Wednesday, January 8, 2014
While waiting for change to happen...
In that I'm hoping to make both #ptchat and #sbgchat tonight, I was thinking about parents and what they're to do while waiting for schools to change practices over to methods that truly seem to be on their way. I'm also thinking about parents who are lost in the middle of debates such as homework and wondering, from their perspective, what can be done to help the students.
Right now, I'd still bet that the majority of classes in the majority of high schools, for example, are assigning nightly homework, and yes, students are struggling with getting it all done. Nothing new there. This also means that there are a lot of parents out there who are going to be trying to help their kids. We could talk about political action and pedagogical reform, but I'm also wondering about helping today's parents, those parents whose kids are expected to do the work and will be "held accountable" for not getting the work done. There are also still - I'd bet - a tremendous amount of parents who want their kids to have a "solid amount" of homework.
If you could talk to these parents and were to offer some practical advice for today, what would you tell them? Perhaps we can change the way it's assigned and used from our end in the future, but - for now - how can parents help high-school kids be more successful with homework?
Your thoughts and comments, as always, are welcomed and encouraged.
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I think it's important to emphasize that our goal is to create self-directed learners. Students that, when presented with a problem, are able to use appropriate resources to seek out a solution. Students that have the tools necessary to help themselves. I hate it when HW becomes a problem for parents, but unfortunately it is in some schools. Enlist those parents in helping their students. You can learn almost anything today, on your own, at your own pace, using the right tools. We're in the age of learning. I do think the time will come when amount of HW will no longer be related to amount of learning, in most schools.
ReplyDeleteI realize that some parents want their children to be prepared for college, and preparing them for college may mean consuming X amounts of HW on a daily basis. Try to express the more important traits and skills that form successful citizens today.
Thank you for reading and responding here, Derek. Your point about "someday" is my exact fear. We're spending so much time planning for what's possibly to come that we are forgetting how many are struggling in the interim.
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