alfie kohn, being a teacher, inspiration, no homework, students

So What’s My Problem with Homework?

Pernille Ripp

I just read a frightening and excellent post by Mark Hansen discussing homework in a real-life example with his son and immediately I wanted to comment on it.  But then I realized that would be rather lengthy, so instead I offer this post.  What is my problem with homework?

I never use to hate homework until last year.  Something hit me when I told my husband that I knew exactly which kid would hand in the homework with “some” help from the parents, which kid would hand in something half-finished, and which kid would never hand it in but instead take my punishment.  And punish I did.  Oh, I used to be the queen of taking away privileges.  It was awful.  There we were, staring at each other every recess trying to figure out just how much help was needed versus how much effort needed to be exerted.  It was exhausting for me and the kids.

And guess what, I was right!

I knew exactly which kids would not be able to complete the homework no matter how much help I gave them in school; they simply did not have the skills or resources needed to finish it at home.  Over the summer, this was the point I kept returning to, wondering if I could be “radical” and get rid of homework almost altogether?  And so I did.  This year, there is very little homework in my room and here is why, in no particular order:

  • Homework is an excuse for the stuff we didn’t get to.  I stated this in my parent/student orientation and most parents nodded their heads.  We always have one more thing we just need to get to when the bell rings.  Well guess what?  Then we need to restructure our day and get to it, rather then slip it in to the backpack for the kids to deal with.  I know there is pressure with curriculum but if you know what your goal is for the lesson, then get to it!
  • Homework is practice – for some kids. Some kids will take 5 minutes to do homework because they already get it, some will take 30 minutes because they need parent help, others will never finish.  This is not fair.  If we do not equip students with the correct knowledge to complete the homework then we should not assign it.
  • Homework is not fair.  You know which kids will ace it and which kids will spend hours trying to solve a math page.  One sheet/assignment/report does not fit all.  If you already know how a kid will do on something then why are you bothering with the assignment, seems to me they have already shown you where their skills lie.
  • Homework steals away childhood.  Every minute of homework that you assign is an infringement of your students’ time spent experiencing the real world.  We say we want well-rounded students, but then have them spend an hour or more practicing school skills.  We already asked for 7+ hours of their time, let them have some free time to do the things that exposes them to the big world and in turn helps them become better people and students.  You will end up with kids that might just be excited about school, rather than exhausted.
  • Homework does not always fit the learning.  Worksheets are on the way out in many classrooms, and yet, we fall back on them all the time to check for understanding.  However, not all skills that we teach transfer onto paper very well.  I agree that math lends itself nicely to paper pages of problems, but why assign 3 pages if you can get away with just a couple of problems?  Before you assign think of the purpose of your homework; does it really give the students a way to show off their knowledge or will you just help you assign a percentage better?
  • Homework is maybe not just done by the student.  There are many helpful parents out there that really want their child to succeed.  As parents nothing gets us more than our child not understanding something.  How often do parents tell us that they had to help their child finish their work?  How often do we get projects turned in that required hours of craft work way outside of the range of your grade level?  The parents have already been to school, stop asking them to do work or in some cases, stop giving them a way to relive their school days through projects.
I know that there are times and situations where homework becomes a good extension such as sending kids out into the community to interview elders for heritage days, or continuing research on their own.  
I am not against all homework, what I am against, though, is the homework just for the sake of assigning homework.  I used to tell my parents to expect about 40 minutes of homework every night in 4th grade because I had been told it is about 10 minutes times the grade level.  40 minutes!  And then we ask students to read their books and do projects on top of that.  No wonder our students are exhausted when they come back the next day rather than eager to learn.
Think of what the purpose of homework is in your room, look really hard at your reasoning; why do you assign it?  Is it a meaningful learning experience that will help students become smarter, more knowledgeable, better people?  If yes, excellent.   But if no, not always, then stop, re-evaluate, clean it out, and then tell your students.  You will marvel at their response.
I was petrified to stop, worried that people would think I was skimping out on my job duties.  Almost all of my parents now rejoice in this year of calmness.  They know that if I assign something, there is a valid reason for it.  They also know that their child is learning as much as any other student in the 4th grade.  Stop the homework insanity and let these kids be kids.  We can accomplish the learning without the extra work.  You just have to believe in your own capabilities as en educate, so educate, don’t assign.
being a teacher, new year

So What Did People Read – Top 5 of 2010

Pernille Ripp

As the year winds down and I look back upon it, I realize just how incredible this year has been.  Not only has a lot of happiness occurred in my life, such as falling even more in love with my incredible soulmate, being in awe of our miracle daughter, and having the best job in the whole wide world, but I have also built an incredible network of professionals throughout the world.  Thank you so much for all of your comments, links, supports and even bothering reading my rants in the first place.  I blog to keep myself honest, and boy, has it been an honest year!

Here are the top 5 posts of 2010, as picked by you, the readers:

1.  Dear First Year Pernille 
      – A letter written to myself about the things I wish I knew when I started, ahh wisdom.
2.  What I Won’t Do on the First Day of School 
      – Pushing myself into a student-centered classroom from the very first day.
3.  Each Day is Special – Nancy’s Aha Moment 
    – An incredible post reminding us to find the wonder in the every day.
4.  So You Want to Use Kidblog?
    –  Students blogging has been an incredible experience, here are tools for teachers to get started.
5.  Who Wants to Teach “Those” Students?
    –  As we become more test obsessed, a rededication to “those” students, I will always step up to teach          
       them.


Did you have a favorite?  If you do, thank you, if not, stick with me and help me learn.

being a teacher, inspiration

Today, There were Tears

Pernille Ripp

Today, there were tears, good ones, not the sad ones of saying goodbye to the kids as they left me for winter break. Great tears of welcome, of happiness, of rejoice in knowing that this job is the one for me. That these kids might just be the most magical kids I have ever encountered (alright, I think that every year). That this year, we have something so fantastic going on in room 310 that I simply cannot wait to get back to work with them. That this year, we will move mountains, change the world, and have a lot of fun in the process. And you know what? They feel the same way.

Teaching is magic.

being a teacher, inspiration, mistakes

A Little Too Much Pressure

Pernille Ripp

Last Thursday, I went to the hospital for an out-patient procedure that would hopefully provide my husband and I answers to our battle with infertility. Why do I share this personal experience? Because it is shaping me into being a better person. You see, what was supposed to be an hour long procedure with quick return to my home that same evening turned into a four-day hospital stay with continued observation. During the routine procedure, my doctor pushed a little too hard and ended up puncturing my mensateric artery. As you can imagine, this is a serious mistake.

It was not because he was eager to finish, or inexperienced, but rather because he had to apply a little bt of pressure to go through scar tissue from a previous surgery. He thought he knew how much pressure to apply, but as it turns out, he applied too much. Think of how often this happens in education? We have experience, we have the time, and we think we know exactly how much pressure to exert on our students. We push, we dig, and all of a sudden the damage is done and it is too late. We don’t know how we got so deep, how we hurt them, and now it is our job to figure out how to heal them.

My doctor did something smart; he called in an expert. Someone who knew exactly what to do and could do it thoroughly and efficiently. He also asked a lot of questions and then he gave his best. He explained to my husband what had happened, he explained it to me, and then had to explain it several more times over the coming days to me and my family as we struggled with our questions. He never got angry, or impatient, but continued to answer our questions, to help us heal, to help us redevelop our trust in him as my doctor. He put in the work so that I would not lose my faith in him as a professional, or more importantly, as a human being. And I haven’t; he continues to treat me, and I continue to choose him as my doctor because he showed me that when a mistake was made, he was still there to figure it out. To make it right. To make me understand and to help me get better. That is our job as teachers as well. We make mistakes, we are human, but what distinguishes good teachers from great ones are the ones that stick around to fix their mistakes, to learn from them, and to invest even more into that relationship.

So next time you push too hard or you mess up; call in an expert, rely on others, repeat yourself, invest yourself, go above the requirements, and show them you are human, that you care. You will be better for it and you may end up strengthening someone’s belief in you.

As for me, I am stil out of school, still seeing a doctor every two days, still taking a lot of pain medicine, and very, very emotional. But I am ok. We got the answers we were looking for, we have a path to follow, and we also were reminded just how incredibly precious life and the people we share ours with is. Thank you for sharg yours with me.

being a teacher, new teacher, observations

But How is it Different this Year?

Pernille Ripp

Being in my final year of probation as a new teacher means that I will only be observed once officially this year. That is not to say that I have not been observed on other occasions, but only once will I have to fill out the paperwork and set up a formal meeting to discuss the results and feedback of this observation. So I wonder, how will my classroom be different than previous observations to the casual observer?

1. I will not stand at the front of the room. In fact, the front of the room changes at all times so that students never feel pushed to the back or to the side.

2. I will move more. Since there is no front of the room, I move more around, engaging students in small discussions, keeping an eye on behavior, as well as trying to facilitate more interaction through my own movement.

3. I will not do all of the talking. This year it is not about me but about the students, so I need to facilitate and then get out of the way.

4. Students will move around. I was never a fan of desks, they stifled me as a child and I still lie down on a couch to read a book rather than sit, so my classroom reflects that; students should be able to be in positions where they can access learning the best way possible, whatever that may look like.

5. Students will have a voice. No longer am I the end all of all information so while I know the path my lesson will take, how we get there and what we end up exploring more deeply may change.

6. The end results may differ. Before the students would all produce a single product to show off their knowledge, now I realize that students can show learning through many different methods and will therefore be open to all of these.

7. Evaluation will be ongoing and never combined with a percentage or letter grade. While I may still have to produce a letter grade for my trimester report cards, these will not be part of our learning. Grades interfere with the real goal of the lesson which is to learn, not to receive an A or score 100%.

8. Mistakes will be encouraged. Instead of prepping my students beforehand to ensure no mistakes will be made by them or I, we will simply explore together and that means also embracing any mistakes or mishaps that come up naturally. After all, life mostly consists of lucky mishaps that shape our decisions and thus creates our futures.

9. Homework will not be assigned. Learning is extended beyond our classroom hours through discussion, blogging or reflection. Worksheets or packets are rarely used to practice a skill and instead students are encouraged to enjoy time outside of school so that they may be more productive learners in school.

10. This will not be a dog and pony show. We often discuss how an observation can become a stilted affair, created solely for the purpose of observation. I would rather have my observation be unscheduled or a surprise so that the real lesson can be viewed and discussed. I know I will be prepared for it since I have to be prepared every day to teach.

How different will your classroom be this year?