Students who don't do Homework

Flashgordon197

I work in a working-class school. There are quite a lot of kids who aim to get a few honours in their exams but there are also a lot of kids who do very little bar turn up and thats irregular. When I give them Homework and they dont do it-I normally ask them for it the next day and sometimes the day after that. However,given the irregular attendance-it can take a week to get a small bit of homework.

I have written notes in their journal. I have put quite a few on detention/written reports. I have called parents.
Should I start giving large amounts of punishment work like other teachers? Sometimes that works? Call Parents each day?

They are such a lazy group that when doing a novel I have to read it to them in class. They would simply stare out the window If I asked them to read it.
Interested in how others deal with this important issue.

ntlbell

It's fairly obvious from a smack of stick,lines,detentions and other forms of "punishment" don't seem to work. What teachers don't seem to realise that for a lot of students and I would go out on a limb and say the majority school in itself is seen as a type of punishment as is homework etc etc.

It amazes me in 2012 we're still trying the same old same old in order. It reminds me of listening to a parent to a child "stop crying or I will give you something to cry about"

I would love to see some more parent co-operation with teachers here but more than that some innovative ideas from teachers and the education system in general instead of continuing to attempt the same ideas that have constantly failed over the years.

In any other line of work these constant failings year after year would be regarded as professional incompetence. But in the case of teaching it's lazy students.

Staggering.

doc_17

Give them a deadline. Say you'll lift it in one week or sooner for those that want to hand it in earlier. That way you can remind students who were not in the day you gave it.

doc_17

ntlbell wrote: »

It's fairly obvious from a smack of stick,lines,detentions and other forms of "punishment" don't seem to work. What teachers don't seem to realise that for a lot of students and I would go out on a limb and say the majority school in itself is seen as a type of punishment as is homework etc etc.

It amazes me in 2012 we're still trying the same old same old in order. It reminds me of listening to a parent to a child "stop crying or I will give you something to cry about"

I would love to see some more parent co-operation with teachers here but more than that some innovative ideas from teachers and the education system in general instead of continuing to attempt the same ideas that have constantly failed over the years.

In any other line of work these constant failings year after year would be regarded as professional incompetence. But in the case of teaching it's lazy students.

Staggering.

See this is what you don't get. Teaching is not an industry.

Put yourself in their position, they may well have no interest in further study, their parents may not have given them any support or encouragement to do so. School for many kids is as mentioned a punishment, they don't want to be there. They have no interest in the novel whatsoever.

If attendance is a problem the parents simply don't have control or don't care.

Have you ever actually asked one of the students are they anyway interested in the subject you teach and do they have any interest in participating or getting anything from it.

Punishment won't work anyway if attendance is an issue, that only works with kids who have parents who support the school and the teacher. If they get away with not attending and not doing homework they won't do any punishment type exercise either imo.

juan.kerr

doc_17 wrote: »

See this is what you don't get. Teaching is not an industry.

Who mentioned 'industry'? Or maybe you are saying teaching isn't a 'profession'?

doc_17

I think you know what I meant.

But anyway....someone mentioned "in any other line of work" so they are comparing teachers and students to workers/customers/managers in other sectors.

ntlbell

doc_17 wrote: »

See this is what you don't get. Teaching is not an industry.

What has this got to do with the lack of ideas and competence of the leaders and teachers in education?

Are you suggesting incompetence is acceptable within teaching because it's not like any other sector or had you another point?

doc_17

ntlbell wrote: »

What has this got to do with the lack of ideas and competence of the leaders and teachers in education?

Are you suggesting incompetence is acceptable within teaching because it's not like any other sector or had you another point?

I only had one point. You don't understand teaching or its' difficulties. I don't know what your job is but I don't presume to understand all its' difficulties just because I may have seen someone do it.

ntlbell

doc_17 wrote: »

I only had one point. You don't understand teaching or its' difficulties. I don't know what your job is but I don't presume to understand all its' difficulties just because I may have seen someone do it.

Are you suggesting incompetence is acceptable within teaching because it's not like any other sector or had you another point?

Solair

Ask, in the corridor why they haven't done it.... Explain what the purpose of the homework is.
Many students think homework is just a form of busy work or torture!

Also, if you've large issues with homework try group projects like universities do.
Students nay not bother doing homework for you, but few will let the team down!

You can design projects where each student has a part to play yet, they can mostly work at home and just coordinate the project in school.

doc_17

ntlbell wrote: »

Are you suggesting incompetence is acceptable within teaching because it's not like any other sector or had you another point?

Was that an accidental re-post or are you asking me the same question I answered? I had only one point....you don't understand teaching and its' difficulties.

Please read the charter for the forum before continuing to post.

bfocusd

There will always be students who couldn't care less, they can be spotted from a mile away. I think the parents are the main cause, they never made any effort when the children were in primary so the child knows no different. School work was always effort for the parent to have to help with and is seen in the same light by the child now who will lack an education because of pure laziness.

What subject do you teach op?

I find if you want to encourage the class you need to gain the majority, if you have a class of 20 and 18 are doing the work as asked, the final two will feel almost left out that they cannot grasp the work, they will become agitated etc and that's when it's detrimental to get them the help they need, and encouragement, shouting and lashing out extra work hardly ever works, it just builds the wall higher between you and your students, the child struggling will be more disruptive because it's what gains them more attention than the students who are excelling.

Praise is the way forward, if they understand they done something right and are being acknowledged, it will boost their confidence. For all we know the child could live at home constantly being put down and never be given the chance to do anything right, so being punished becomes a way of life to them.

I knew a kid growing up that was constantly in trouble since he could walk, always doing something to gain his parent's attention, which was only ever given when he was in trouble, to his family he was never good enough, as he got older it got worse. I signed up to paired reading in his school and I was paired with the lad, he was 15 years old and couldn't write his own name, I was assigned primary level books to teach him to read. Today he's 20 and still the same stuff and still illiterate.

I know every case is different, it's unfair to blame every parent, but I will always remember going into the class and asking him to put his name on his copy and him lashing out in frustration because he can't write his own name. His parents should be ashamed of themselves.

My long point being, just because it's a 3rd year class of say 14/15 year olds, doesn't mean they are all on an equal academic level, this I think is where our system fails non average students, it needs reform.

doc_17

The sanctions you have already may be having some impact. They may be keeping other kids on the straight and narrow and they can see the consequences for others. There will always be students who won't/can't do homework. Keep a record of it and keep informing their parents/guardians.

I had a parent last year who told me to "stop wasting the school's money" because I sent a note home about her son's homework, or lack thereof. I kept sending the notes home when he didn't do it. The very same women would have been in the door blaming me had her son failed, claiming that she should have been informed about his poor homework record!

Keep at them anyway.....

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

ntlbell wrote: »

It's fairly obvious from a smack of stick,lines,detentions and other forms of "punishment" don't seem to work. What teachers don't seem to realise that for a lot of students and I would go out on a limb and say the majority school in itself is seen as a type of punishment as is homework etc etc.

It amazes me in 2012 we're still trying the same old same old in order. It reminds me of listening to a parent to a child "stop crying or I will give you something to cry about"

I would love to see some more parent co-operation with teachers here but more than that some innovative ideas from teachers and the education system in general instead of continuing to attempt the same ideas that have constantly failed over the years.

In any other line of work these constant failings year after year would be regarded as professional incompetence. But in the case of teaching it's lazy students.

Staggering.

You've just gotten a rough time over on the komplett forum, with a few posters giving you some harsh criticism. (Cannot link as Im reading this on my phone)
I hope you're not just taking out your frustrations on this OP. You haven't said anything constructive yet.....

vamos!

RoverJames wrote: »

Put yourself in their position, they may well have no interest in further study, their parents may not have given them any support or encouragement to do so. School for many kids is as mentioned a punishment, they don't want to be there. They have no interest in the novel whatsoever.

If attendance is a problem the parents simply don't have control or don't care.

Have you ever actually asked one of the students are they anyway interested in the subject you teach and do they have any interest in participating or getting anything from it.

Punishment won't work anyway if attendance is an issue, that only works with kids who have parents who support the school and the teacher. If they get away with not attending and not doing homework they won't do any punishment type exercise either imo.

These are lovely ideas but don't often translate into reality. A large number of students have no interest in my subjects (MFL), find them difficult and don't see the point. They have to do them, regardless of whether they have issues with English reading and writing and whether or not they have any intention of pursuing third level education, where a European language is often a matriculation requirement. These students need to be motivated and guided but also need to learn that sometimes we just have to do things. I hate cleaning my house, filling out school reports and pointless paperwork but I have to do them.

What I would suggest to the OP is to keep pushing, keep a record of everything (even chances!) and to consider reducing the frequency of homework.

I worked in a challenging school and gave homework twice a week with deadlines. Students knew that the work was expected on Tuesday and Thursday (to catch the long-weekenders). I gave chances and called lunchtime detentions 'catch up opportunities'. I also typed up a 'catch-up plan' for repeat offenders. This consisted of the important tasks photocopied, with notes to help. I sent the sheets home and arranged a consultation lunchtime session to check that progress was being made. I called home and asked parents to sign each night's catch up work. I made it very clear to all involved that I was only asking students to work to the best of their ability and that I was making such a big deal out of it because it was important.

This took a lot of work and a lot of patience (not my strongest attribute) but it really was effective. I posted here around last Jan at my wits end with discipline issues and a class who seemed to exist to torture me! By the end of the year every students was doing some form of work. It wasn't plain sailing, but by giving HW twice a week I reduced the negative battle time by 3 days!

Good luck

Flashgordon197

ntlbell wrote: »

It's fairly obvious from a smack of stick,lines,detentions and other forms of "punishment" don't seem to work. What teachers don't seem to realise that for a lot of students and I would go out on a limb and say the majority school in itself is seen as a type of punishment as is homework etc etc.

It amazes me in 2012 we're still trying the same old same old in order. It reminds me of listening to a parent to a child "stop crying or I will give you something to cry about"

I would love to see some more parent co-operation with teachers here but more than that some innovative ideas from teachers and the education system in general instead of continuing to attempt the same ideas that have constantly failed over the years.

In any other line of work these constant failings year after year would be regarded as professional incompetence. But in the case of teaching it's lazy students.

Staggering.

So let me get this right. You are saying its my fault??! How? Part of any learning process is the ability to take charge of your learning. To reflect on it. Do you ever recall learning a complex idea without some personal reflection/work?
I do take your point that students do see homework/school as drudgery but to say its the majority is false. Perhaps you found it that way but a lot of kids want to get on in life.

Flashgordon197

ntlbell wrote: »

Are you suggesting incompetence is acceptable within teaching because it's not like any other sector or had you another point?

So essentially you are saying a students failure is down to a teacher. Handy one that. It reminds me of trying to pass my driving test. Every-time I failed I said "He failed me". When I passed it was "I passed" Victim/blame culture is alive and well I see. Of course when a student does poorly-a teacher should reflect on methods etc but usually in my experience there is a fair measure of student laziness.
I thought part of the process of growing up is taking responsibility for your own life but the trend seems to be towards infantilisation of our teenagers or so called young adults.

ntlbell

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

So let me get this right. You are saying its my fault??! How? Part of any learning process is the ability to take charge of your learning. To reflect on it. Do you ever recall learning a complex idea without some personal reflection/work?
I do take your point that students do see homework/school as drudgery but to say its the majority is false. Perhaps you found it that way but a lot of kids want to get on in life.

No it's not all your fault. You personally can't make anyone do something they genuinely don't want to.

But it is you and your colleague's fault for not trying to be innovative the complete lack of creativity and imagination in how do go about changing the mindset and continue with these mundane responses like detention and lines etc etc which have never worked is just baffeling.

So in any other line of work where you see this repeated the incompetence would be fired at various levels. The fact it's still going on in 2012 is staggering.

ntlbell

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

So essentially you are saying a students failure is down to a teacher. Handy one that. It reminds me of trying to pass my driving test. Every-time I failed I said "He failed me". When I passed it was "I passed" Victim/blame culture is alive and well I see. Of course when a student does poorly-a teacher should reflect on methods etc but usually in my experience there is a fair measure of student laziness.
I thought part of the process of growing up is taking responsibility for your own life but the trend seems to be towards infantilisation of our teenagers or so called young adults.

It's partly down to the parents, the education system itself the teachers AND the students.

but it's hard to get a 5yr old at a board meeting to make the right choices right? so the child will have to take a much smaller % of the blame right? or the 3/4/5yr old should know better?

Flashgordon197

Excluding the rather troll above. I want to thank the rest of you. Good suggestions. I think I will have to up the ante a bit more. Detentions and more calls home .More punishment work. In real life your employer will put the boot in so they might as well get a taste of it now.

The course unfortunately does not help. English LC. It was great when Lies of silence was on. Was a novel that weak students could enjoy. Very little on this year they enjoy but as a colleague said "you could have noddy's adventures" and they would still say its hard. He exaggerates but I get the drift. I have been in touch with the Inspectorate-and told them my views on the novels.

Innovation seems to be a mantra to excuse laziness. In English a student has to read a book-innovation wont spare them that. Grow up!

gaeilgebeo

Flashgordan197, as a result of the trolling, I am going to PM you my strategies used as opposed to posting on-thread.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

Excluding the rather troll above. I want to thank the rest of you. Good suggestions. I think I will have to up the ante a bit more. Detentions and more calls home .More punishment work. In real life your employer will put the boot in so they might as well get a taste of it now.

The course unfortunately does not help. English LC. It was great when Lies of silence was on. Was a novel that weak students could enjoy. Very little on this year they enjoy but as a colleague said "you could have noddy's adventures" and they would still say its hard. He exaggerates but I get the drift. I have been in touch with the Inspectorate-and told them my views on the novels.

Is lies of silence not used anymore? I found it interesting, even though it was fictional. And your right not to be concerned about our troll. Check out the komplett forum, it'll give you a laugh

Solair

I've had these kinds of problems with classes I've taught, it happens with teenagers and also adults.

This is what worked for me, I don't know if it will work in your situation, but it might be worth trying.

I set a number of assignments, and also justified why they were necessary i.e. we are exploring x,y,z... this will reinforce your learning of ...

I took away the notion of harsh grading of assignments / homework and just provided feedback and underlined that there was no right/wrong answer, it was not an exam and it was for the students' benefit as a learning tool.

Then, I tried to construct homework that was cooporative i.e. they had to work with other students to find out some kind of new information or to at least figure something out themselves.

Group dynamics tend to mean that people feel they can't let the group down and they will work harder, and they also learn from eachother.
I know that this isn't possible for everything in secondary school, but I found that with teens and adults, it was a worthwhile exercise as it tended to make them feel that studying / homework was actually interesting / useful.

I also always tried to encorporate some kind of presentation to the homework if possible. So, occasionally you would have to actually present your report, findings, or whatever to the class either verbally, or as a powerpoint presentation.

I also operated a university style system of extensions. If you handed the work in on time, it was graded and returned. If you couldn't make it on time, you had to let me know in advance and provide a reasonable (preferably written) excuse so that I could grant an extension.

If someone just never handed anything up, I would just have a quiet, concerned word with them and try and figure out why they weren't participating with the class. Also, offer them the opportunity to do the homework in the library, but not as a detention, rather just as a study space if they'd a lot going on.

I know secondary teaching is a bit different, but maybe some of those tactics might be useful.

lestat21

This is a problem I've struggled with for ages, mainly cos I teach maths and the lack of homework often equates to a lack of understanding. You cant punish students harshly in that situation. I reduced the amount of homework given to students but I gave homework everynight, checked that all students had attempted the work and then corrected it on the board. I also pick up copies once a week and give feedback. This way weaker students have their questions answered at the start of the lesson and I can see not only whos doing homework but who is struggling with the classwork.

BUT I still struggle with attendance. I started a new job recently and I was missing so many students in the first few weeks it was a joke. I wouldnt mind them coming in without homework as long as they knew which chapter we were on... Its a pain trying to play catch up and designing worksheets that challenge the ones whove been there all along as well as introducing students who were absent to a whole new topic!! You're not alone...

the_syco

ntlbell wrote: »

So in any other line of work where you see this repeated the incompetence would be fired at various levels. The fact it's still going on in 2012 is staggering.

Fire the student? How, pray tell, does this work?

=-=

OP, what subject is it, and is it the "cool" kids that are not interested? Perhaps attack their ego, and make the homework a challenge and not punishment?

Midnight Sundance

I teach in primary school so I know it's a complete different ball game but I was thinking that if all the usual punishments don't work then how about doing something that will reward the ones that do the homework or something like that? I know it seems childish and I don't know what you could offer as an incentive but it's maybe worth a thought...
Also, you can only do your job, notify the parents and if they don't seem overly concerned then no matter what others say, there's nothing you can do bar go into their home, sit them down and make them do their homework.

omen80

ntlbell wrote: »

It's partly down to the parents, the education system itself the teachers AND the students.

I would say it's 99% down to the parents! Laziness begins at home. Anti-social behaviour begins at home, etc etc.....

Yes teachers have a job to do, but they can't do their job properly if students are just being lazy. There are too many parents out there who don't take responsibility for their children's behaviour at school. They see bad grades and blame the teacher. Their kid comes out of school and can't get a job so they blame the system. It's everyone's fault but their own.

If teachers are to have less power than they used to then it really is up to the parents to teach their children how to behave in class.

bfocusd

Midnight Sundance wrote: »

I teach in primary school so I know it's a complete different ball game but I was thinking that if all the usual punishments don't work then how about doing something that will reward the ones that do the homework or something like that? I know it seems childish and I don't know what you could offer as an incentive but it's maybe worth a thought...
Also, you can only do your job, notify the parents and if they don't seem overly concerned then no matter what others say, there's nothing you can do bar go into their home, sit them down and make them do their homework.

My old school used to do that, if we were good and reached an appropriate grade we were aloud choose a movie to watch, got popcorn and sandwiches, we loved it, we got two 40min classes a month off and anyone who was acting up was to stay in study class as usual, then at the end of each semester we would be aloud a special trip again if the standards were met, we didn't even realise that the trips were educational, we visited Irish history museums, art exhibitions, we even walked town with the teachers to experience all of the sculptures around Dublin, natural world exhibition all about wild life, insects etc, it was in a forest too, Orienteering, we visited a few old Manor's, hiking trips, horse riding.

It was brilliant and kept us going, I would recommend it if possible, I finished in 04 so its not too long ago either, they still try keep it going for the students sake.

With money being tight lately there are various trips that are free, maybe a bus ride would be necessary, but for example there is a Japanese cultural exhibition in the museum in Dublin.

ntlbell

the_syco wrote: »

Fire the student? How, pray tell, does this work?

=-=

OP, what subject is it, and is it the "cool" kids that are not interested? Perhaps attack their ego, and make the homework a challenge and not punishment?

I was referring to the DOE,principals/teachers etc not the students.

ntlbell

omen80 wrote: »

I would say it's 99% down to the parents! Laziness begins at home. Anti-social behaviour begins at home, etc etc.....

Yes teachers have a job to do, but they can't do their job properly if students are just being lazy. There are too many parents out there who don't take responsibility for their children's behaviour at school. They see bad grades and blame the teacher. Their kid comes out of school and can't get a job so they blame the system. It's everyone's fault but their own.

If teachers are to have less power than they used to then it really is up to the parents to teach their children how to behave in class.

blaming parents is just an easy lazy way out.

doc_17

Despite what somebody else said, lines/detention/phonecalls home all work to a certain extent. They are preventative measures which deter the majority of students from dodging homework.

Stewie Griffin

Let me tell you about a lad in my class a few years back. He loved distracting the class, didn't do his homework- we have all had them. After many long and winding arguments, it clicked with me that, above all, this lad hated to be ignored and loved to be the centre of attention. From then on, he got a lot less of my time and the atmosphere in the class improved.

You know, I thought the teachers here should know better.

When you have an attention-seeker in your class, the last thing you give them is loads of your time and attention so they can hold up the work and destroy the atmosphere.

I'm hoping that the teachers here will see some value in my long and boring story before they continue to post on this thread.

Dave0301

ntlbell wrote: »

blaming parents is just an easy lazy way out.

So is blaming teachers!

Say I have a full time job, I get up and I go in everyday and do the bare minimum. Just enough to scrape by, no matter what the boss says, no matter how much they try and motivate me I just do nothing! Even though I'll get reported, at the end of the day I'll always get to keep my job and get paid, is that the boss's fault or mine?

Now replace 'job' with education and 'boss' with teacher.

Toto Wolfcastle

From this point on I want to see constructive advice for the OP. If you cannot offer that then do not post.

ntlbell

Dave0301 wrote: »

So is blaming teachers!

Hence Why I blamed them all....

Dave0301 wrote: »

Say I have a full time job, I get up and I go in everyday and do the bare minimum. Just enough to scrape by, no matter what the boss says, no matter how much they try and motivate me I just do nothing! Even though I'll get reported, at the end of the day I'll always get to keep my job and get paid, is that the boss's fault or mine?

If you're meeting the expectations of your contract and performance goals set for the year I don't really see much of a problem. Is there performance goals set for each teacher? how are these benchmarked? for example is a teacher doing the bare minimum if 75% of the class produce homework? etc etc.

Dave0301 wrote: »

Now replace 'job' with education and 'boss' with teacher.

.........

if you want to match like with like. I guess we'll have to wait for teachers to be judged on something tangible right? like most other jobs. targets. goals etc...

Toto Wolfcastle

ntlbell banned for ignoring mod instruction. The same will apply to anyone else who chooses to do so.

omen80

ntlbell wrote: »

blaming parents is just an easy lazy way out.

Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one. If the OP contacts the parents and the students continue to behave in the same manner then what more can the OP do? I'm sick of this modern view where parents don't seem to take any responsibility. Teachers don't have the same authority that they used to, and I think children realise this at a certain age. Of course there are bad teachers out there, but we're talking about students paying attention here. If teachers are the culprit then there would never be any good students?

doc_17

Stewie Griffin wrote: »

Let me tell you about a lad in my class a few years back. He loved distracting the class, didn't do his homework- we have all had them. After many long and winding arguments, it clicked with me that, above all, this lad hated to be ignored and loved to be the centre of attention. From then on, he got a lot less of my time and the atmosphere in the class improved.

You know, I thought the teachers here should know better.

When you have an attention-seeker in your class, the last thing you give them is loads of your time and attention so they can hold up the work and destroy the atmosphere.

I'm hoping that the teachers here will see some value in my long and boring story before they continue to post on this thread.

There is definitely merit in that for the attention seeker and I think we all know that. But the OPs problem isn't the attention seeker if I'm reading it correctly? It's the lazy, unmotivated student who may not even want to be noticed and who is happy to spend their time daydreaming if they can get away with it that the OP is concerned with.

I'm not sure what you mean by the bit in (my) bold but continuing to post advice and suggestions to the actual problem rather than the one you referred to in your story should be encouraged and not demeaned as the ramlings of witless fools! (maybe I picked you up wrong and if so apologies)

Toto Wolfcastle

Further bans handed out. Please read both mod warnings before posting in this thread.

micropig

Solair wrote: »

Also, if you've large issues with homework try group projects like universities do.
Students nay not bother doing homework for you, but few will let the team down!

You can design projects where each student has a part to play yet, they can mostly work at home and just coordinate the project in school.

+1

doc_17 wrote: »

The sanctions you have already may be having some impact. They may be keeping other kids on the straight and narrow and they can see the consequences for others. There will always be students who won't/can't do homework. Keep a record of it and keep informing their parents/guardians.

Keep a record of all homework not handed in and the follow up action taken. When parent teacher day comes around, this is going to be vital

doc_17 wrote: »

I had a parent last year who told me to "stop wasting the school's money" because I sent a note home about her son's homework, or lack thereof. I kept sending the notes home when he didn't do it. The very same women would have been in the door blaming me had her son failed, claiming that she should have been informed about his poor homework record!

Keep at them anyway.....

+1 Keep at them and keep recording it!!

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

There are quite a lot of kids who aim to get a few honours in their exams but there are also a lot of kids who do very little bar turn up and thats irregular. .................
They are such a lazy group that when doing a novel I have to read it to them in class. They would simply stare out the window If I asked them to read it.
Interested in how others deal with this important issue.

I would gather from this that the students who do not turn up have poor literacy rates? It is pointless of asking these students to read the book, as they may not be able to. Film, getting them to act it out, projects etc may be a better way to approach these lessons.

Perhaps using multi-ability groups with some of the following group work techniques to make your lessons more interactive for the students

Pair Talk, Pairs to fours, Listening Triads, Envoys, Snowball, Rainbow groups, Jigsaw, spokesperson

May help?

The poster below also has some quite good ideas

Solair wrote: »

I set a number of assignments, and also justified why they were necessary i.e. we are exploring x,y,z... this will reinforce your learning of ...

I took away the notion of harsh grading of assignments / homework and just provided feedback and underlined that there was no right/wrong answer, it was not an exam and it was for the students' benefit as a learning tool.

Then, I tried to construct homework that was cooporative i.e. they had to work with other students to find out some kind of new information or to at least figure something out themselves.

Group dynamics tend to mean that people feel they can't let the group down and they will work harder, and they also learn from eachother.
I know that this isn't possible for everything in secondary school, but I found that with teens and adults, it was a worthwhile exercise as it tended to make them feel that studying / homework was actually interesting / useful.

I also always tried to encorporate some kind of presentation to the homework if possible. So, occasionally you would have to actually present your report, findings, or whatever to the class either verbally, or as a powerpoint presentation.

I also operated a university style system of extensions. If you handed the work in on time, it was graded and returned. If you couldn't make it on time, you had to let me know in advance and provide a reasonable (preferably written) excuse so that I could grant an extension.

If someone just never handed anything up, I would just have a quiet, concerned word with them and try and figure out why they weren't participating with the class. Also, offer them the opportunity to do the homework in the library, but not as a detention, rather just as a study space if they'd a lot going on.

I know secondary teaching is a bit different, but maybe some of those tactics might be useful.

Miss Lockhart

I think there's some very good ideas here. I definitely think a positive reward system can be a great incentive.

Not everything will work in every school however. Group homework projects are seriously discouraged in my school. Experience has unfortunately shown that the usual offenders won't do it anyway - and letting the group down is no disincentive - and that the parents of the willing children have made complaints that their children are being disadvantaged by being in a group with the non-workers. This has even been the case when the child was not going to suffer any reprecussions due to the lack of work on another child's part - there was still a perceived disadvantage to being in a group with the ones who did not do the work.

happywithlife

to go with the rewarding (any level of ) effort made, a teacher i once taught with, (second level) used stickers, smilies, stars and stamps with various messages ...... may be a bit childish to some, but the kids loved it ... there is still an element of a child in all of them -- the attention seeker's got their hit, and even the better students secretly loved it as well .....as was demostrated by their delight when this teacher returned after a few weeks off and the sub didn't use them ....first question they asked was, "was miss going to be giving out stars again?"

i'd also ask the op if they start homework in class? - this has been proven to work -- just give 5 mins at the end to start homework -- we all know sometimes its the starting is the hardest bit ...so if they have already started it in class, they are more likely to finish it later. and for those who don't understand it, you have a chance to start them of in the right direction ..

whiteandlight

happywithlife wrote: »

to go with the rewarding (any level of ) effort made, a teacher i once taught with, (second level) used stickers, smilies, stars and stamps with various messages ...... may be a bit childish to some, but the kids loved it ... there is still an element of a child in all of them -- the attention seeker's got their hit, and even the better students secretly loved it as well .....as was demostrated by their delight when this teacher returned after a few weeks off and the sub didn't use them ....first question they asked was, "was miss going to be giving out stars again?"

i'd also ask the op if they start homework in class? - this has been proven to work -- just give 5 mins at the end to start homework -- we all know sometimes its the starting is the hardest bit ...so if they have already started it in class, they are more likely to finish it later. and for those who don't understand it, you have a chance to start them of in the right direction ..

I do both these suggestions with all age groups. I will always (maybe the very very odd time not) give students the chance to get started on a problem in class first. I was also very ill in January and was out of school for a while. While I was tied to bed I was browsing the net for resources and came across a set of 16 teachers stamps, even my senior students love them! They were about 16e including delivery from an Irish site and I got some cheap tesco ink to go with them!

I would also make the suggestion that getting major assignments/tests that have been corrected signed by parents to say that they have read your comment can be a useful way of staying in touch with parents.

spurious

It's amazing the power of the gold star or 'good note', even with the older ones, as you said, Musicmental85.