Day 12 Homework

On the Free Technology for Teachers Facebook, the twenty day blogging challenge created by Kelly Hines was mentioned and I decided to give it a shot. So here is the challenge for today:
“Talk about homework. Do you give it? Why or why not? What types of HW do you give? How do you balance it with other demands?”

I give homework but I don’t give any homework unless I know that my students can be successful with it. I do not use it as a punishment. I do not give it out of meanness because I want my students to work outside the classroom. I do not want my students to work on homework for more than an hour outside of the classroom. I also do not accept any homework early so that everyone turns it in at the same time. This keeps things from being mixed in with other assignments or a discrepancy in whether something has been turned in or not.

My students and their parents are told that there will be homework every night except weekends and holidays. This way there can be no misunderstanding on whether there is homework due or not. Parents also have my phone number and email address in case their child says there is no homework or that they turned it in already.

I give homework for several reasons.
1. Homework is a good way to practice new skills.
2. Homework teaches responsibility.
3. Homework teaches doing outside work independently.
4. Homework teaches students to complete work for a deadline.
5. Homework teaches students to organize their time.
6. Homework teaches a student that there are some things that need to be done that we don’t want to do.

Do you give homework? Why or why not? Please share.

Image: 'home work routine'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73645804@N00/4195916777
Found on flickrcc.net