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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I just started teaching in FCPS.  We give minimal homework and only because they said we have to this year.  I have 90 minutes of planning time twice a week to get ready for 6 hours of teaching a day, plus all the ridiculous nonsense admin insists we do that does nothing but add work.  We haven't even started the year and I've barely slept all week, hardly had time to eat, and am already feeling like I'm going to either cry or throw up at the amount of work I am expected to do before Monday. I haven't seen my children or husband all week, and the year hasn't even started.  It's going to be a million times worse next week.

So no, I'm not sending a bunch of work home so you can feel good about it and it can add to my already enormous grading workload.  I'm at my limit.  Your kid doesn't need homework.  Studies show it doesn't even make any difference.[/quote]
It works if it’s done right. Curious. What did teachers do 20 years ago when they were regularly assigning homework?[/quote]

I’ll bite. 20 years ago when I assigned math homework, we were on 45 minute periods. Between transition, warm up, homework review, we had about 20-25 minutes of time to do a lesson. There was no time to do practice in class, so I had to assign it at home.

The homework was trash. I knew it was. The kids copied each other, or did it all wrong, or both. The lucky few had parents who could help. I’d guess maybe 6-7 kids per class took it seriously and tried. Of those, 2 probably could have gotten As without ever lifting a pencil, so maybe 5 kids per period benefitted, and the other 25 did not.

Today? We are on block schedule. With the 90 minutes I’m given I have time to do two days of lessons AND build in practice time. The 10 problems I used to give as homework 20 years ago that kids copied or did wrong are now done in class, in my presence, where I can make sure they’re on the right track and utilizing their own brain power.

The kids do just as much practice as before, they just do it in class now. There are still 2 kids who could get As with their eyes closed, so they still get no real benefit. The 5 kids who would have done it honestly and accurately at home still do it honestly and accurately in class. But now, the 23 kids who would have had no benefit from homework (possibly even a detriment from incorrectly solving 10 problems in a row and memorizing incorrect steps) actually get the benefits. If they don’t finish it in class, they can take it home to finish, but they have 8 correctly solved equations to reference in order to finish the last 2.

I’m playing the game this year and assigning “homework” because we are required to, but it’s going to be 1-3 review problems (<10 min total) each week, and no more. I see no benefit to it when what I’m doing is giving me good results and happier kids.[/quote]

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