Skip to main content

Homework Poison

Holy definite integral, Batman! My students are actually doing their homework; and they're actually showing effort and doing them properly! WTF, mate?

Last year, I had pretty simple homework policy: there was no homework. I had tried giving homework at the beginning of the year and the return rate was pretty pathetic. To be fair, transfer high school students have lives beyond the life of a stereotypical high school suburbanite. They work to support their households. Some of them have kids of their own to take care of. As an alternative to homework, I gave a mini quiz at the end of class everyday (yes, very Teach for America-like), which was supposed to pressure students to focus in class. It did work (well, sort of): I had an ~80% average for daily quiz grades.

Unfortunately, no homework also meant no retention. So by the time the Regents exams came along in January and June, the students who weren't letting the material sink in properly ended up failing. Miserably. Seriously, I could have easily submitted some of their answers here. Only the students who truly absorbed the material and studied on their own time passed.
Note: To be fair, there were also some lucky idiots who did not take class seriously, but also passed. Apparently, the Algebra Regents exam isn't rocket science (shhh!). Guessing a whopping 13 out of 30 questions correctly on the multiple choice guarantees you a passing score of 65. We have high standards in the state of New York.
This year has been different. Not only do we have quizzes everyday, but I've also been dishing out homework nearly everyday and the return rate has been beyond my expectations
FYI: my expectations were zero.
I try to keep the number of homework problems to five. My logic is that they should be able to complete homework assignments on a subway ride back home. The goal is to get them to think about what they learned in class, outside of class. Now, I have students who come in late and the first thing they want to do is interrupt my class and show me their homework. Students who were absent are coming to class, finding their homework from the days they missed and desperately trying to get my attention when they finish.
"Yo Mista, can I turn this in late?"
At this point, I really want to thank the New York City Water Sanitation Department for putting whatever they have been putting into the water supply this year. Some "get-your-homework-poison" no doubt...

Things weren't like this last year. Or maybe I hadn't set the homework expectation properly at the beginning of the year. Whatever it is now, I'll run with it. Literally. I've been waking up every other day at 5 AM to work out, do pull ups and push ups. Things running smoothly had put me in a good mood. Here's to a good start so far.
Labels:

Comments

Mr. T said…
amen brother!

and screw you for being able to wake up early and exercise!
September 27, 2010 at 10:13 PM
Alpha Za said…
Odd thing, the teachers that I actually did Homework for (you may have heard how little of it we actually did whilst in school) were the ones I actually liked enough to make an effort for.

It's a healthy relationship, and you're probably filling that void their not getting elsewhere.

Continue testing that relationship, and you'd never know where it might lead.

What are the final percentages of kids actually turning their hw in? rought est.?
September 28, 2010 at 8:43 AM
Yo Mista! said…
@ Alpha:

Avg. grade for students with 75% or more H/W completion rate: 84%

Avg. grade for students with 65% H/W completion rate: 71%

Avg. grade for students with 50% or lower H/W completion rate: 62%

Keep in mind the "avg grade" bit only includes daily quizzes and homework assignments. Haven't had a test yet...
September 28, 2010 at 2:48 PM
Anonymous said…
subway ride back home vs "completing" homework at the lunch tables.. same difference

2
September 28, 2010 at 8:29 PM
Yo Mista! said…
@ Anonymous:

All of my Algebra classes are actually before lunch...

So, if my students are "completing" their homework at lunch the day OF - more power to them!

...Taking the initiative, I like it.
September 29, 2010 at 8:31 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Need to Talk About Tenure

The idea and privilege of "tenure" in public education has garnered a lot of attention as of late. Most people who have never worked in education a single day in their lives seem to feel that tenure is unfair and teachers should work under the same expectations that other "regular" and hard-working Americans work under. At least, that's the narrative being presented in the media. Three years ago, I would have agreed, but I didn't know any better. At the college and university level,  tenure  is difficult to obtain and can take 4-8 years. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but from what I think I know, the candidate usually needs to have published some sort of research and have demonstrated a strong teaching record, among other things. Before becoming a high school teacher, I understood why tenure was necessary at the college and university level as it protected academics when they published work that went against the mainstream, and thereby prevented profes...
16 comments
Read more

The Two Brothers

Two years ago, two brothers enrolled at the alternative school where I worked. Colin and Ken, at 16 and 15 years old respectively, had just come back from spending two years in the Dominican Republic. They were now living in a foster home in the Bronx away from their birth parents. During the years they spent in the Dominican Republic, Colin and Ken were in and out of school, but mostly out, working on their family's farm as free labor. Beyond the trauma of separation  from  their birth parents, Colin and Ken experienced a significant amount of trauma  with  their birth parents. They were two teenagers who had already lived a lifetime. Silent with a dark sense of humor, Colin kept quiet during the school day during most of his first year. His entrance test scores placed him in classes at about (or slightly under) grade level. In those classes, Colin excelled. During his first year in this alternative school, Colin accumulated credits, earned rewards based on academ...
2 comments
Read more

Teach for Pakistan

I've been visiting Karachi every other year since I was six months old. My parents were both born there. The bulk of my extended family still lives there. It's strange how my perspective and investment in the country has changed over the years. I hated going to Pakistan when I was younger. My mother dragged me there for two, sometimes three months at a time over the summer. The heat was miserable and the humidity was unbearable. My family wasn't well off, so it's not like I was in a huge mansion of sorts living in the tropics, eating cold mangoes. That would've been nice. The only things I enjoyed were the company of my cousins, the food and the taste of Coca-Cola made from real sugar. Besides that, I really never did anything else. I was pretty quiet: my aunts would compliment me on my lack of communication. Heh. It was not until I was a teenager that I truly began to appreciate my experiences in Pakistan. I started engaging in the family functions, weddings an...
15 comments
Read more