class on task. I also find that I start messing up everyone's names! Before I know it, I'm feeling completely incompetent at my job and stressed out by the whole thing.
So why do we teachers do this to ourselves?
Sometimes, I think we feel that our program is too important to miss a day, and that no one but us can present the program the way we have designed it.
Sometimes we love the lessons we have prepared too much to hand them over to someone else. WE want to be there to see how they turn out!
Sometimes we feel that a day off will disrupt the class too much and they will riot, and be hard to refocus on our return.
Sometimes we have too much administrative stuff to get through, and don't feel we can afford to take the day off - too much to prepare (for interviews, reports, assessment, learning journeys etc).
What are your reasons for going to work when you are on death's door?