My Homework Philosophy
Research is undecided on whether homework really is helpful to students. There is some research that will tell you that homework is NOT effective in helping students learn. Therefore, in fifth grade, students will not often have worksheets for homework assignments. The best way for students to improve their reading and writing is through READING at home. What is the best way to be sure that students ARE reading at home? I want to instill in students a love for reading, so that they want to read every night. This is something we will continually discuss in class, and I make it a personal goal for the year that every child in my room would see him or herself as a reader. Students can read a novel from school, they may read on the internet, or they may listen to reading online- this all helps! If you are able to, reading with your child at home is a great way to make sure that this happens. Students will also be expected to blog at least once each week about the book that they are reading (this will not start until after a few weeks of school). Students should also comment on other students' blogs.
So, students ideally should be reading for 30 or more minutes each night. Students will also have an occasional video to watch that I have made. These videos will teach the lesson that we will then practice during class. After students watch the video, they should fill out a KWL form (which will be given to them in class). They may watch these videos online (they will be posted on this website), or they may have them downloaded to a USB, I-Pod touch or DVD to watch offline. If students do not have access to these, they may come to school early to watch the video in my classroom, or they may watch it during their morning recess time. If students do not watch the lesson, they will not be able to participate in the project that we do, and they will be expected to complete a worksheet focusing on the lesson instead.
The only other homework that students may have will be to finish projects if they are not completed during class (which will not be often) and to study for tests (which might include re-watching videos if they are struggling).
Here is some research to back up my homework methodology:
My Policy on Grades
Grading is another hot topic in the news for education right now. This year, grades in my classroom will work a bit differently than in years past. Rather than percentage grades, students will get personalized, specific feedback on their work for projects and assessments. This will be either written feedback or it will be orally communicated at weekly conferences with me.
I use something called an SE2R form, which means that when I give feedback to students, I will Summarize what they have done. I will then Explain how they covered (or did not cover) the assigned standards for that task. Lastly, I will Redirect them to fix their assignment if necessary. Then, students may resubmit the project or assessment, and I will go through the SE2R with them again. Ideally, students would continue with this process until the standards were clearly mastered.
Students will participate in a variety of self and peer-assessments throughout the year. They will place a certain number of projects and assessments in their online portfolio each quarter, to show that they have covered the necessary standards. At the end of each quarter, I will conference with the students to review their progress towards meeting the necessary standards for that quarter. We will then decide together on the grade (S for satisfactory, N for needs improvement, and U for unsatisfactory) which will go on their report card for each subject.
Here is the research to back up this method of grading:
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Research is undecided on whether homework really is helpful to students. There is some research that will tell you that homework is NOT effective in helping students learn. Therefore, in fifth grade, students will not often have worksheets for homework assignments. The best way for students to improve their reading and writing is through READING at home. What is the best way to be sure that students ARE reading at home? I want to instill in students a love for reading, so that they want to read every night. This is something we will continually discuss in class, and I make it a personal goal for the year that every child in my room would see him or herself as a reader. Students can read a novel from school, they may read on the internet, or they may listen to reading online- this all helps! If you are able to, reading with your child at home is a great way to make sure that this happens. Students will also be expected to blog at least once each week about the book that they are reading (this will not start until after a few weeks of school). Students should also comment on other students' blogs.
So, students ideally should be reading for 30 or more minutes each night. Students will also have an occasional video to watch that I have made. These videos will teach the lesson that we will then practice during class. After students watch the video, they should fill out a KWL form (which will be given to them in class). They may watch these videos online (they will be posted on this website), or they may have them downloaded to a USB, I-Pod touch or DVD to watch offline. If students do not have access to these, they may come to school early to watch the video in my classroom, or they may watch it during their morning recess time. If students do not watch the lesson, they will not be able to participate in the project that we do, and they will be expected to complete a worksheet focusing on the lesson instead.
The only other homework that students may have will be to finish projects if they are not completed during class (which will not be often) and to study for tests (which might include re-watching videos if they are struggling).
Here is some research to back up my homework methodology:
- http://markbarnes19.blogspot.com/2013/11/top-5-reasons-homework-fails-students.html
- http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/hm.htm
- http://www.flippedlearning.org/cms/lib07/VA01923112/Centricity/Domain/41/classroomwindowinfographic7-12.pdf
My Policy on Grades
Grading is another hot topic in the news for education right now. This year, grades in my classroom will work a bit differently than in years past. Rather than percentage grades, students will get personalized, specific feedback on their work for projects and assessments. This will be either written feedback or it will be orally communicated at weekly conferences with me.
I use something called an SE2R form, which means that when I give feedback to students, I will Summarize what they have done. I will then Explain how they covered (or did not cover) the assigned standards for that task. Lastly, I will Redirect them to fix their assignment if necessary. Then, students may resubmit the project or assessment, and I will go through the SE2R with them again. Ideally, students would continue with this process until the standards were clearly mastered.
Students will participate in a variety of self and peer-assessments throughout the year. They will place a certain number of projects and assessments in their online portfolio each quarter, to show that they have covered the necessary standards. At the end of each quarter, I will conference with the students to review their progress towards meeting the necessary standards for that quarter. We will then decide together on the grade (S for satisfactory, N for needs improvement, and U for unsatisfactory) which will go on their report card for each subject.
Here is the research to back up this method of grading:
- http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/tcag.htm
- http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/studentselfassessment.pdf
- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-moment-youth/201108/the-fallacy-good-grades
Please let me know if you have any questions!