Day 83: The Homework Dilemma

Source:

Kauffman, G. (2016, August 23). Should second-graders get homework? Maybe not, says Texas teacher. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2016/0823/Should-second-graders-get-homework-Maybe-not-says-Texas-teacher

What is Sacred:
This elementary teacher is saying no to homework in a video to parents that has gone viral. Basically, the only homework her students will be bringing home are the things that they do not finish in class. Radical? No. Notable? Yes.

Connections to Current/Future Work:

Here is the thing about secondary teachers. Our content is our god. Our content, compared to all other content areas, is the most important content IN THE WORLD. I raise my hand as one of the guilty ones who gave my students half an hour of reading every night and defended it up and down because - "hey math teacher, don't complain to me that students in your class can't read. Research shows that students read better when they read, and write better when they write. " So add my half an hour to your half an hour and the half an hour for PE and the half an hour for science, and the long project that they have for social studies that will take them five hours on the Sunday before it is due, or 10 days of half an hours if they actually space it out like they are supposed to. . .

I coached veteran teachers for many years. Grading is deeply personal. It is like hanging your panties out on the line in the middle of the hallways and every colleague of yours comes and comments on the state of your panties. It is a problem. People need to read Rick Wormeli Fair Isn't Always Equal on differentiated assessment (and differentiated homework, and just what the purpose of homework is for and why not every child deserves or needs the same homework).

I think this will be one of the practicum discussions which could lead to a response paper. . I will pair this article, the video and an article by Rick, have them observe what goes on in their own secondary classroom, ask some students about homework and yep, sounds like a plan.

Comments

Kino (an indigenous logic model): post 1 of 4

Passion I have. What I need is to practice my elevator speeches, those short informative program synopses that can be done in the time it takes to ride the elevator. Of course it will take me 4 posts. Post 1: The honua: building on solid ground The Alana culture-based education course is graphically depicted by the above logic model. The honua (green box), the earth, represents the mo'ok ūauhau, the geneology of this program that informs and guides the building of this course. Dr. Shawn Kanaʻiaupuni and her team lay the foundation for culture-based education (CBE) modeling and immersion within the course. Dr. Walter Kahumoku and Keiki Kawaiʻaeʻa, in consultation with Dr. Bernice McCarthy (4Mat) bring to the geneology the work of moenahā, a curriculum planning concept based on the way kupuna taught. Makawalu, literally eight eyes, is a concept practiced by Kaʻimipono Kaiwi and her teachers at Kamehameha Kapālama to encourage multiple perspectives in the standards-b...

Battle of the Sexes

Ok, it's not a battle, but after being married for 20 years, I realize that there are some things that fall into the "mom's job" category, and there are some things that are strictly dad's domain. Mom's job is to find things. For 20 years I have lived in a male dominant household. The fact that the majority of the toilet seats in my house remain in the down position is a testament of the power of the one and only alpha female. However, what I can't do is teach my children (and my husband) how to do what I call "mom looking" versus "man looking." I don't need to explain this for the moms. They know exactly what I'm talking about. The guys are slower to catch on. I'll type s-l-o-w-l-y. Here's a typical "man looking" conversation: "mom! (or Cat!), where's the ______ (insert anything from socks to the car)?" "It's in the _________ (insert my instructions like refrigerator, garage, o...

5 things that teachers do when they are in all-day workshops

1. Listen attentively for 10 minutes Presenters: welcome to your worst teaching nightmare. Teachers learn how to be antsy from their students. If you have a lot of middle school teachers, expect them to act like middle schoolers, ADHD disorders and all. You have 10 minutes to hook us and we want to get up, move and be active every half hour. 2. Talk to our neighbor while the presenter is still talking This practice is a natural way for teachers to use each other as a sounding board for the connections they are making to their own teaching (or they're just gossiping). If you can't tell the difference between productive noise and idle gossip, you need to go back to the classroom and practice. 3. Text and read posts When speakers talk about another author, or another concept, we get on our smart phones and look up the links so we can expand our knowledge immediately. (Or we're blogging or catching up on our email). Don't be offended. Only kick us out if we don't realiz...

Pure Manaʻo

Search This Blog