I’ve recently had a lot of conversations around math work outside of the classroom and I’m truly conflicted on the topic. Kids are busy after school through clubs, sports, extra classes and more. Let’s also think of the need to be outside and socializing. It would be great if dinner time is always with family and that students can relax as the day comes to an end. Super important.
I also see students leaving math work for math class. In most instances, this means that they can go two days without thinking about math or even more if there is a special schedule, long weekend, etc. Fragile understanding need to be nurtured and ideas wrestled with. I feel my internal pendulum shifting and as my own daughters end their elementary school career, I find myself setting times for them to sit down and work. They typically do this without complaint and we try to make sure that they have time for themselves but building a culture at home of regular practice and the need to improve seems quite important.
As this translates to my teaching practice, I’m doing a bit more on the compliance side of home learning. To date, I have posted work for students but have not checked for completion. Solutions are posted as well and time given if students want to discuss their ideas. I felt supported with Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics seemed to follow along similar lines. We want students to do home learning for the intrinsic benefits but (and this is my new thinking), how much do the middle school years need to develop and nurture new habits. Is ‘doing the work for the wrong reason’ (I know it will be checked) a crucial step forward in forming the habit of practice?
After a couple of weeks, I asked students. It seems is if they are sensing a benefit. A few quotes from students to support their thinking…(bold added by me)
| When I do the check your understanding I feel less confused and more confident when doing the problems in class |
| Being more focused on completing home learning helps hold myself accountable if I didn’t do home learning. It also helps with my understanding of what we learned in class. |
| Recently doing the home learning has helped me get some practice outside of class and that has really shown in class. |
| I feel more confident in Percent change |
| i don’t see a benefit but I don’t see a detriment |
| I defiantly think practice benefits my constancy. But sometimes the questions are not challenging enough and it does not add anything. |
| Practice makes perfect! I feel like the more math I do at home is really helping me to improve on various skills. |
At the moment, my goal is to end the year with the hope that these soon to be 8th graders will develop habits around consistency of work.
Finding the Process 