Frustration
I'm frustrated today. I attempt to vary the homework for my juniors, sometimes having them read and take notes, other times asking a few focused questions for them to answer, other times having them view pictures, etc. Today, about 1/2 of my 5th hour class came without having completed their homework. (That is especially weird because my other 2 sections had 2-3 students each who did not do their homework.) I told my 5th hour students what I thought of their lack of effort, but also said that it's not my job to babysit them. I suppose that this mainly frustrates me because I only see the juniors three times per week. At most high schools I would see them every day. Thus, they need to be doing work on the days that I don't see them. I suppose that this gets back to the variable schedule. It works great for students who apply themselves academically. However, I think that it also gives too much free time to students who refuse to put effort into their learning.
posted by Crosby at 2:42 PM
6 Comments:
I agree that the variable schedule has great advantages as well as great disadvantages, but I'll save that for another time.
For this particular instance, what was the homework? How did it affect their ability to learn in your class today? Do you think that - in retrospect - they can now see that they didn't get as much out of your class today because they hadn't done the work up front?
The homework questions required the students to think outside the box a bit. I suppose that some of the students didn't do them because they've seen questions like this twice this semester, and they realize that the questions require more than simply copying info out of the book. In other words, they actually have to think about the answers. Imagine that.
Regarding whether they can see that they didn't get as much out of class, I don't know if they can really see that because they can't see what the other students who did their work got out of it. I think that we need to have a discussion about why homework matters. With juniors??? Are you kidding me???
I think you should have that discussion. I wonder if anyone has ever had that discussion with them?
This homework issue is one where I see less and less kids over my teaching career completing assigned tasks. I would never not completing assignments from teachers and these kids are so apathetic about doing their work. Oh well, I forgot, I didn't know that is what was assigned. AGHAGAH. I feel your frustration!
It is interesting that you posted this because this is a topic we are going to talk about soon in 21c.
If the juniors aren't doing the assignment, they're not interested in it. Something's turning them off. So if you figure out what it is--and I could be wrong, maybe they were all just blowing it off for the heck of it--you might be able to alter the assignment so it's meaningful to them. I agree that shying away from some hard questions is no excuse for not doing homework, but if half the class skipped out on it, something's not connecting. What if you had a discussion centered around the questions, just to get them started, and asked them to follow up on their thoughts for homework? I'm not sure what the best way to handle this is, but that's my suggestion.
Hey there!
I blogged about this too - it's so hard to get our students to where we want them to be during a 3 day a week class. The only semi-solution we have in world language is to do orals one on one. Students come in during off=hours. We do this in a variety of ways, like I have kids sign up for a time. I wonder if this kind of activity could transfer to social studies. It actually might be really beneficial for them to practice orally articulating their thoughts. THe pressure might be good for them.
Post a Comment
<< Home