Problem in my room lately: crappy homework. How I feel about it: passively annoyed; I’d like this problem to cure itself. I can’t waste valuable class time on fixing homework. The point of my direct instruction is to teach new skills not fine tune old ones. The point of homework in my mind is to provide practice work on previously mastered skills. My students can do all of their homework however the correct completion becomes a motivation issue. I get it – I’d rather watch cartoons that do homework too.
{Check out this post for my homework tasks for high functioning and lower functioning students. This post has my independent morning routine system so my kiddos can turn their homework in on their own.}
Quick fix: homework redo folder with a mild punishment contingency. Mouthful? Yes. Effective? Immediately.
Here is how it works:
- my little lovelies hand in their own homework during their independent morning routine
- during a few moments of down time at some point of the morning (I know we all have tons of that!) my aides or I grab the stack of homework to check through it. I usually do this while one of my guys uses the iPad he works for after direct instruction.
- I scan through the homework and put any poorly done work in the home work redo folder and put the students’ name in the yellow box. Putting their name in the box alerts the student that they have work they need to redo.
- When they get to game time in their morning routine, students whose name is in the yellow box do not get to join the game until they have fixed their homework. Mean. I know.
This folder was pretty quick to make. I made the sheet in powerpoint and taped it onto a file folder I had trimmed down. Then I taped it to the wall so the folder stays slightly open. I laminated names for each of my kids (these are the kids who do paper homework) and put on velcro.
I must admit – this fairly instantly solved my problem. The first few days of missing game time were apparently punishing enough to cause a swift increase in correct homework behavior.
I have a similar system for collecting papers from parents (like permission slips etc.) – check it out!
Freebie February today! Check it on facebook!
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2 Responses
This is a great idea! I gave up on most homework because so many students wouldn’t do it (or their parents would just do it for them)…but maybe I should assign it more often 🙂
Also, loved your facebook freebie today! You come up with the most creative idea!! And I just mentioned you as one of the blogs that inspires me!! So thanks for blogging and sharing all that you do 🙂
https://breezyspecialed.blogspot.com/2013/02/blogs-that-inspire-me.html
Breezy Special Ed
Aww thank you SO MUCH for your sweet words and your shout out! Means a lot 🙂 Glad you liked the freebie and thanks again for blog post mention!!