It all sounds so easy in theory, this homework lark. And every year I manage to convince
myself that this will be the year that I will have it nailed, that my new methods of
keeping track of the many variables in the children / homework submission palaver will
be a resounding success and I will have finally cracked the secret that other teachers
seem to have already.
And then, with the academic year almost over, and memories of homework battles being dredged up for report writing, I concede defeat, wonder why I put so much effort into something so fruitless, and go back to the drawing board to create a new system that will hopefully pin down the movements of every single pupil in every single class I teach from September.
So what is the problem? Once a week or once a fortnight, homework is scheduled to
be set for each class, timetabled by the powers that be. Homework is an opportunity
to test the pupils on what they should have learnt and understood during the lesson.
It’s a chance for them to do some extra research or project work. Sometimes it’s the
main outcome from a series of lessons that all build towards the pupils producing a
piece of work that they assemble and write up in their homework time: a chance to
shine and show their true potential. At other times they are asked to prepare something
to bring to a future lesson.
Now I’m not perfect, that’s plain for all to see. I admit that sometimes I’ve been so busy I’ve forgotten to plan for a specific task to be completed. Homework tasks are occasionally invented on the spot to make sure the kids have their thirty or so minutes of extra work that evening. At other times I’ve taken in their books to mark that weekend and then realised they won’t be able to complete their work in their books and they won’t have their notes with them.
Sometimes other factors get in the way of planned homework: the lessons move at a
slower pace than I’ve planned for; perhaps the pupils need longer to grasp or practise
a concept, or maybe the lesson is cancelled or interrupted. The homework task I had
planned no longer fits in with their timetabled homework slot. Mixed ability classes
can be all over the place, with some of the kids struggling over questions that
others have long finished, with the high-fliers devouring extension work that was
actually meant to be homework. Different kids in one class end up with different
homeworks: some merely to finish the questions that they should have managed in the
lesson, whilst others are into the realms of research projects or essay writing.
So in theory, homework tasks in my planning folder should be a neat sequence of instructions: Thursday – set homework. Monday – collect in homework. Monday and Tuesday – mark and return homework. But let’s just look at how this supposedly simple system becomes a big old mess in less time than it takes to say, “I left my homework on the kitchen table”.
1. I aim to set homework in the middle of the lesson or sometimes even at the beginning. Sometimes this doesn’t go to plan and “plenary” is replaced by “write down this homework before the bell goes”. Consequence: not every child will have written down the homework. This is just about the only point that I take full responsibility for.
2. Even if I set homework in the middle of the lesson, write it clearly on the board, pace the classroom watching them write it in their planners, I guarantee one child at least will slip through the net and have no record of homework being set. Consequence: a good few minutes wasted the following lesson explaining, cajoling or berating.
3. On the day the homework is due in, the child will show me a note from a parent saying that so-and-so lost the worksheet or didn’t understand the homework. Consequence: I ask them why they didn’t come to see me before the deadline, spend several minutes of lesson time finding new worksheets or explaining what they have to do, and write a quick response to the parent when I should be teaching the class.
4. On submission day, certain pupils claim to have been away when the homework
was set. Now our school has a “catching up” policy where if a child is absent,
it’s their responsibility to catch up. If it was really that easy, would there be
a need for teachers? Children could just spend their lives copying notes. Besides,
very often homework is not freestanding, but rather it’s an integral part of the
lesson. If the child was away, it’s difficult for them to complete the homework
without me spending lots of time explaining what it was all about. Consequence: I
have to go back and check my register and planning sheets to check if they actually
were absent, time-consuming when the kids are looking for any chance to start their
own conversations. I did try to get round this one year by designing a sheet that
had spaces for me to write in the homework details, day I set it, and absentees.
It worked for about five minutes until children leaving the lesson for music lessons
or appointments and so on buggered up my little system.
5. On submission day, there will be between 5% and 90% of pupils, depending on the class, who trot out the usual splattering of excuses about why they haven’t got or done their homework. They are given until the next lesson. This means I have to keep track of who owes me what, and with some of the kids this list is ever growing.
6. On submission day I am handed some pieces of homework that are substandard, i.e. crap. These are returned and they are given until the next lesson to produce something that takes longer than two minutes on the bus on the way in. Consequence: another set of pupils to keep track of.
7. So there on submission day I have a mere handful of submitted homeworks which I’m secretly quite pleased about because it means I have to spend less time trawling through it before it has to be returned the next day so that they can use their books in the following lesson. The following lesson some of the kids with outstanding homework show me they’ve done it, try to persuade me to take in their book to mark it, but it’s too late! – another piece of homework has to be set, and they need to keep their books to do it. Consequence: I don’t get to mark their homework until at least a week later, so I don’t realise that they’ve completely misunderstood the topic and it’s too late because we’ve moved on. I make a note that we need to plan a revision lesson on that topic, and have to squeeze it into our overstuffed scheme of work.
8. Some children never do their homework. They have their reasons. They may be a
carer at home to their parent and have no time to squeeze in something that seems
so irrelevant. They might not have support at home or a quiet place to work. They
may just be lazy or defiant. Yes, they have their reasons, and so the school
supposedly has a solution of a study club. If homework isn’t submitted, we are
supposed to spend our break traipsing to the office with a list of names to write
in the study club book. Study club is supervised by management. They register the
kids, but nothing seems to happen if the kids don’t turn up. It should, but it
doesn’t. The kids learn this simple truth pretty fast. There are no consequences
if they can’t be bothered to do their homework. My only “revenge”: mentioning it
on their end of year report.
So there you have it. A supposedly simple system turns into a paper trail mess. I spend lesson time chasing after and checking up on kids, and my desk groans under piles of random books submitted at the wrong times, all to be marked as quickly as possible. I have to switch between year groups and topics and keep records of the chaos. I have to set more work which creates more marking which starts to make me alternate between panic, anger and defeatism. I waste evenings and weekends wading through rushed scribbles that make me despair or the 26-part volumes of project work that each member of a top set produces each time. This is on top of the work they get through in lessons. Yes, I see a reason for homework. But I’m still searching for a method of controlling all the variables that mess up the process. I’d love for each pupil to have a homework book as well as an exercise book, but I can see many happy fictional dogs wagging their tails at the prospect of that savoury snack. As this academic year comes to a close, I’m already planning next year’s strategy for the homework blitz. Any suggestions welcome!
added 17/7/05
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