Assigning Purposeful Homework & Practice Suzanne Whisler Esu 4 Johnson Brock Public Schools January 25, 2012 esu4instructionalstrategies.wikispaces.com

Session objective . . . What will I do to help students practice and deepen their understanding of new knowledge? Best practices in assigning homework & designing practice assignments

Almost All Teachers at One Time or Another Give Homework Assignments.

If you were King or Queen, what would homework look like in your school? As kings and queens of your school work in a group of 3ish and jot down 3 of your best hopes for what homework would look like in your school.

Category Homework and Practice 28 .77 Ave. Effect Size Percentile gain Identifying Similarities and differences 1.61 45 Summarizing and note taking 1.00 34 Reinforcing effort and providing recognition .80 29 Homework and Practice .77 28 Nonlinguistic representations .75 27 Cooperative learning .73 Setting objectives/providing feedback .61 23 Generating and testing hypotheses Questions, cues, and advance organizers .59 22 When looking at Marzano’s 9 instructional strategies you can see that homework and practice has the 4th largest effect size. .77 is considered to be a large effect size. So the question we have to ask ourselves is . . .

What is effective homework? Examining best practices in homework can challenge your assumptions and cause you to be reflective in your practices What is effective homework?

5 Characteristics of Quality Homework Clear academic purpose Efficiency Ownership Competence Aesthetic appeal Cathy Vatterott has identified 5 characteristics of quality homework. Today we are going to examine those 5 characteristics and discuss implications in assigning homework

Aha’s & Questions Form a group of 4 In your group letter off A-D Each partner will silently read a segment of the article “5 Hallmarks of Good Homework”. A – Hallmark 1 Purpose B – Hallmark 2 & 3 Efficiency and Ownership C – Hallmark 4 Competence D – Hallmark 5 Aesthetic Appeal As you read, record any Aha’s or questions you have regarding your segment. Share you Aha’s and questions with your group. Directions for the article

Let’s explore the 5 qualities of homework in depth. Let’s explore the 5 qualities Dr. Vatterott identified in her article in more depth and as we explore them we’ll share your Aha’s and questions.

1. Clear Academic Purpose The ultimate goal of the assignment should be clearly communicated to the student. (Marzano, Pickering and Pollock, 2001) The first quality is that there must be a clear academic purpose for homework. The purpose should be clearly stated to students. They need to understand the goal of the homework.

Students shouldn’t have trouble connecting the purpose of homework to classroom learning.

Four Purposes of Homework Pre-learning Checking for understanding Practice Processing Busy Work Cathy Vatterott has identified 4 purposes of homework

Pre-learning ~ Cues Provide an introduction to a topic Provide background information Find out what student already know Stimulate interest in a topic Read a chapter and complete an advance organizer Write down questions you have about the topic Watch a video KWL Chart Homework can be used to set the stage for learning or used as cues. Homework can be assigned to activate a student’s prior knowledge about a topic or to stimulate their interest. It can you feedback as to what students already know about a concept or topic.

Check for Understanding Homework should provide feedback to the teacher and student about the student’s understanding Adjust instruction Reteach concepts Example assignments Do 5 math problems, explain the steps Have students complete a journal assignment about a class science experiment to check students’ understanding of what happened and why Another purpose of homework is to see if student have grasped a new skill or concept. Checking for understanding can provide feedback to the teacher and to the student.

If homework is assigned, it should be commented on. Homework is assigned, but not commented on has an effect size of .28. Homework is assigned and graded has an effect size of .78. Homework is assigned and teacher provides written comments has an effect size of .83. As you can see feedback on homework assignments has quite a large effect size. Feedback on homework increases student learning. (Marzano, 2007)

Practice Practice should be assigned only after the teacher is confident that students fully understand the concept. Don’t skip Check for Understanding Students may practice skill incorrectly Distributed practice is better than mass practice. In addition, homework can be used for practice but only after students have a clear understanding of the concept and skill. If we assign practice too early, students will practice skills incorrectly reinforcing errors and misconceptions. Keep in mind that research shows that distributed practice is better that mass practice.

Two–tiered Homework Practice is more effective when Part 1 Assign 3 problems to check for understanding of a new concept Part 2 Assign 10 problems to practice and reinforce a concept previously taught. Here is an example of practice that is distributed. Practice is more effective when distributed over several days. (Marzano, 2010)

Processing Used when the teacher wants students to reflect on concepts Think of new questions to ask Apply skills or knowledge learned Often a long-term project Summarizing major concepts in a unit Writing an original poem The final purpose of homework is processing. Processing typically involves a long-term project. Processing assignments usually require students to apply skill or knowledge. Write an editorial defending or criticizing the actions of the participants of the Boston Tea Party.

Homework Does Not Teach Responsibility . . . Parents do! (says Debra Pickering one of co-writers with Robert Marzano). Students need to be taught organization, time management, stress management, goal setting, etc. Responsibility is not a purpose of home. Homework does not teach responsibility . . . Parents do!

Aha’s and Questions What Aha’s and questions do you have regarding clear academic purpose?

2. Efficiency Some tasks are well-intentioned attempts to create fun or interesting tasks, while losing sight of the academic focus. (Vatterott, 2010) 2nd quality is efficiency. Are the task we are asking students to complete showing what they know about a concept? Does the assignment help the student learn?

Efficiency Do students clearly understand the assignment? Does the assignment help students learn? Color the map Writing the definitions of the words Read Chapter 4 Solve the word puzzle These tasks do not assess what the student has learned.

Efficient homework examples . . . List the 3 most important ideas in Chapter 4. Write a reaction to what you read. During your reading place post-it notes on the parts of the reading you had questions about. During your reading place post-it notes on the parts that you found most interesting to discuss in class. Better examples of efficient homework include . . . These tasks inform teachers about what the student has learned in completing their homework assignment.

10-Minute Rule The maximum amount of nightly homework should not exceed 10 minutes per grade level per night, all subjects combined. 1st -3rd grades = Assign homework to teach good habits 4th – 6th grades = 30-45 mins. 7th – 9th grades = 50-120 mins. 10th – 12th grades = 60-120 mins. How much homework is too much homework. Keep the 10 minute rule in mind.

3. Ownership Personally relevant Give students choices Self-assess and reflect about their learning Circle the part of the spelling word that is the trickiest. Determine the best way for you to study your multiplication facts. Assign corrections as homework after a test Students state why they missed questions and find the correct answer in their notes or book The third quality is ownership. How can we make our homework assignments personally relevant to students. Can we give the students choices? Spelling words, math facts, 20 min. of reading. What about having students make corrections as homework after a test.

Ownership Promote ownership by . . . Offer students an opportunity to personalize their work Allow students to share information about themselves or their lives Tap emotions, feelings, or opinions about a subject Allow students to create products or presentations Here are some additional suggestions to promote ownership of homework.

Aha’s and Questions What Aha’s and questions do you have regarding efficiency and ownership?

4. Competence – Tasks are doable! Are the tasks we assign doable? Homework that cannot be done without help is not good homework and is demotivating to students. Homework that cannot be done without help is not good homework and is demotivating to students. (Vatterott, 2007)

4. Competence Homework should instill a sense of competence in the mind of the learner. Students feel positive about learning Homework should instill confidence in students and help to create a positive feeling towards learning.

5. Aesthetic Appeal The way homework looks is important! It’s important to younger students and academically challenged students. Overwhelming Small spaces for writing Worksheets with too much information on a page Five page worksheets Endless lists of definitions The way homework looks is important especially for younger students and students that struggle in school. Some homework can look very overwhelming.

Aha’s and Questions What Aha’s and questions do you have regarding competence and appeal?

Parent Involvement from Dr. Marzano What about parent involvement? Parent Involvement from Dr. Marzano Parent involvement in homework should be kept to a minimum. Parents should know what homework their children are responsible for completing. Parents’ role should be to facilitate homework not to do the homework for students. Parents’ role should be defined and communicated in a homework policy from the teacher and school. How should parents be involved with homework? Dr. Marzano recommends that parents take a minimal role in homework. Facilitators of homework. If you have a homework policy he recommends that the parents role be clearly defined in the policy

Does Johnson Brock have a homework policy?

Every School and Teacher Should Have a Homework Policy (Guideline) and It Should Be Consistently Observed! What is the purpose of homework? How much homework will be assigned? What are the consequences for not completing homework? What types of parental involvement are acceptable? How will I communicate my homework policy?

Let’s Move! Please stand up. Move around the room and form a group of three-ish. Discuss what important information you learned about using homework effectively.

Teachers should not abandon homework Teachers should not abandon homework. Instead, they should improve its instructional quality. (Marzano and Pickering, 2007)