Reply to Atlantic piece: "My Daughter's Homework is Killing Me"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Same teacher, adding one more point -- this is not something that has changed, but an observation about homework:

7.  On average -- of course there are exceptions -- the girls spend more time on the homework than the boys.  The boys are much more likely to "triage" their homework.  No English test the next day?  Put off reading "The Great Gatsby" in favor of other classes and read it or skim it in class.  Throw a little BS around in class discussion and see how it works.  Dumb assignment that won't really come into play on the test?  Maybe don't do it at all.  The girls are MUCH more likely to try to do every scrap of homework when it is assigned, and take longer on it (the old highlighting and annotating every margin thing).  If you have a "do every bit every night" student, maybe talk to them (gently, so as not to damage that laudable work ethic) about prioritizing and that sometimes the full night of sleep is morally and practically superior to reading the full chapter (with annotated margins).[/quote]

First, thanks for the long/thoughtful posts!

Secondly, what you're saying about girls vs. boys is what I heard a couple of years ago from one of DD's middle school teachers.  Apparently the parents of girls who were doing well academically were asking for less homework (during conferences), while the parents of boys who were blowing things off wanted more. (I guess their logic was "if he's only going to do x% of what's required, they need to require much more than what he actually needs to do.")

How, as a teacher, do you address that?  Do you assign a reasonable amount of homework or so much that the kids doing a fraction of it (or doing it in a half-assed manner) will be ready to participate in class?  Does homework get graded or do you check if it's been done or is it all honor system (or random inspection or pop quizzes)?  Have you ever said "here's what I want you get out of this homework -- do as much or as little as it takes for you to be in that position? or "I want you to spend x many minutes practicing this and I don't really care how many (or which of) these problems you do or how much you write in that time."

To me, both ends of the spectrum are disturbing (i.e. girls being dutiful and losing sleep and boys trying to do as little as they can get away with) and I wonder how much of it relates to very different understandings (or lack of a clear and common understanding and explicit discussion re what homework is for). [/quote]

Those are good questions.  Every teacher is different, and it depends a lot on the subject area also.

My subject is one where the homework is primarily reading, with some take-home writing assignments (papers of varying length).  I make it clear at the outset of the course that I expect the students to be generally current with the reading, for two main reasons: (1) much of the class is modified-Harkness style discussion, and for it to be worthwhile, we need a critical mass to have done the reading to give us a jumping off point; and (2) it is not easy to "cram" 2-3 weeks worth of reading before a test, so keeping current is important to maximize performance on assessments; and (3) (a related point to #1) they will find the class much more interesting if they are current on the reading.  I also explain to them that my course is similar to a college approach in the sense that I am not going to go over the reading in detail in class -- we will cover some areas in great detail, but class lectures/discussions/exercises/group work will not be a summary of what at they were assigned as reading.

I give periodic pop reading quizzes -- more when I sense the tide has turned against keeping current in the reading -- which are designed to be easy for someone who has done the reading.  I offer a "mulligan" on the quizzes -- I drop the lowest quiz grade each marking period -- and I talk them down if they seem to be getting too stressed about the quizzes.  Overall, failing any one, two, or even three quizzes will not have any material effect on the grade.  If you fail them all, it could bump you down a couple of points on your average, maybe.  If you do well on all of them, it can bump you a point or two, so it can reward the hard worker who is not necessarily a great writer, for example.  It is also a useful diagnostic tool to be able to offer some constructive criticism if the student is not doing that well in the course.  With all that said, your talented student who is savvy enough to pick up a lot from class, and who studies very efficiently, and who is a fast reader and great writer, can probably get away with cramming the reading at the end and still do very well on tests.  I don't get heartburn over it, although if they are intellectually coasting in class I'll try to inspire them to get more involved.

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