Common Conversation: Homework and Practice

Teacher assigns homework.

Student A whizzes through it.

Student B struggles for an extended period of time.

Student C doesn't turn in any homework assignments.

Student A's parents ask for more work for their child to practice with.

Student B's parents complain that homework is taking too long and their child cannot even explain how to complete it.

Student C's parents work late and share that their child always says they have no homework, or it's completed.

Does this sound familiar?? Is homework a battle that you are always struggling with?

For years, I couldn't get a handle on this. I've read educational articles, blogs, etc. on ideas. But just like with all other topics in education, homework practices are ever changing. I recently read an article on Edutopia titled "Homework, Sleep, and the Student Brain" written by Glenn Whitman
Director, The Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning, about assigning manageable homework. Below are a couple of interesting statements from the article.

-"For too many students, homework is too often about compliance and "not losing points" rather than about learning."

-"Homework can be a powerful learning tool -- if designed and assigned correctly."

-"It should be challenging and engaging enough to allow for deliberate practice of essential content and skills, but not so hard that parents are asked to recall what they learned in high school. All that usually leads to is family stress."

Here is the link to the article if you'd like to read more: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/homework-sleep-and-student-brain-glenn-whitman

We will continue to discuss strategies to assign homework and practice with our teams, especially taking a look at the amount of time being spent between both reading and math homework based on our school's homework policy. Here are a few things to consider in the meantime:

1. Do all students have an opportunity to be successful with the assignment independently?

2. How long will the assignment take a struggling student, an on level student, a high achieving student?

3. Does the assignment directly correlate to the students' current learning in class?

4. What is the purpose of the assignment?

(Found on Pinterest Pin)

Weekly Wrap Up: 9/18/15

This week I was happy to meet with all of the intermediate teachers to discuss using STAR data to drive instruction! Don't worry primary teachers...next week on Thursday (I'm out on Wednesday), I will meet with all of you to see how our iReady and STAR data can guide us in the right direction with our instruction.

Thank you to those who came to the STAR and USA Test Prep PDs after school also! I know we have teachers and staff who really want to do what's best for our kids!

During many of our planning meetings, I've heard concern about fitting everything into the instructional block, especially when it comes to interventions and small group instruction. Here are a few things to consider that I mentioned during our block breakdown discussions:

1. Consider how long you are spending on direct instruction -- depending on grade level, attention spans vary and keeping students actively engaged gets more difficult with longer periods of direct instruction.

2. You can maximize student practice during small group instruction while pulling groups of students needing interventions, or a brief reteach of the day's lesson.

3. If students are constantly needing to be retaught each day's lesson, there may be a common deficit in a foundational skill or strategy that needs to be addressed.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are struggling with this. I am more than happy to help look at data or a specific student, model a lesson, or plan with you. I will check in during team meetings, but you can always reach out. :)

Growth Mindset PD coming in October!!



Mrs. Mannine's 2nd graders working towards their IDR goal!

Weekly Wrap Up 9/11/15

This short week flew by! In our team meetings on Wednesday, I loved getting to see how each team is planning together in your own unique ways, and working together to solve issues as they come up with testing, etc. For the next two weeks, we will be having data chats to look at the data from iReady and STAR and discuss how to use this data to drive your instruction. 

This week, we also looked at what specific interventions are, and the resources that we have available to us to provide students with these interventions. Don't forget to reach out to me if you need help grouping your students or deciding how to build a specific intervention for any of your Tier II students. 

Important Upcoming Dates:

9/15 - STAR training (grades 1-5)           @3:15

9/16 - STAR data chats (Grades 1-5)       during planning 

9/17 - USA Test Prep PD (grades 3-5)     @3:15

9/22 - Open House

9/23 - iReady data chats (Grades K-2)     during planning 

Weekly Wrap Up 9/4/15

Thank you to all teams for being present and participating in our Thursday roundtable discussions of essential components of successful literacy blocks and math blocks. I appreciate your input and enjoyed sharing ideas between teams! Check your emails for the Prezi that I shared, and if you look below you will see the link to the Teaching Channel video that didn't load in some of our meetings.

Teaching Channel: Reading Workshop Overview

Based on the Needs Assessments that I received from some of you, I noticed a need for rubric development and use, and note taking strategies. I will be sharing some ideas via email and here on the blog this week.

As we have made it to the middle of the STAR and iReady windows, I am preparing for our first data chats of the school year! The focus will be on how to look at data and in turn using it to drive your instruction. I will share a "cheat sheet" on how to pull reports, etc.

I will be joining your team meetings Wednesday...see everyone then!

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