Homework? We're talking about homework?

If you are any kind of sports fan you remember Allen Iverson going off about being disciplined for missing a practice.  Actually I don't remember what he was disciplined for because the speech transcended the action.  The point was he felt that a press conference was too focused on practices and not the important part, the actual game.  Sometimes I feel that the practice of homework has taken this form and the debate is on.  So why are we talking about home work?

Disclaimer: when I was teaching social studies, I rarely gave homework.  There were two reasons for this, I felt that the kind of homework I could give was not engaging enough and secondly my kids were so involved in extra curricular activities I knew I would struggle to get it and they would struggle to get it done.  After nine years in administration, my viewpoint on this has evolved and so have our kids and families.  Its time to have a real conversation about it.

I have looked at this through three lenses: parent, teacher, and administrator and folks this is the best I can do.

What homework should not be:

• Pointless repetitive tasks such as writing down definitions or word searches.  These do not engage students they only bore them.
• Homework should not be the reason a student fails a class.  Ask yourself, does your grade reflect student learning or compliance?
• Arbitrary.  Homework should be linked to a legitimate learning goal.  Don't give it just to give it.

What homework could/should be:

• An opportunity for higher order thinking skills.  Challenge your kids.  They actually want to be challenged to think.
• A time to expand upon a class project or problem to be solved.  Heaven forbid they return to a class ready to contribute to a real world learning experience.
• Time appropriate.  Your students have been at school all day.  They have families and need play time.  If a whole night is lost to homework then that is a true shame and does not encourage learning.  Finland gets credit for respecting this.  Take a look.

Let me be very clear, I am not anti-homework.  I am anti busy work that does not contribute to student growth.  I'm tired of seeing bright kids failing because they do not have homework done.  Many kids do not have what my kids have.  My wife and I both help with homework each night and it never feels like an extension of the learning experience.

I was a social studies teacher.  Here's how I would love for my kid's homework to go.  Instead of finding answers in a text book and filling in a worksheet, how about giving them one discussion task related to the learning topic.  If he/she came home and asked me to talk to her about the civil rights movement I would probably have a heart attack.  What if she could take those perspectives and add them to the ones she might find online and take them to school to enrich the class discussion while the teacher guides them though the content?  Better yet, what if the teacher had a class Twitter account that students could collaborate with their peers and share ideas.  Those things might motivate my kids to engage the boring facts and figures to gain a deeper understanding of civil rights in this country.  Hard to grade?  Yes but the engagement is invaluable.  Then maybe, just maybe we can talk about homework.

Need help getting homework done?  Take a look at this quick read.