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

[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

Not a teacher. And am not familiar with any research. My issue is not necessarily the "no homework" approach. And I don't see a benefit to a drown them in HW approach, either. Some targeted reinforcement at home (finding that sweet spot between nothing and not too much) has benefitted my child. And I'd like to see more writing with detailed feedback from the teachers. Other than that, a lot of what they have to do at home is not super useful based on what I can see. Again, not an educator.

[Anonymous]

I'm a HS teacher at a super-well-regarded-on-DCUM school. What am I supposed to do? Give homework that half the kids don't do, and 30% don't do well, and 20% complete? What's the point? How do I have a class discussion when 70% of them really can't participate? (please don't say that they should all fail.. that's not today's reality). No more homework for my classes -- and I'm not sorry to see it go -- but more meaningful in-class activities. It works.

[Anonymous]

^when 80% of them can't participate.
Typo, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^when 80% of them can't participate.
Typo, sorry.

When there is no penalty and homework counts for nothing, of course they're not going to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^when 80% of them can't participate.
Typo, sorry.

When there is no penalty and homework counts for nothing, of course they're not going to do it.

Another teacher. Doesn't matter. When homework was a decent part of the grade, still no one did it. When kids had to stay in during lunch to complete missing assignments, they'd just cheat and copy their friends' assignments before class. It really has never been more than 20% of a class who got anything out of homework, and those 4 or 5 kids are the same ones who go on their own to khan academy or have a private tutor anyway. They don't need worksheets.

Salvaging the 10 minutes of class dedicated to going over homework only 20% did + saving the 5 minutes at the end where I'd hand it out and let them start has recovered 15 minutes per day that we actually do meaningful things and everyone benefits. I've found it to be a lot more valuable this way.

[Anonymous]

I understand the worksheet argument. Maybe not helpful if kids arent doing them.

But when does reading take place? Any reading, not just novels? Surely homework related to reading a 10 page PDF/link, or a chapter of a virtual textbook, or even a chapter of a novel is happening in some middle school classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^when 80% of them can't participate.
Typo, sorry.

When there is no penalty and homework counts for nothing, of course they're not going to do it.

Another teacher. Doesn't matter. When homework was a decent part of the grade, still no one did it. When kids had to stay in during lunch to complete missing assignments, they'd just cheat and copy their friends' assignments before class. It really has never been more than 20% of a class who got anything out of homework, and those 4 or 5 kids are the same ones who go on their own to khan academy or have a private tutor anyway. They don't need worksheets.

Salvaging the 10 minutes of class dedicated to going over homework only 20% did + saving the 5 minutes at the end where I'd hand it out and let them start has recovered 15 minutes per day that we actually do meaningful things and everyone benefits. I've found it to be a lot more valuable this way.

Previously, when kids didn't do homework, how much would it pull down their quarterly grade?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand the worksheet argument. Maybe not helpful if kids arent doing them.

But when does reading take place? Any reading, not just novels? Surely homework related to reading a 10 page PDF/link, or a chapter of a virtual textbook, or even a chapter of a novel is happening in some middle school classes.

They read during class.

[Anonymous]

Teacher attitude about HW on here is very Homer/Bart - Can't win, don't try!

HW should be 20% of the grade. And it should be enforced. Are the kids running the schools or is it the staff? Sure seems like the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^when 80% of them can't participate.
Typo, sorry.

When there is no penalty and homework counts for nothing, of course they're not going to do it.

Another teacher. Doesn't matter. When homework was a decent part of the grade, still no one did it. When kids had to stay in during lunch to complete missing assignments, they'd just cheat and copy their friends' assignments before class. It really has never been more than 20% of a class who got anything out of homework, and those 4 or 5 kids are the same ones who go on their own to khan academy or have a private tutor anyway. They don't need worksheets.

Salvaging the 10 minutes of class dedicated to going over homework only 20% did + saving the 5 minutes at the end where I'd hand it out and let them start has recovered 15 minutes per day that we actually do meaningful things and everyone benefits. I've found it to be a lot more valuable this way.

This makes sense. I don't know why some people won't trust teachers and let them do their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher attitude about HW on here is very Homer/Bart - Can't win, don't try!

HW should be 20% of the grade. And it should be enforced. Are the kids running the schools or is it the staff? Sure seems like the students.

I'd say it's the parents. as a HS teacher, I'm not fighting anything anymore. it's like asking you to parent without being able to enforce rules. you won't let me give 0's, you won't let me enforce deadlines, you won't let me have any consequences for students who skip or play on their phones all class ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher attitude about HW on here is very Homer/Bart - Can't win, don't try!

HW should be 20% of the grade. And it should be enforced. Are the kids running the schools or is it the staff? Sure seems like the students.

I'd say it's the parents. as a HS teacher, I'm not fighting anything anymore. it's like asking you to parent without being able to enforce rules. you won't let me give 0's, you won't let me enforce deadlines, you won't let me have any consequences for students who skip or play on their phones all class ...

+1 it’s the parents who come into the office screaming who are running the show

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand the worksheet argument. Maybe not helpful if kids arent doing them.

But when does reading take place? Any reading, not just novels? Surely homework related to reading a 10 page PDF/link, or a chapter of a virtual textbook, or even a chapter of a novel is happening in some middle school classes.

They read during class.

Reading a novel takes forever in class. That's why they've been eliminated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher attitude about HW on here is very Homer/Bart - Can't win, don't try!

HW should be 20% of the grade. And it should be enforced. Are the kids running the schools or is it the staff? Sure seems like the students.

I'd say it's the parents. as a HS teacher, I'm not fighting anything anymore. it's like asking you to parent without being able to enforce rules. you won't let me give 0's, you won't let me enforce deadlines, you won't let me have any consequences for students who skip or play on their phones all class ...

+1 it’s the parents who come into the office screaming who are running the show

100% parents are the barrier to all these things. We can’t do anything meaningful about the phones because the parents protest. Their kid just HAS to have his phone. We can’t fail them, we can’t do much at all because parents have created a situation where schools won’t act in fear of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^when 80% of them can't participate.
Typo, sorry.

When there is no penalty and homework counts for nothing, of course they're not going to do it.

Another teacher. Doesn't matter. When homework was a decent part of the grade, still no one did it. When kids had to stay in during lunch to complete missing assignments, they'd just cheat and copy their friends' assignments before class. It really has never been more than 20% of a class who got anything out of homework, and those 4 or 5 kids are the same ones who go on their own to khan academy or have a private tutor anyway. They don't need worksheets.

Salvaging the 10 minutes of class dedicated to going over homework only 20% did + saving the 5 minutes at the end where I'd hand it out and let them start has recovered 15 minutes per day that we actually do meaningful things and everyone benefits. I've found it to be a lot more valuable this way.

This makes sense. I don't know why some people won't trust teachers and let them do their jobs.

because the ADHD students aren’t getting out of it what they should. It’s not sticking or they couldn’t concentrate. Homework is at their pace in a quiet home and is meaningful to different learners.