My past experiences with homework has been bittersweet. Dealing with difficulties of not seeing my students everyday I have found that homework can be a useful tool to help students prepare for an in class assignment or to finish an activity that they were working on in class. However, this is where the bitter comes in, it becomes such a management headache making sure students are turning it in on time and holding them accountable, and then there are the students that just do not do homework and therefore having to adjust instruction to accommodate that factor. And it comes to a point that becomes more of a burden than a blessing. I have experienced this at two different schools with multiple groups of kids and while now it is less of an issue than it has been before, I still have a bad taste in my mouth around homework, which has led me to put a lot of thought into this whole issue.
Putting my feelings aside about the whole circus that turning in homework can be, if it's what's best for kids it will be facilitated. With that being said, I believe that homework needs to have a purpose, I don't think busy work is beneficial for students or myself whether it is independent work or assigned for homework, I think that every moment spent with students should be spent purposefully. Therefore, my objective for homework has been to practice a skill we have already learned in class to achieve mastery or to prepare for a more in-depth activity that will be done in class but always to extend or deepen a students learning. One homework assignment that I have had the most success with this year was around the idea of supply and demand, where the student was able to research any topic as it related to supply and demand and answer comprehension questions about the topic and draw a visual that represents the supply and demand of this topic. Not only did I receive an almost 100% completion rate, it was the best work that I have seen because they were able to be creative and choose what they learned about. This really supported my objective around meaningful work and my intent for homework. This also supported my English Language Learners because they were able to research a topic that was culturally relevant to their own lives and the time given to complete the assignment allowed them to do high quality work. Furthermore, if they didn't feel that they were able to express themselves sufficiently in writing they also were able to express the concepts through a visual representation.
Communication between home and school can always be a challenge, but especially with English Language Learners. The first potential barrier could be the language issue which as English speaker can be difficult, but when calling home or communicating with parents I always try to use the resources available to me in the building. Another potential barrier is technology, it would be naive to assume all students have access to technology at home and be purposeful of having technology available at school or providing opportunities for students to be successful. The last potential barrier I will discuss, is the work schedules of parents especially those of ELLs, it can not be assumed that they work a regular schedule or could be working multiple jobs which can make communication home difficult or in school meetings with transportation, etc. The best method I have found as an educator, is to be patient, be understanding and continue to try no matter the adversity being faced.
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