DeeAnn; I completely revamped my homework (grading, assigning, etc) when I became the parent of a first-grader and realized how homework affects the family. I am a single parent, and homework has quickly become the central focus of our evenings. I do not want to be responsible for that!
As a 7th and 8th grade LA teacher, I thought about what I wanted my students to focus on, and what I couldn't get completely done in the classroom. So, on Mondays, I assign a one-paragraph writing prompt. It is due (typed, in a certain format) on Fridays. I can easily whip through 90 paragraphs in a weekend -- we teach the 6-traits, so I focus on one trait at a time. The students find that their writing improves, families are less stressed about completing mounds of homework from their LA teacher, and I don't feel that one assignment a week is overwhelming to correct. It works for me (and it's not a perfect system!) but I've been happy with it, and parents seem to support it because it's not "busywork." Just my $0.02, but in this economy, it may not be worth that much. Good luck with your decisions! Ms. Liz McGivern 8th grade Language Arts Hudson Memorial School -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] on behalf of Deann Kaduce Sent: Fri 8/6/2010 11:00 AM To: A list for improving literacy with focus on middle grades. Subject: [LIT] Homework Ideas? To All: I am contemplating how I can best revamp my homework policy. I haven't received very good results from the methods I've used. In the past, I assigned different types of LA assignments based on which day of the week it was. The assignment was due the next day, except for Social Studies, which I also teach, was a week long assignment of a project-based type item. I would check in homework based on student name on a list. Only the students who like doing homework, or who have support at home would do the assignment. Then everyday I had a huge stack of papers to grade that I invariably became lost in and late in grading, so that neither I nor the students received timely feedback from their work. I'd like to change this cycle of poor performance on my part. Grading is always going to be a trial for me, because it's the part of teaching I enjoy the least. I would like to make it more manageable, though. Does anyone have some management advice? Thanks, DeAnn Kaduce, Teacher Kansas City, MO School District Stop planning for teaching and start planning for learning. _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
_______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
