As a school counselor, I’m tasked with helping students pass their classes. I also act as an advocate for students when something gets in the way of their educational success. Each week when I review my D/F list, do you know what is the number one thing that contributes to student ineligibility? Homework.
Now before we get on a tangent about the merits of homework, of which there are many, let me assure you I am not going to make an argument for the removal of homework from our school system. However, the fact remains that when I review my students’ grades, it is their homework that is bringing their grades down. Missing assignments, incomplete assignments and late assignments. And the weeks that students routinely miss assignments, their test and quiz scores suffer as well.
There are many reasons why a student may fail to turn in an assignment: busyness, procrastination, a lack of understanding, a lack of awareness. A lack of awareness? Yes, believe it or not many times a student will not complete an assignment simply because they did not know what the assignment was. Well if that is all that’s getting in the way, let’s find a solution.
Be Consistent: Be consistent in how, when and where you assign homework. For a student who already struggles with homework completion, guessing what the teacher is thinking in regards to homework never helps. Will you assign homework at the start or end of the class? Will you verbally announce the homework or write it down on somewhere? Are your assignments on a syllabus or will they always be written on the board? Students thrive on consistency and predictability. They may tell you otherwise, but students do best when there is a clear pattern they are expected to follow.
The Assignment Notebook: Assignment notebooks are as old as school itself, or at least as long as I’ve been in school. With schools providing each student with an assignment notebook at the start of the year, it is our job as educators to encourage students to use this resource. Set aside time each day to allow students to write down the night’s homework in their assignment notebook. Don’t just assume students are using this resource; make them to use it. This goes back to being consistent. It may take some time, but with persistence you’ll see your students start to take ownership over their assignment notebook.
Digital Assignment Notebook: Today’s students use their phones for everything; why not put it to good use. At night when their phone is buzzing with tweets and status updates what if it also buzzed with a homework reminder? Encourage your students to use their phone’s task list to record homework assignments. Or better yet, use the free myHomework App and they’ll have a digital assignment notebook at their fingertips. myHomework allows students to set long term due dates, organize homework by class, and integrates with their phone’s calendar. As an added bonus, you can tell your principal you’ve found another way to incorporate technology and 21st century learning skills into your classroom.
Go Digital: We already know our students have gone digital, why can’t we as well? Create a class webpage to highlight your daily assignments/homework. That way if a student forgets to write an assignment down, they are only one click away from finding out what needs to be done. If your school doesn’t already have teacher websites set up, speak to your administrator about setting up a class page using one of the growing number of free website programs: wordpress, weebly, blogster or google for education.
Homework can be a tremendous learning tool for previewing, teaching, reteaching and reinforcing. However, homework is only effective when it gets done. If a student is struggling to complete homework outside of school it is our duty as educators to help find a solution. What have you found works with your forgetful students?
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