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Assigning Purposeful Homework & Practice Suzanne Whisler Esu 4 Johnson Brock Public Schools January 25, 2012 esu4instructionalstrategies.wikispaces.com

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Session objective... What will I do to help students practice and deepen their understanding of new knowledge? Best practices in assigning homework & designing practice assignments

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Almost All Teachers at One Time or Another Give Homework Assignments.

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If you were King or Queen, what would homework look like in your school?

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Category Ave. Effect Size Percentile gain Identifying Similarities and differences 1.6145 Summarizing and note taking 1.0034 Reinforcing effort and providing recognition.8029 Homework and Practice.77 28 Nonlinguistic representations.7527 Cooperative learning.7327 Setting objectives/providing feedback.6123 Generating and testing hypotheses.6123 Questions, cues, and advance organizers.5922

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What is effective homework?

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5 Characteristics of Quality Homework 1.Clear academic purpose 2.Efficiency 3.Ownership 4.Competence 5.Aesthetic appeal

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Ahas & Questions Form a group of 4 In your group letter off A-D Each partner will silently read a segment of the article 5 Hallmarks of Good Homework. A Hallmark 1 Purpose B Hallmark 2 & 3 Efficiency and Ownership C Hallmark 4 Competence D Hallmark 5 Aesthetic Appeal As you read, record any Ahas or questions you have regarding your segment. Share you Ahas and questions with your group.

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Lets explore the 5 qualities of homework in depth.

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1. Clear Academic Purpose The ultimate goal of the assignment should be clearly communicated to the student. (Marzano, Pickering and Pollock, 2001)

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Students shouldnt have trouble connecting the purpose of homework to classroom learning.

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Four Purposes of Homework Pre-learning Checking for understanding Practice Processing Busy Work

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Pre-learning ~ Cues Provide an introduction to a topic Provide background information Find out what student already know Stimulate interest in a topic Read a chapter and complete an advance organizer Write down questions you have about the topic Watch a video KWL Chart

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Check for Understanding Homework should provide feedback to the teacher and student about the students understanding Adjust instruction Reteach concepts Example assignments Do 5 math problems, explain the steps Have students complete a journal assignment about a class science experiment to check students understanding of what happened and why

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If homework is assigned, it should be commented on. Homework is assigned, but not commented on has an effect size of.28. Homework is assigned and graded has an effect size of.78. Homework is assigned and teacher provides written comments has an effect size of.83. (Marzano, 2007)

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Practice Practice should be assigned only after the teacher is confident that students fully understand the concept. Dont skip Check for Understanding Students may practice skill incorrectly Distributed practice is better than mass practice.

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Twotiered Homework Part 1 Assign 3 problems to check for understanding of a new concept Part 2 Assign 10 problems to practice and reinforce a concept previously taught. Practice is more effective when distributed over several days. (Marzano, 2010)

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Processing Used when the teacher wants students to reflect on concepts Think of new questions to ask Apply skills or knowledge learned Often a long-term project Summarizing major concepts in a unit Writing an original poem Write an editorial defending or criticizing the actions of the participants of the Boston Tea Party.

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Homework Does Not Teach Responsibility... Parents do! (says Debra Pickering one of co- writers with Robert Marzano). Students need to be taught organization, time management, stress management, goal setting, etc.

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Ahas and Questions What Ahas and questions do you have regarding clear academic purpose?

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2. Efficiency Some tasks are well-intentioned attempts to create fun or interesting tasks, while losing sight of the academic focus. (Vatterott, 2010)

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Efficiency Do students clearly understand the assignment? Does the assignment help students learn? Color the map Writing the definitions of the words Read Chapter 4 Solve the word puzzle

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Efficient homework examples... List the 3 most important ideas in Chapter 4. Write a reaction to what you read. During your reading place post-it notes on the parts of the reading you had questions about. During your reading place post-it notes on the parts that you found most interesting to discuss in class.

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10-Minute Rule The maximum amount of nightly homework should not exceed 10 minutes per grade level per night, all subjects combined. 1 st -3rd grades = Assign homework to teach good habits 4 th 6 th grades = 30-45 mins. 7 th 9 th grades = 50-120 mins. 10 th 12 th grades = 60-120 mins.

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3. Ownership Personally relevant Give students choices Self-assess and reflect about their learning Circle the part of the spelling word that is the trickiest. Determine the best way for you to study your multiplication facts. Assign corrections as home work after a test Students state why they missed questions and find the correct answer in their notes or book

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Ownership Promote ownership by... Offer students an opportunity to personalize their work Allow students to share information about themselves or their lives Tap emotions, feelings, or opinions about a subject Allow students to create products or presentations

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Ahas and Questions What Ahas and questions do you have regarding efficiency and ownership?

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4. Competence Tasks are doable! Homework that cannot be done without help is not good homework and is demotivating to students. (Vatterott, 2007)

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4. Competence Homework should instill a sense of competence in the mind of the learner. Students feel positive about learning

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5. Aesthetic Appeal The way homework looks is important! Its important to younger students and academically challenged students. Overwhelming Small spaces for writing Worksheets with too much information on a page Five page worksheets Endless lists of definitions

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Ahas and Questions What Ahas and questions do you have regarding competence and appeal?

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Parent Involvement from Dr. Marzano Parent involvement in homework should be kept to a minimum. Parents should know what homework their children are responsible for completing. Parents role should be to facilitate homework not to do the homework for students. Parents role should be defined and communicated in a homework policy from the teacher and school. What about parent involvement?

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Does Johnson Brock have a homework policy?

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Every School and Teacher Should Have a Homework Policy (Guideline) and It Should Be Consistently Observed! What is the purpose of homework? How much homework will be assigned? What are the consequences for not completing homework? What types of parental involvement are acceptable? How will I communicate my homework policy?

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Lets Move! Please stand up. Move around the room and form a group of three-ish. Discuss what important information you learned about using homework effectively.

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Teachers should not abandon homework. Instead, they should improve its instructional quality. (Marzano and Pickering, 2007)