The Five Steps of Homework (Part 3 of 3)

The student knew the assignment, found the time space, and materials to complete it successfully, put the work in his/her book bag and got it back to school. Mission accomplished! We're golden! Actually, success is no more guaranteed at this point than a run is guaranteed to a baseball player on third base.

sources: "Good job!" "F"

 
I have an unfortunate personal example for the importance of this last step.

One of my homework strugglers (a home child, not a school child) garnered regular calls home from a disgruntled teacher. She complained that he never did his homework. She actually made quite a nuisance of herself because she made it clear that the calls were to gloat over our failures--mine as a parent, his as a student. She called again to inform us of another huge project that he wasn't going to turn in and all the deleterious effects that would have on his already lackluster grade. The b**ch was crowing with anticipatory glee at my baby's imminent failure.

Of course, I immediately set about thwarting her. We went to the school in person and got multiple extra copies of the assignment. We went from there to the store where we bought all necessary supplies and materials. We instituted a routine for working on that project specifically, and the whole family got in on it (encouraging, praising, supporting). We all made arrangements to be late on the due date, and we all rode together to drop him off at school, at which point we all got out of the car, handed him his glorious, complete, better-be-an-A-and-bring-up-his-grade project, and applauded him loudly and enthusiastically until he was out of sight.

Three hours later, a very smug teacher called me to inform me that my child had not done his project and would fail the class. She advised that I begin making arrangements for him to recover the credit outside the classroom.

I was devastated. And confused. I actually left work early to pick him up and find out what happened. He was also devastated, confused, and very upset.

It turns out that the procedure for turning in projects is to have them on the desk when the bell rings. My son's project was larger than his desk. He worried about kids hitting it on the way to their seats, so he put it under his desk until the bell rang--at which point it was a zero. The assistant principal said that since the teacher had clearly defined and communicated the procedure and consequences, my son earned his zero.

I am a teacher, and I embrace my sovereignty in my classroom. I also believe that the structure of procedures and policies are necessary for students to feel secure and to succeed. However, below I will be offering tips for teachers that provide structure without tyranny and abuse. There are pointers for parents and suggestions for students as well.

Teachers:

• Have one place where all work is turned in
• Label it well and include visual cues and reminders
• Give students opportunities to turn work in after verbal reminders (my school children will try to take advantage of this to complete homework in class, but I try to catch them and discourage this)
• Post due dates on all communication portals
• Remind students if you see them in the hallway between classes
• Call/contact the parents of children who tend to get stumped at this point (NOT to gloat)

Parents:

• Remind your child
•  Help your child to set up some kind of reminder system (alarm on phone, sticky note on locker, string on finger or book bag, something to remind them to get the assignment in)
• Regularly ask about homework and projects AFTER they're due (did you turn it in today? what was your grade on ___?

Students:

• Know what's due in each class (use a planner, cell phone, etc.)
• Turn it in early in the day if the teacher will accept it
• Have a plan for when to get it from your locker to class
• Create a reminder system for yourself (alarm, sticky note, string, etc.)