You Can’t Put a Price on Knowledge

You Can’t Put a Price on Knowledge

     As educators, we may or may not all agree on the importance or even on the advantages of nightly homework. In my opinion, it is better to give less, more valuable homework, than to dole out a barrage of busy work. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle--valuable homework that does not consume all of our students’ time and energy, but does propel them forward.  What if the homework assignments we gave our students could actually help them develop better focusing, thinking, writing and speaking skills?

       About three years ago, my internal struggle (Homework? Yes or no? How much? How often? Ahhh!) prompted me to put a new spin on our grade-level’s reading log. Armed with Tier 2 vocabulary, the Common Core E.L.A. standards, information from vertical-alignment conversations, and information gleaned from SBAC Practice Tests, I set to work. Although the reading log has evolved over the years, the basic format remains consistent. In the margins of the document, I address the students personally; l may briefly review instruction, provide helpful hints, offer pertinent examples, and give clear direction. I want students to “hear” my voice speaking directly to them. Every week, every Euclid Elementary School third grader is presented with a reading log and two sources.

      I am confident that we all want to teach our students to be clear thinkers. However, there is a distinct difference between really thinking and just entertaining random thoughts. I don’t want my students to robotically complete their reading logs or any homework tasks while their minds fill with random thoughts of everything that is competing for their attention--t.v. shows, YouTube, video games, etc. In their defense, without direction, our minds are hosts to countless random thoughts. In an attempt to bypass this, I make sure students know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the work they do at home is as valuable as the work they complete in class. Students will reap what they sow. If they don’t put much effort into the reading log, they won’t reap the benefits. As we all know, students’ knowledge and skill set vary greatly. The reading log is challenging and, for that reason, frontloading is essential. I take the time to clarify each night’s assignment. The next day, I review the assignment again. If there was a writing component, then I build in opportunities for students to read aloud what they wrote.

          The reading log grew out of a need that my teammates and I had prior to our district’s adoption of the McGraw-Hill reading program. At that time, we had the Common Core standards and were responsible for preparing our students for the SBAC, but we did not yet have a reading program in place. Now that we have so many amazing resources available through McGraw Hill, our task is to be mindful about matching resources to student needs. In doing so, our students will flourish under our vigilance.

Hopeful for my student's success...

Lola Jollie