Jenaya asked to share about what we do in regards to homework.
Way down south here in my ISD, we're only allowed to have homework count for 10% of a niño's overall grade. We are also only required to have 15 grades. Do the math.. that's like 1 grade for homework. :blink: Hardly worth it, right??
Some teachers average the homework by hand for the whole quarter, but this seems like a whole lot of keeping track that I'm just not in to. Plus, if a kid never does his homework or never turns it in (with his name on it.. that a problem for ya'll?) he can still make it out of class just fine, which doesn't motivate me to spend my time, effort, or precious copy allotment on bothering to give out homework at all.
Many of us get around this little hiccup in education, realizing the importance of extra practice and time that a 50 minute class just doesn't allow for the kids, by enforcing "natural consequences". The natural consequence of not finishing your assignment in class, whether you're simply a slower worker or you decided to use your independent practice time talking with your neighbor instead, is to finish it at home. I get to count it as "classwork" and you end up doing your work at home or getting penalized for not doing your work. Winner!
Sneaky? Maybe.. but you are not going to be terribly successful at a foreign language (or at much of anything in my opinion) in 50 minutes a day, 5 days a week, about 180 days out of the year. You really need the extra practice. Not learning new material without your teacher; practice of the skills you are well on the road to mastering.
I also try to encourage the niños-yo to practice their vocabulary words 15-20 minutes a night. I realize in middle school, however, the Core Four take the bulk of their time, so I just encourage them to try and schedule it in as often as possible. Studying vocabulary for my niños-yo is mostly focused on Flashcards (either on notecards made by the kids or online at Quizlet.com) and Writing Repetition (writing their words 5-10 times a piece until they've mastered the spelling).
I know a lot of elementary teachers have a Spelling/Vocabulary Contract where the kids can select from a menu or tic-tac-toe board which activities to do for a grade, but as this is my first year in middle school and the high schoolers last year would have laughed (and probably spat) in my face about a S/V Contract, I haven't tried one yet with my niños-yo. Thoughts?
Hope this helps any of you in the same position where you're barely allowed to give homework. We are allowed to serve piping hot "natural consequences," which is good because it keeps my niños on-task and working hard to get finished with assignments in class.
