The second week of 7th grade, still no homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is zero vertical articulation between elementary and middle schools. 6th grade teachers are basing their view of 7th grade on who knows what—certainly not the input of the 7th grade teachers.

Research has shown homework to be relatively useless. Those who need more practice either don’t do it, or do it incorrectly. Those who do it don’t need it. Kids are stressed enough. Little/no homework is a good thing.

—MS teacher

I wouldn't call reading a novel at home for in-class analysis and discussion, useless. This kind of homework was fairly common 15 years ago in any middle school English class (7/8).

Yeah, even a 200 page book takes time to read. Idk how you’d do it without homework. MS teacher PP - do you just have your kids spend hours reading silently in class?

I teach math, I don’t know what the English teachers do. I know that the vast, vast majority of my formerly assigned homework was either completely wrong (waste of time, creates worse mathematical habits), done by photomath (waste of time, gives me the wrong sense of what a kid knows), or done perfectly well in 37 seconds (waste of time, they clearly already knew everything). Maybe 1 or 2 out of the 30 kids got something out of it in any given class period, and those were the kids with tutors or parents helping them.

Nowadays I assign an in class activity and pull the kids I know are struggling (having done multiple formative assessments throughout the block) to work with me. If they don’t finish it in my presence they complete the last few problems at home, but usually it is all completed in the class period.

Remember also that we are now on block and have built in a 90 minute period every other day that is essentially study hall and silent reading. I often see kids reading class novels during my advisory block and frequently have a full house of kids coming for extra math support.

[Anonymous]

Holy zit! Do you guys rely entirely on the school for your kid's education? No one subscribes to any service that provides online curriculum, syllabus, instruction, testing or homework?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is zero vertical articulation between elementary and middle schools. 6th grade teachers are basing their view of 7th grade on who knows what—certainly not the input of the 7th grade teachers.

Research has shown homework to be relatively useless. Those who need more practice either don’t do it, or do it incorrectly. Those who do it don’t need it. Kids are stressed enough. Little/no homework is a good thing.

—MS teacher

I wouldn't call reading a novel at home for in-class analysis and discussion, useless. This kind of homework was fairly common 15 years ago in any middle school English class (7/8).

+1
I also recall working through math problems designed to have me practice what we learned that day for repetition/reinforcement. We'd then go over answers in class the next day.
I also had to do writing for HW, various things for science. I frankly do not believe the "research" that HW is pointless. It makes zero sense to me and doesn't square with my own experiences.

So what happens when a student repeatedly completes the math incorrectly? The misunderstanding is what’s being reinforced and ingrained making it more difficult to correct later.

The teacher, doing their job, corrects the students.

I think it’s better for the practice to happen in class so that if the student is doing it incorrectly the teacher can intervene and correct it then. Spending time outside of class repeatedly doing math incorrectly will do more harm than good.

And yet it has worked for decades. Teacher covers a topic. HW is given on that topic. Teacher checks homework and covers topic again (in class), particularly in areas where students struggle. Why are we constantly going with the new thing in education instead of the tried and true?

Yes. And with textbooks, answers for odd numbered problems would often be provided so kids could check their own work at home and realize they'd made an error. Then they could 1) go back, re-read the section, and try again, 2) ask a parent, or 3) ask the teacher the next day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is zero vertical articulation between elementary and middle schools. 6th grade teachers are basing their view of 7th grade on who knows what—certainly not the input of the 7th grade teachers.

Research has shown homework to be relatively useless. Those who need more practice either don’t do it, or do it incorrectly. Those who do it don’t need it. Kids are stressed enough. Little/no homework is a good thing.

—MS teacher

I wouldn't call reading a novel at home for in-class analysis and discussion, useless. This kind of homework was fairly common 15 years ago in any middle school English class (7/8).

+1
I also recall working through math problems designed to have me practice what we learned that day for repetition/reinforcement. We'd then go over answers in class the next day.
I also had to do writing for HW, various things for science. I frankly do not believe the "research" that HW is pointless. It makes zero sense to me and doesn't square with my own experiences.

So what happens when a student repeatedly completes the math incorrectly? The misunderstanding is what’s being reinforced and ingrained making it more difficult to correct later.

The teacher, doing their job, corrects the students.

I think it’s better for the practice to happen in class so that if the student is doing it incorrectly the teacher can intervene and correct it then. Spending time outside of class repeatedly doing math incorrectly will do more harm than good.

And yet it has worked for decades. Teacher covers a topic. HW is given on that topic. Teacher checks homework and covers topic again (in class), particularly in areas where students struggle. Why are we constantly going with the new thing in education instead of the tried and true?

Yes. And with textbooks, answers for odd numbered problems would often be provided so kids could check their own work at home and realize they'd made an error. Then they could 1) go back, re-read the section, and try again, 2) ask a parent, or 3) ask the teacher the next day.

I think DCUM forgets that the demographic on this website is not the academic norm. The majority of kids do not reread the notes/text, have a parent who can help, or ask for help. They scan the problem with their phone and copy down what photomath says, or they scan the document and let google translate do the work. Technology has ruined any productive struggle for the majority of kids these days. Doing work in class is the only way to be sure the kid is actually doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is zero vertical articulation between elementary and middle schools. 6th grade teachers are basing their view of 7th grade on who knows what—certainly not the input of the 7th grade teachers.

Research has shown homework to be relatively useless. Those who need more practice either don’t do it, or do it incorrectly. Those who do it don’t need it. Kids are stressed enough. Little/no homework is a good thing.

—MS teacher

I wouldn't call reading a novel at home for in-class analysis and discussion, useless. This kind of homework was fairly common 15 years ago in any middle school English class (7/8).

+1
I also recall working through math problems designed to have me practice what we learned that day for repetition/reinforcement. We'd then go over answers in class the next day.
I also had to do writing for HW, various things for science. I frankly do not believe the "research" that HW is pointless. It makes zero sense to me and doesn't square with my own experiences.

So what happens when a student repeatedly completes the math incorrectly? The misunderstanding is what’s being reinforced and ingrained making it more difficult to correct later.

The teacher, doing their job, corrects the students.

I think it’s better for the practice to happen in class so that if the student is doing it incorrectly the teacher can intervene and correct it then. Spending time outside of class repeatedly doing math incorrectly will do more harm than good.

And yet it has worked for decades. Teacher covers a topic. HW is given on that topic. Teacher checks homework and covers topic again (in class), particularly in areas where students struggle. Why are we constantly going with the new thing in education instead of the tried and true?

Yes. And with textbooks, answers for odd numbered problems would often be provided so kids could check their own work at home and realize they'd made an error. Then they could 1) go back, re-read the section, and try again, 2) ask a parent, or 3) ask the teacher the next day.

I think DCUM forgets that the demographic on this website is not the academic norm. The majority of kids do not reread the notes/text, have a parent who can help, or ask for help. They scan the problem with their phone and copy down what photomath says, or they scan the document and let google translate do the work. Technology has ruined any productive struggle for the majority of kids these days. Doing work in class is the only way to be sure the kid is actually doing it.

Pop quizzes to keep the kids honest. I have no problem with doing work in class, but I believe homework is necessary as well. I also sympathize with teachers and there is only so much they can do to get kids to do the work. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

[Anonymous]

All About Me in middle school! Back in the day we would just chalk stuff like this up as “public school bill shit” and move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is zero vertical articulation between elementary and middle schools. 6th grade teachers are basing their view of 7th grade on who knows what—certainly not the input of the 7th grade teachers.

Research has shown homework to be relatively useless. Those who need more practice either don’t do it, or do it incorrectly. Those who do it don’t need it. Kids are stressed enough. Little/no homework is a good thing.

—MS teacher

+1,000

All the good teachers retired because Covid and one to one laptops took the rigor out of school. Now we’re left with this. Thank God for the old school private school teachers who still get kids to work hard for half the pay.

[Anonymous]

Hm, my elementary-aged kids both had homework today.

[Anonymous]

My 7th grader kid at Longfellow got class assignments during first week. During BTSN this evening, teachers mentioned that kids will be getting plenty of assignments/projects. I guess we will see.

[Anonymous]

Equity is the reason your kid won’t get homework. Some kids can’t do it so they don’t assign it.

[Anonymous]

I have one kid in a local level IV AAP and another one at Kilmer AAP. They both have homework. In MS, they do have learning seminar and get a lot of the work done during school hours. But the MSer has already had quizzes and assignments.

[Anonymous]

My 7th grader has had math homework since the first day of school. Maybe 10-12 problems per night. Not a ton, but enough to reinforce the concepts covered in class. I think they have a test shortly after Labor Day.

Overall, I have been pleased that middle school teachers have started covering substance faster than what we experienced in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 7th grader has had math homework since the first day of school. Maybe 10-12 problems per night. Not a ton, but enough to reinforce the concepts covered in class. I think they have a test shortly after Labor Day.

Overall, I have been pleased that middle school teachers have started covering substance faster than what we experienced in middle school.

My 7th grader's first 3 math classes didn't cover any new lessons. What the class did was introducing each other, playing team games to help students get familiar with each other and the school, and syllabus review.

[Anonymous]

My 8th grader rarely brings home homework, because she does it in school. Like yesterday, she finished the in-school assignment and homework, and tomorrow's quiz review, so she and the teacher spent 20 minutes online window shopping.

But, she tells me that there is plenty of work being assigned already, and 8th grade Civics has hours upon hours of homework (per the now 9th graders). She does most of her homework during periods where she has less work, is already familiar with the material, or is otherwise at loose ends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is zero vertical articulation between elementary and middle schools. 6th grade teachers are basing their view of 7th grade on who knows what—certainly not the input of the 7th grade teachers.

Research has shown homework to be relatively useless. Those who need more practice either don’t do it, or do it incorrectly. Those who do it don’t need it. Kids are stressed enough. Little/no homework is a good thing.

—MS teacher

I wouldn't call reading a novel at home for in-class analysis and discussion, useless. This kind of homework was fairly common 15 years ago in any middle school English class (7/8).

I agree, but homework is considered inequitable. This is real reason there is no longer any homework including any required reading.