Discussion Blog
as part of the Book Study
provided by
www.TransformYourClassroom.net
Friday, March 3, 2017
Blog Post 3:
What are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework
meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
One problem I’ve encountered with grading homework is that it often becomes more about compliance than actual learning. Some students complete it quickly without really engaging, while others may understand the content but struggle to finish homework consistently due to outside responsibilities. As a math teacher, I typically use homework problems as a preview of what will appear on their tests, and I grade them based on completion and effort rather than strict accuracy. This encourages all learners to at least attempt the work, show their thinking, and not fear making mistakes. One of Myron Dueck’s strategies for making homework more meaningful that I could implement is ensuring that assignments have a clear and direct purpose tied to assessment. If students see that homework is genuinely preparing them for what they will be asked to do on quizzes or tests, it increases buy-in and reduces the feeling of “busy work.” Connecting homework more explicitly to essential outcomes would help students recognize its value and stay more engaged in the learning process.
The biggest issue i have run into is cheating. With math, unless they use symbols or methods I haven't shown them, the only way to know they cheated is to say that you know that they dont have the ability to do the work right. I have tried the in class quizzes before. Gave out homework sheets and said that they just needed to do enough to know what they are doing. Started out sort of ok and then we had some really smart kids(I teach math) that we're like "I get it, I dont need to practice " which is the point, right? Not everyone needs to do the exact same amount of problems. But the issue was that other kids were then saying that they didn't need to either. Then we would take the in class quiz and the really smart ones did OK and the others had no idea. And it wasn't being retained at all. The kids dont understand how they need to learn individually until they are more mature.
Problems I encounter when grading homework is 1) students aren't getting any support at home and are lost, or 2) parents are doing the work for them. To combat this I would like to assign the "homework" on Google Classroom. This "homework" would be watching a brief lesson online introducing the math lesson. They would then answer 1-2 accountability questions and turn in the "assignment." When they arrive at school, I would then briefly reteach the lesson, answer questions, and release them to independently work while making myself available to help. I believe this would be a great example of Dueck's strategy of In-Class Quizzes.
One problem I have come across when assigning homework is that homework I may give students is not graded. In my special education classroom, I give students tasks to work on and there is not much of an incentive to complete it. Typically, work for their classes comes first and my activities fall to the wayside. The strategy I can implement in my classes is providing in-school support. This can allow students to complete their work while providing guidance and feedback to ensure they are understanding the concepts.
I have stopped grading homework altogether and made it "completion" in order to even take the test. Kids try harder on the homework than they ever did when it was graded because the tests are their only grades and they don't want to do poorly on the tests.
What are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
As I teach first grade, I do not grade student homework as it is very guided. A lot of the time, as a class, we will do a couple problems together and then the students will do the rest of the worksheet by themselves. With grading homework, I make sure students are completing the assignment correctly, but also make sure they are doing it correctly. If they are not, I will pull them aside and they will make corrections. The problems that I run into with that is that it’s time consuming pull each student over at a time to make corrections to their homework as I have 26 students. With first grade students, the correction process has to be very guided and they need support.
The strategy that I do implement with my students already is In-Class Quizzes. In the subject areas of math and reading, our curriculum has built in quizzes that we give students and we track their data. This allows me to know where students are at with the concepts they are learning and where we need to give support to.
A problem that I have encountered with homework is there are students who do not finish their work. These students, of course, are the one who need the practice the most. I have also encountered students who cheat on electronic assignments that are given out. The author does not really visit much on the aspect of Chat GPT in this book - it was written before that even existed! I feel that implementing the quizzes might be the way to go. I would need to require quizzes for this process, but it might be worth the work! It seems that my classes are so short already - I am not certain that I want to take time out of my limited day to implement that! I am also considering the idea that homework could possibly include a short video or introductory material - that would free up actual hands-on class time.
As a math teacher I had always struggled in finding the best strategies to use while grading and assessing students. Like mentioned in the book, math needs practice and when you have 75 kids, it is tough to get a grasp on every student with every concept to accurately decide which students need more practice with each specific skill. Some issues I have encountered would be where students copy each others work just to get it completed, or their parents/siblings doing the work for them as well.
In the book I really like the idea of implementing more in class quizzes. This would check for understanding on the concepts. Students could still be given their assignment to use as practice and then if they need it they can complete it and if not, they can take the quiz and assess where they stand on the specific concept. I think this would be a great strategy to implement in math class. It would also give the teacher a break from just checking and grading so many math assignments, compared to a quick 5 question quiz every few days or weeks.
Working in special education my whole career, I don't assign homework even if I am their main teacher for that content area. We focus on their goals as well as content. However, I check for understanding as we are working together. Whatever question or step that student may get wrong, I take data on that and we adjust instruction as we go.
My students do go out to the general classroom for Science and Social Studies classes and their work is highly modified. However, if they do come back with homework or a project and they need to work on it here at school, I will work it into our small group time and it becomes a life skill task.
Some of the problems I encounter everyday is making sure students are doing their own work and checking for understanding. I think the biggest red flag I see is when students have 100% on daily assignments but regularly fail tests covering the same content. That tells me they didn't actually learn the material, but instead rushed to be done or cheated. I have tried to have shorter quizzes more often over the content covered that day in class. This helps check for understanding right away before the end of the lesson.
Another great idea mentioned is a lunch homework room. This extra time would provide opportunity's to check for understanding in a more personalized time frame. Students may feel more comfortable asking questions in this designed space and hand in assignments that may have been started and had only a few questions left unanswered.
Like the author I tend to believe that homework assignments are either not done or not totally completed by the student it is assigned to. I think the quiz strategy is likely a more reasonable measure of students actual understanding. In my classroom I tend to have students complete assignments in class as I am in a multi grade room. I try to leave time at the end of the day for questions or students can ask peers if I am not available. Quizzes are necessary to gauge student understanding as they are completed completely on their own.
Dueck explains that grading homework can create inequities and may not accurately reflect student learning. In Early Childhood Special Education, I do not grade homework but instead collect data on progress toward IEP goals, so traditional homework grading issues are not part of my practice.
One strategy Dueck suggests is ensuring homework is purposeful and connected to learning goals. I could apply this by sending home optional, play-based activities aligned with IEP goals and asking families to share brief observations. This keeps the focus on meaningful skill development rather than task completion.
I teach Second Grade so our school doesn't impliment homework at all. However, in the previous grades that I have taught, grading homework was a frequent problem. I found all of his homework strategies helpful. The one that I think would be the most helpful for Second Graders would be implimenting more in class quizzes. This will give a comprehensive look at who is actually mastering the skills vs. who is not. I also liked the idea of the lunchroom homework club, I think this could also be helpful and a great idea.
What are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
The biggest problem I have with homework is student cheating. I assign guided reading worksheets so the students will have the information for the following class discussion. I and others have caught students using a variety of methods of cheating to just get the assignment completed.
The one strategy I have tried and am thinking about re-implementing in my classroom is In-Class Quizzes. During the Covid Era, I converted everything to Google Forms. I would have the students complete the assignment and then they could use them to complete a shortened version as a Google Form Quiz. Although this did not elevate the cheating it was a way for me to have in class and at home students complete the information. If I were to re-instate this practice I might not allow them to use their actual worksheet to complete the Google Form Quiz. Cheating could/would still occur but they couldn't depend on it for the quiz.
I am a kindergarten teacher and the only thing that I send home for homework, is letter, number, and sightword practice books. It's just extra practice for them at home. None of it is graded. I tell my students that their parents, older siblings, or whoever takes care of them has to sign thier books that they read to them. When they bring their books back to school, they get a prize from my prize box or a small treat. It varies from year to year how many of my students read and bring their books back. I don't require them to be brought back the next day. They can bring them when ever they remember to bring them back to school.
What are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
I'm very fornutate that about 98% of my students turn in completed homework. Homework is completed because kids either will have homework lunch if not completed or have to come in for ICU to finish it. With that said, once they leave my room I'm not sure if they are cheating or how much help they receive from friends or family (one big down fall).
The one strategy I think I would like to try is the inclass quiz. I could just pick 2-3 questions from homework and if they truly did the homework and understood it the quiz should be fast and give me data that is accurate about students' learning.
Some problems I’ve encountered with grading homework is the support to how the student came up with the answer is not submitted. Now more than ever it is easy to find answers without doing the work so when students provide answers with no evidence, it is a little suspicious. Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for doing homework meaningful. I could implement the "in-class quizzes" strategy to determine a much more accurate representation of each student's ability and understanding. As well as giving the students a faster avenue to feedback. I like this strategy.
What are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
A couple of problems I have encountered with grading homework is that it does not always indicate that students have learned the material, even if they got the right answers. Students simply want to finish and turn in the assignment verses use it as a way to learn the content being covered. When they do this, they are not preparing themselves for quizzes and tests over the material in the future. Homework can also inflate grades unfairly, especially when homework counts for a lot of points.
One of Dueck's strategies is to use frequent in-class quizzes as it is a better way determine a student's understanding of the material. Basically, instead of grading homework, students use homework to practice for an in class quiz which results in the grade reflecting the students actual learning.
I could implement this strategy with my students by assigning homework as usual followed by an in class short quiz over the homework the next day. This would encourage students to do the homework for understanding as a way to prepare for the quiz. Ultimately their grades would reflect their understanding verses simply homework completion.
Dueck offers great strategies when it comes to making homework meaningful. I look forward to implementing his ideas in my classroom.
One problem I’ve encountered with grading homework is that it often becomes more about compliance than actual learning. Some students complete it quickly without really engaging, while others may understand the content but struggle to finish homework consistently due to outside responsibilities. As a math teacher, I typically use homework problems as a preview of what will appear on their tests, and I grade them based on completion and effort rather than strict accuracy. This encourages all learners to at least attempt the work, show their thinking, and not fear making mistakes. One of Myron Dueck’s strategies for making homework more meaningful that I could implement is ensuring that assignments have a clear and direct purpose tied to assessment. If students see that homework is genuinely preparing them for what they will be asked to do on quizzes or tests, it increases buy-in and reduces the feeling of “busy work.” Connecting homework more explicitly to essential outcomes would help students recognize its value and stay more engaged in the learning process.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest issue i have run into is cheating. With math, unless they use symbols or methods I haven't shown them, the only way to know they cheated is to say that you know that they dont have the ability to do the work right.
ReplyDeleteI have tried the in class quizzes before. Gave out homework sheets and said that they just needed to do enough to know what they are doing. Started out sort of ok and then we had some really smart kids(I teach math) that we're like "I get it, I dont need to practice " which is the point, right? Not everyone needs to do the exact same amount of problems. But the issue was that other kids were then saying that they didn't need to either. Then we would take the in class quiz and the really smart ones did OK and the others had no idea. And it wasn't being retained at all. The kids dont understand how they need to learn individually until they are more mature.
Problems I encounter when grading homework is 1) students aren't getting any support at home and are lost, or 2) parents are doing the work for them. To combat this I would like to assign the "homework" on Google Classroom. This "homework" would be watching a brief lesson online introducing the math lesson. They would then answer 1-2 accountability questions and turn in the "assignment." When they arrive at school, I would then briefly reteach the lesson, answer questions, and release them to independently work while making myself available to help. I believe this would be a great example of Dueck's strategy of In-Class Quizzes.
ReplyDeleteOne problem I have come across when assigning homework is that homework I may give students is not graded. In my special education classroom, I give students tasks to work on and there is not much of an incentive to complete it. Typically, work for their classes comes first and my activities fall to the wayside. The strategy I can implement in my classes is providing in-school support. This can allow students to complete their work while providing guidance and feedback to ensure they are understanding the concepts.
ReplyDeleteI have stopped grading homework altogether and made it "completion" in order to even take the test. Kids try harder on the homework than they ever did when it was graded because the tests are their only grades and they don't want to do poorly on the tests.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
ReplyDeleteAs I teach first grade, I do not grade student homework as it is very guided. A lot of the time, as a class, we will do a couple problems together and then the students will do the rest of the worksheet by themselves. With grading homework, I make sure students are completing the assignment correctly, but also make sure they are doing it correctly. If they are not, I will pull them aside and they will make corrections. The problems that I run into with that is that it’s time consuming pull each student over at a time to make corrections to their homework as I have 26 students. With first grade students, the correction process has to be very guided and they need support.
The strategy that I do implement with my students already is In-Class Quizzes. In the subject areas of math and reading, our curriculum has built in quizzes that we give students and we track their data. This allows me to know where students are at with the concepts they are learning and where we need to give support to.
A problem that I have encountered with homework is there are students who do not finish their work. These students, of course, are the one who need the practice the most. I have also encountered students who cheat on electronic assignments that are given out. The author does not really visit much on the aspect of Chat GPT in this book - it was written before that even existed!
ReplyDeleteI feel that implementing the quizzes might be the way to go. I would need to require quizzes for this process, but it might be worth the work! It seems that my classes are so short already - I am not certain that I want to take time out of my limited day to implement that! I am also considering the idea that homework could possibly include a short video or introductory material - that would free up actual hands-on class time.
As a math teacher I had always struggled in finding the best strategies to use while grading and assessing students. Like mentioned in the book, math needs practice and when you have 75 kids, it is tough to get a grasp on every student with every concept to accurately decide which students need more practice with each specific skill. Some issues I have encountered would be where students copy each others work just to get it completed, or their parents/siblings doing the work for them as well.
ReplyDeleteIn the book I really like the idea of implementing more in class quizzes. This would check for understanding on the concepts. Students could still be given their assignment to use as practice and then if they need it they can complete it and if not, they can take the quiz and assess where they stand on the specific concept. I think this would be a great strategy to implement in math class. It would also give the teacher a break from just checking and grading so many math assignments, compared to a quick 5 question quiz every few days or weeks.
Working in special education my whole career, I don't assign homework even if I am their main teacher for that content area. We focus on their goals as well as content. However, I check for understanding as we are working together. Whatever question or step that student may get wrong, I take data on that and we adjust instruction as we go.
ReplyDeleteMy students do go out to the general classroom for Science and Social Studies classes and their work is highly modified. However, if they do come back with homework or a project and they need to work on it here at school, I will work it into our small group time and it becomes a life skill task.
Some of the problems I encounter everyday is making sure students are doing their own work and checking for understanding. I think the biggest red flag I see is when students have 100% on daily assignments but regularly fail tests covering the same content. That tells me they didn't actually learn the material, but instead rushed to be done or cheated. I have tried to have shorter quizzes more often over the content covered that day in class. This helps check for understanding right away before the end of the lesson.
ReplyDeleteAnother great idea mentioned is a lunch homework room. This extra time would provide opportunity's to check for understanding in a more personalized time frame. Students may feel more comfortable asking questions in this designed space and hand in assignments that may have been started and had only a few questions left unanswered.
Like the author I tend to believe that homework assignments are either not done or not totally completed by the student it is assigned to. I think the quiz strategy is likely a more reasonable measure of students actual understanding. In my classroom I tend to have students complete assignments in class as I am in a multi grade room. I try to leave time at the end of the day for questions or students can ask peers if I am not available. Quizzes are necessary to gauge student understanding as they are completed completely on their own.
ReplyDeleteDueck explains that grading homework can create inequities and may not accurately reflect student learning. In Early Childhood Special Education, I do not grade homework but instead collect data on progress toward IEP goals, so traditional homework grading issues are not part of my practice.
ReplyDeleteOne strategy Dueck suggests is ensuring homework is purposeful and connected to learning goals. I could apply this by sending home optional, play-based activities aligned with IEP goals and asking families to share brief observations. This keeps the focus on meaningful skill development rather than task completion.
I teach Second Grade so our school doesn't impliment homework at all. However, in the previous grades that I have taught, grading homework was a frequent problem.
ReplyDeleteI found all of his homework strategies helpful. The one that I think would be the most helpful for Second Graders would be implimenting more in class quizzes. This will give a comprehensive look at who is actually mastering the skills vs. who is not. I also liked the idea of the lunchroom homework club, I think this could also be helpful and a great idea.
What are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem I have with homework is student cheating. I assign guided reading worksheets so the students will have the information for the following class discussion. I and others have caught students using a variety of methods of cheating to just get the assignment completed.
The one strategy I have tried and am thinking about re-implementing in my classroom is In-Class Quizzes. During the Covid Era, I converted everything to Google Forms. I would have the students complete the assignment and then they could use them to complete a shortened version as a Google Form Quiz. Although this did not elevate the cheating it was a way for me to have in class and at home students complete the information. If I were to re-instate this practice I might not allow them to use their actual worksheet to complete the Google Form Quiz. Cheating could/would still occur but they couldn't depend on it for the quiz.
I am a kindergarten teacher and the only thing that I send home for homework, is letter, number, and sightword practice books. It's just extra practice for them at home. None of it is graded. I tell my students that their parents, older siblings, or whoever takes care of them has to sign thier books that they read to them. When they bring their books back to school, they get a prize from my prize box or a small treat. It varies from year to year how many of my students read and bring their books back. I don't require them to be brought back the next day. They can bring them when ever they remember to bring them back to school.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
ReplyDeleteI'm very fornutate that about 98% of my students turn in completed homework. Homework is completed because kids either will have homework lunch if not completed or have to come in for ICU to finish it. With that said, once they leave my room I'm not sure if they are cheating or how much help they receive from friends or family (one big down fall).
The one strategy I think I would like to try is the inclass quiz. I could just pick 2-3 questions from homework and if they truly did the homework and understood it the quiz should be fast and give me data that is accurate about students' learning.
Some problems I’ve encountered with grading homework is the support to how the student came up with the answer is not submitted. Now more than ever it is easy to find answers without doing the work so when students provide answers with no evidence, it is a little suspicious. Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for doing homework meaningful. I could implement the "in-class quizzes" strategy to determine a much more accurate representation of each student's ability and understanding. As well as giving the students a faster avenue to feedback. I like this strategy.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some problems you’ve encountered with grading homework? Myron Dueck offers 3 strategies for making homework meaningful. How could you implement one of these strategies with your own students?
ReplyDeleteA couple of problems I have encountered with grading homework is that it does not always indicate that students have learned the material, even if they got the right answers. Students simply want to finish and turn in the assignment verses use it as a way to learn the content being covered. When they do this, they are not preparing themselves for quizzes and tests over the material in the future. Homework can also inflate grades unfairly, especially when homework counts for a lot of points.
One of Dueck's strategies is to use frequent in-class quizzes as it is a better way determine a student's understanding of the material. Basically, instead of grading homework, students use homework to practice for an in class quiz which results in the grade reflecting the students actual learning.
I could implement this strategy with my students by assigning homework as usual followed by an in class short quiz over the homework the next day. This would encourage students to do the homework for understanding as a way to prepare for the quiz. Ultimately their grades would reflect their understanding verses simply homework completion.
Dueck offers great strategies when it comes to making homework meaningful. I look forward to implementing his ideas in my classroom.