Teachers - Successful Homework
Strategies You Should Use!!

If anyone kept statistics on different homework strategies for doing school homework, they would likely find that it is such a controversial topic among teachers, students and parents.

Is it necessary? Why? How much?

What is important for you to keep in mind is your programme, your students and your own philosophy. It also depends upon the grade you teach.

Throughout my years of teaching, I have created effective strategies on homework, that everyone has complied with and have worked well.

Here's a list of things to keep in mind.

* Students are in school for 5 hours doing the work you have assigned.

* Whatever homework questions you do assign, YOU have to mark the next day, to ensure that your students understood the homework topic/concept and to provide them with your feedback.

* "Always finish your homework and bring it back the next morning" was one of my classroom rules. (and of course, all homework assignments were written in their student agenda the night before).

* Make homework questions realistic and don't overdo it; for example, don't assign 50 math problems around the same concept, when 10 will do just as well in having the student understand the concept.

* Make sure to explain the purpose and give your students a valid reason for doing a homework assignment, particularly if and when they ask why they have to do it.

* Try to motivate students by making homework as interesting as possible by associating it to real world situations.

* Provide students with some choices - for example, "Answer any 8 of 10 homework questions" or "Choose a partner to work with", etc.

* In addition to homework questions that reinforce concepts taught during the day, homework also consists of assignments, book reports, projects, etc. that are due on a certain date.

In this case I would give my students time to work on them in school, so that I could assist where necessary. (Don't forget to make sure that students write the assignments,etc. in their agenda and include the due date.)

Every year I hold a teaching workshop for student teachers at York University in Toronto. Watch my video that I recorded during this session, as we discuss strategies for doing homework and how todeal with students who do not do their homework.

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