Daily English Homework

[Lutgarda Briseno]

Homeworkhelp is only a click away. The Torrance Library provides homework support for anyone with a library card. They have an on-line help system that will connect you to a real live tutor. They also have in-library help at several branches and the main library.

Having trouble understanding "Simple Equations" in Algebra? Not quite getting how photosynthesis works? Have no fear. At the Khan Academy you can find mini video lessons on multiple subjects. This highly regarded website offers over two thousand lessons on such subjects as Algebra, Basic Arithmetic, Biology, History and so much more. These tutorials are free.

This is a great website to practice math skills. It is designed for Kindergarten to 8th grade students. The exercises include detailed explanations to help you work through the math problems. You do not have to have a membership to work on this site.

A new, streamlined version of Intervention Central is coming in December 2023. The new site will eliminate user login accounts. If you have a login account, be sure to download and save any documents of importance from that account, as they will be erased when the website is revised.

Getting students to complete homework is an complex and ongoing challenge for teachers and parents. However, there is one key question that research can help instructors to answer: How much homework is optimal to assign per grade level? The table on the right, How Much Homework Per Day is Optimal?, provides recommendations from 3 sources on the lower and upper limits for daily homework time requirements.

Despite the differences in the recommendations from these sources, the table shows broad agreement about how much homework to assign at each grade. At grades 1-3, homework should be limited to an hour or less per day, while in grades 4-6, homework should not exceed 90 minutes. The upper limit in grades 7-8 is 2 hours and the limit in high school should be 2.5 hours.

Teachers can use the homework time recommendations included here as a point of comparison: in particular, schools should note that assigning homework that exceeds the upper limit of these time estimates is not likely to result in additional learning gains--and may even be counter-productive (Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006).

It should also be remembered that the amount of homework assigned each day is not in itself a sign of high academic standards. Homework becomes a powerful tool to promote learning only when students grasp the purpose of each homework assignment, clearly understand homework directions, perceive that homework tasks are instructionally relevant, and receive timely performance feedback (e.g., teacher comments; grades) on submitted homework (Jenson, Sheridan, Olympia, & Andrews, 1994).

At St. Cecilia School, we are committed to providing excellent communication channels between our teachers and our students and parents. We developed this homework page with that exact thought in mind. Please check this page daily for homework assignments for each school day. Assignments are updated by 4:30PM most days - some days later due to extenuating circumstances. Please check the date at the top to know if the page has been updated.

So, we are halfway through our second 9 weeks of school, and this is the first year where I started out not checking homework. In August, I carefully explained to students that there would be suggested homework problems and that even though I would not check their homework, there would be frequent quizzes to check their understanding.

The suggested homework problems usually number five or six, and I have never assigned more than ten. I post the solutions, complete with accompanying work, on Canvas for students to access. I do this so that they can refer to it if they get stuck while doing their homework.

Just a note on grading: in our school system quizzes count the same as a daily grade (30%) while tests count 60%, and benchmarks count for 10%. So the impact on their grade is not over-large, but it is enough to get their attention.

I have begun to allow students to retake quizzes in addition to the option of completing a corresponding activity at IXL. I resisted doing this initially because I thought I would be overrun with students wanting to retake their quizzes, but that has not been the case. In fact, the requests mostly come from students who earn a good grade to start with but want an even higher grade.

I want to share as honestly as I can what the results have been in case others are also trying to find the best way to address the homework issue. At the first of the year it seemed to be working very well. Initially students were doing well on their homework quizzes and seemed to enjoy having some choice regarding their homework.

However, as the year has progressed, students are encountering more difficult material. Couple that with field trips, sickness, and absences, and the quiz-or-homework option is taking a toll. I have begun to hear more complaints about the homework quizzes.

On the flip side, many students are not happy with their lower average due to frequent quiz grades. To gauge more accurately how my students feel about the homework policy, I gave them an anonymous survey so they would feel free to share how they felt about the homework quizzes.

I braced myself for some strong comments because I have recently received some pushback from students regarding their grades. I made sure that the students knew the responses were anonymous (Google survey) and I had no way of knowing who submitted what response.

I was really surprised with the responses I got. There were students who said (about 16%) that they would prefer to have their homework checked in the more traditional way. However, the majority of students stated that they preferred homework quizzes to homework checks. I have listed of few of their comments below:

In the past, I knew, in a vague way, that some students would make a sign error when using the quadratic formula, but now I have very explicit evidence and I know exactly which students are having this problem. So, for me, that knowledge is a very good payoff for my time.

I am also finding that the homework quizzes are helping my students diagnose the areas they need to improve. Immediately after the students take the homework quiz, they often ask me to work the quiz problem(s). I hesitated to do that at first, but I find myself doing it more and more.

For some students, I really think homework quizzes have helped them grow and learn more than if I had checked homework the way I had done in the past. I also think it is helping them take some ownership in their learning. They have to decide if they need the practice or if they have mastered the concept.

However some students, specifically students who are hard-working but struggle in math, are becoming discouraged. Students who are used to getting credit for just writing the problem can feel like they are being punished when their work is being graded for accuracy.

Just curious how many questions per quiz you give and if they are multiple choice or short answer. I teach languages and my concern is always the amount of time assessing particularly for writing based tasks.

I actually work the questions out myself. Since I only assign 4 or 5 questions I am very intentional about the problems I use and sometimes I adjust problems from my textbook or pick from other sources.

I really appreciate reading about teachers who try something different when it comes to improving student learning as well as their own understanding of the strengths and challenges of their students. It is clear from your post you have done exactly that.

Two ideas came to my mind while reading. First I thought what would it hurt to maybe just give the students the quiz questions as their homework to limit any confusion over what you expect them to understand on the quiz. Second I thought it may support the struggling students to use a grade threshold to determine final homework quiz scores. For example over 9 weeks challenge the students to get over 80 percent of all the quiz questions correct to earn a 100 percent in homework quizzes. Students who correctly answer 60 to 80 percent could earn a 80 percent on there final quiz grade and so on. Using number of answers correct can help balance good days with bad days and is conceptually a much simpler goal to attempt to work towards for a student.

Schools like to talk about reducing the homework load but seldom appear to do much about it. Especially as the state embarks on the new curriculum tied to Common Core standards, which are supposed to be more about thinking, explaining and writing than rote or mechanistic schoolwork, principals should be required to do a thorough examination of the homework their teachers are assigning.

One interesting note from the poll: Very experienced teachers tend to assign significantly less homework than those who have put in less time in the classroom. Could be they have a lesson or two about homework to share with their less veteran colleagues.

My husband and I have been going crazy, trying to get our 14 year old daughter (freshman in high school) to write down her homework assignments every day in class. She is extremely resistant to this idea for some strange reason.

She has 4 classes; has 3 A's and 1 B on her report card, so she's doing well in school but there have been occasions where she didn't turn in homework because she "forgot" about the assignment or didn't realize it was due that day.

I purchased a few of those tiny notepads with the spiral thing at the top and she's been reluctantly using one of them but I have to ask her every single day to write it down. I wonder if I should let it go...am I fretting about something unnecessarily?

This is the perfect example of a manageable challenge that your teen needs to master herself to help her to prepare for life on her own one day. Let it go and look at it as an opportunity for her to develop some organization skills of her own. She is clearly doing pretty well! She is 14 and should be responsible for all her own homework. I don't even think you should ask about it. Instead, think about the fact that she will go to college in 4 years!! Keep focused on making your relationship good and strong. Be the support she needs, keep the communication open, give her unconditional love. Don't nag about homework.

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