I made a pledge to my students this year. I promised that I would do every bit of work that I assigned to them. I made this pledge after watching my own daughter struggle with two hours of math homework every night. So this year I have completed every homework assignment, every exit-slip, every bit of class work, every quiz, and every test. Last night I was up late because I realized that I needed to take all four versions of the Chapter 2 assessment before I gave them to my students this morning.
What Have I Learned?
There are nights when other aspects of my life make completing homework very difficult. Some evenings it is almost impossible, and I can’t even imagine having to complete work in Language Arts, History, Science, etc. as well. Students have lives that can be every bit as complex as our own, and need flexibility in the timing of assignments. I will no longer assign work and expect it to be done the next day.
Students take longer to complete assignments than teachers. I heard somewhere that it takes students as much as 5 times longer than it takes their teacher to complete a task, and this fits with what I have observed in my own classroom. Homework assignments now span a week, and I won't assign anything that takes me longer 30 minutes. Last night it took me an average of 12 minutes to complete my own test, so students will have up to an hour. We need to give students enough time to be successful.
Doing the same thing over and over again is boring. No wonder so many students hate math. I need to continually remind myself to mix things up and provide variety in concepts, as well as the form of assignments. Keep them guessing and keep them on their toes.
I gather new insights every day, and am continuing to change as a result. Empathy with my students now guides my instruction. Maybe I should invite them to teach the class. It would be nice to have them empathize with me!
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Sunday, August 23, 2015
Completing Your Own Assignments (10/28/2014)
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