Homework

One task that seems simple but has proved to be a great challenge for me is checking in/grading homework. In fifth grade, the students get so much homework each night that it is very difficult to check it all in, grade it and get it back. I see homework as a way to practice the concepts learned in class. So, there is not point in students spending time doing the practice incorrectly and not having an opportunity to go over it and adjust any misconceptions they may have had. My CT collects homework by calling individual students over to check it off. I prefer to collect everyone’s homework at the same time and check them in. I feel like my method allows me to look at the homework with a finer eye. The problem is that when I collect the homework, I have very little time to look over it, grade it, and get it back to students. My CT’s method allows her to get it all checked in, but she does not check over the work a meticulously as I would like to. I have to find a way to get homework checked in and give feedback to students so they know how to do the concept.

Goal: My goal is to check in homework using my CT’s method, but rather than looking over every single detail of the homework, I will glance through them to get a general understanding of commonly missed questions, pass back the homework the next day and go over those misunderstandings whole-class as a quick review of the material. I also will try to adjust my lessons so that I give students 3-4 minutes at the end of the lesson to get started on homework. This will also give me time to look over some of the homework that was turned in that day and make notes about what to review the next day.