Homework Debate - A Student Perspective

9/17/2014

There's been plenty of buzz on the Internet (and elsewhere) about the value, quantity, and effect of homework. A few months ago, Karl Lindgren-Streicher and I decided to ask the people who really matter in this whole debate - the students. We recognize that our questions were skewed to the negative side of the homework spectrum. What we didn't anticipate were the responses in favor of some form of homework. Here is the Storify:

What does all of this mean? I don't really know. I wish I had an answer. One of the best things to come from this little on-air sharing spree was some of my former students coming out of the woodworks to share some of their appreciation:

@Jstevens009 it would be better because you are one of those really cool teachers where you can expect to learn and have fun in the lessons!
— amber daigle (@ambeaaaar) September 17, 2014

To be honest, I do love my job. I am dedicated. But I did give homework, and there were times when I didn't have a good justification for it, other than "it needs to get done to give you practice". After asking over 700 students, my perspective has certainly changed. I'm interested in your thoughts.

Students - if you didn't take the survey, what are your thoughts on homework? How can teachers make it more meaningful, if at all?
Teachers - did this change your perspective at all? Help me with this. Kids aren't saying "NO HOMEWORK", at least from what we saw in the survey. They want it to mean something. How can we do that?

Happy Fishing (for homework, of course)

UPDATE

This post has caused some conversation, which was the purpose. Because of that, I've grown. Take a look at some of the new articles, tweets, ideas, etc.

Scott Bedley, a rock-solid teacher in Southern California, wrote about homework. Well worth the read, considering he is talking about making HW optional.

Justin Coulson on "Why Kids Are Better Off Without Homework"

Optional Homework provides for all 100% but I do think this says a lot #optionalHW pic.twitter.com/VKnRiz8lh5
— Scott Bedley (@Scotteach) September 14, 2014

Trevor Register link

9/17/2014 05:41:11 am

I don't think educators spend enough time simply listening to their students, or they assume that any opinions geared towards lessening the workload is a result of laziness. As you pointed out, the message here is not "we don't want to work" but rather "our time and resources are limited, so make our work meaningful." Clearly, these students want to learn, and they're saying loud and clear that homework is not helping with that.

John link

9/27/2014 03:24:28 pm

Trevor,

Thank you for stopping by and adding value. I agree about the idea that "students want to learn", but I don't know that they're saying "homework is not helping with that". I take myself back to high school an reflect on the workload that I had with classes and the volunteer work, all after my sports' practices had finished. Knowing that we want kids to be active, involved, and motivated, there must be a better way. At the high school level, they see the value in homework, but not in the quantities that are currently being doled out. How can we change the current system to support students who want to work outside the classroom while still respecting their time outside of our walls?

John Mahlstedt link

9/19/2014 08:52:07 am

John, AWESOME stuff!!! Seriously. I've been on the minimal homework side for the last two years now and I gotta tell you, both me and the students are a lot happier about it. I wish everyone would get on board. There's absolutely a place in teaching for homework, just not to the extent that it's been implemented over the past few decades. Keep up the great work!

John link

9/27/2014 03:26:38 pm

John,

Can you please expand on the idea of "minimal homework side"? What, to you and your students, is minimal homework. In my class, we had it probably 2 times per week. I say 2 because that's how many nights I was grading homework, often much longer than they spent doing it. What are you doing and how are you using it to your advantage to assess student progress? I know you blog and, if you have written it up, I'd love to link it in the original post.

Julie Wright link

9/27/2014 02:19:41 pm

What would you say to a parent concerned that if you give less homework than next year's teacher, their child will be at a disadvantage from not being prepared? I teach eighth graders, and parents worry about getting kids ready for high school.

It seems like we will never move away from overkill on homework if no one starts it, but when we do start moving away from it, the kids get yanked around from one homework level to a wildly different one from year to year, which isn't ideal either.

Also, what I see is that if I reduce math homework, kids just end up getting scheduled for more extracurriculars or homework in other subjects. Why do sports need to take so many hours every week, sometimes almost as many as school? No wonder they never get enough sleep.

I do agree with your overall messages, though, and also I know from my own parenting that the "getting ready for next year" thing can definitely spin out of control. I remember my kids being loaded down with homework in fourth and fifth grade "to get them ready for middle school," and my kids told me later that middle school was less stressful academically than fourth and fifth grades because there wasn't so much homework. Unfortunately my kids' main memories of these creative, responsible, otherwise wonderful elementary teachers was that they gave a lot of homework and it was awful.

John link

9/27/2014 03:36:31 pm

Julie,

Thank you so much for the comment. This is something that I battled with for the first couple years of teaching and, quite honestly, has come up from time to time. The first topic I want to discuss is this:

"if you give less homework than next year's teacher, their child will be at a disadvantage from not being prepared"

I'm not worried about next year's teacher. I can't control what he/she is going to teach those children, and no matter what I do, nothing will properly prepare them for what they are about to receive in their next year(s) in school. The best thing that I can do as a teacher is prepare them for what I feel like they will need right now, hoping that this is enough to prepare them for the future. It sounds altruistic and idealistic, but think about it. If I really wanted to prepare my students for the "future", I'd have a hard time imagining that.

The only mentality that I can really take in this is hopefully setting a trend. As I start to give less homework and talk about it with my colleagues, discussion turns to planning, which turns to ideas, which turns to (ideally) an opportunity to question the methods that have been in place for n years. I may not convince an entire department, but I'll get a few teachers to, at the bare minimum, reflect on /why/ they do what they do in regards to homework.

The second is this:

"the kids get yanked around from one homework level to a wildly different one from year to year, which isn't ideal either."

I can't control that. Never have, probably never will. If a teacher knows that I'm not giving homework and gives more in light of that, it's bad. Like, really bad. By and large, my students were vocally grateful for the reduction in stress that math caused them when they took my classes. Sure, some teachers loaded them up with homework because "it's only 45 minutes of work", but I can't control that. At some point, we have to try to go out and spread the word that our kids are asking for change, but some people aren't willing to listen... yet.

Overall, keep up the conversation. It sounds like you're on the right path to doing what is right for your students and their needs. Let me know if I can be of any help!

Glenn

9/27/2014 03:58:39 pm

I attended a GATE training a few years back and I learned that homework for many gifted students is 'busy work'. There was an argument for either providing challenge or no homework at all. The idea was that it didn't improve student performance. There was some data presented that suggested that homework really didn't have any effect on test scores, despite the fact that we, teachers, see it as practice. This makes me think of the flipped model, where lecture is sent home and homework is applied in the classroom with the teacher as a facilitator not sage on the stage. In a perfect world, students would get direct instruction at home in small chunks, prepare questions, etc for the teacher, the following day, apply in the classroom what they learned. Teacher acts as facilitator and guides the learning differentiating the process - easier said then done for the student. I think there is too much homework going home. I have 2 high school aged children and I see the amount of time they spend completing homework on the weekends, holidays, etc. It sometimes appears that teachers who offer the AP classes see more homework as rigor in their classroom. Make it meaningful, or don't give it at all. That's how I see it.

John link

9/29/2014 06:00:41 am

Glenn,

Thank you for stopping by and adding to the conversation. Yes, the GATE cluster is a group of students who suffer from this. Do you have access to that data? I would love to link it to the post.

Valerie Neuharth link

10/1/2014 10:54:02 am

Here are my thoughts on Homework - after reading "Rethinking Homework" over the summer:

Homework is needed in my math classes. I do not have enough time to teach the content and have children practice the content in 45 minutes. I used Saxon Math for my old curriculum and my students always had 30 problems for homework. I now teach CCSS with a new series. Most sections have 30-60 problems, which is way too much to assign for homework.

Last year was trial and error as far as homework went. Some nights I gave way too much. Other nights I felt like I didn't give enough. Either way - my kids were struggling. It was a combination of the new series, lack of prior knowledge, and their first time not using the Saxon Math book.

Over the summer I went to a few conferences about math. I learned that a lot of schools in South Dakota were not giving homework. I was astonished. And, if teachers did assign homework, it was a minimal amount. I was seriously debating my thoughts on homework. Maybe homework isn't good????

So, I read the book, "Rethinking homework" which presented both sides of the homework debate - the good and the bad. I had reflected on a few things while reading.
1. If homework is sent home, how do I know WHO is doing it?
2. How can I help kids at home?
3. What if their parents cannot help?

So, I decided this year that I would give LESS homework - but still give it. So far so good. I assign 10-15 problems a night. I give about 15 minutes of work time in class. Students are only bringing home 3-5 problems a night. I have had the chance to see what they are doing in class. I have had kids compare and talk with each other because they've finished during class.

I used to think finishing during class showed a lack of preparation on my part. I used to think that if a kid finished I didn't plan enough. Instead, I tell kids to compare, discuss, or check their work. I’ve also had the chance to have them work on Accelerate Math (don’t get me started on that) or get onto a math website – like mobymax.

I feel like the kids are learning more. I feel like they are less stressed. Math is hard enough. Why stress kids out with 30 problems per night?

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Homework Debate - A Student Perspective

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