Sabrina Schaefer
T O P I C :
No Homework, No Zero = Problem
Sabrina Poses the Question. . . .
October 20, 2007
There is one big problem that has been going on in all of my classes. Students will not do their homework. My mentor has made them write a letter explaining why they did not do or have their homework. This worked for one class after she told them their parents would see the letter and it would be put into their class file, and the parents would be called for repeat late homework. We have taken off points for it being late. If it is late, the student cannot make higher than say a C. We can't give them a zero because zeros aren't permitted; the students can turn it in late without a zero. One day only nine out of 22 students turned in homework, and they even had class time the day before to work on it. Another day we did almost the whole worksheet together in class. All they had to do was the last four questions; about half did it. It just bugs me that the students seem so lazy and don't care. Does anyone have suggestions for getting students to do homework on time?
Megan Murry answers....
November 6, 2007
I know this solution would be very circumstancial and would depend upon mentor teacher cooperation; however, I have seen it work at times with my high school students. I, too, have experienced problems with getting students to complete not only homework but sometimes classwork as well, especially since they are old enough and have now caught on to the fact that homework or "assisted" assignments only account for 30 per cent of their grade.
Generally, work is created or assigned with the idea that it will eventually help students on their quizzes and tests. It is common practice to go over any assigned work as a class. However, it is very typical to find that those students who did not bother to do the work will not be very attentive when going over it. Sometimes I will assign work that is extremely similar to a quiz. Regardless of whether or not a quiz is coming up, I always make it a point to tell students that doing assignments and activiely participating in discussing them will be beneficial come quiz or test time. When students have one of the these assignments that closely matches an assessment, they, sometimes regretfully, realize it. Those who did the work do well on the test. In my experience, they make it known to their peers how similar the two were and how beneficial it would have been to them to complete the work or be attentive during the discussion. When students come to me complaining of poor quiz or test results, and can honestly tell them "you should have done your homework" and then give them specific examples to back it up.
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