Monday, September 30, 2019

Homework Review

There are all kinds of discussions, research, and data related to homework at elementary school. At our school, students at fifth grade are still expected to study for about 60 minutes a night including approximately 30 minutes of independent reading, 20 minutes of math practice, and 10 minutes of journal writing. Typically a good percentage of the students complete that daily study and some do not keep up with the expectation. The variance is caused by many, many factors.

I collect the home study and review the work now and then. It's impossible to review the work daily simply because there is not time for that. Most of my outside of teaching hours are spent preparing lessons, following up on emails, collegial collaboration, room clean up, and professional learning. Today, thanks to a day off of school, I'll look through a large number of papers to see who is completing their homework, who is doing a good job with that, who needs extra support, and who has not completed homework.

Later I'll check in with students who did not complete homework to ask them why. Then I'll help the child find the time and support to complete their homework. I'll also check in with students who demonstrate misunderstandings to help them understand the material better. As in any subject, time to practice math helps to build math proficiency and mathematical thinking. I'm working to design the homework as an opportunity to review, practice, and think and write about the main concepts thought.

Homework is assigned once a week. It's a packet of five assignments plus a bonus that students may work on each day or whenever they have time during the week. I give out homework this way to accommodate students' varied after school and family schedules. I'm sure I'll stop to think and write again once this review is complete as the review always directs the learning that follows. Onward.