Homework

Homework. Homework at North Star is a whole different ballgame.

Each day, a student has homework in every class (math, English, science, history). Homework is handed in as students walk into the school in the morning, and sorted by teachers by 11AM. At that point, any student whose work is missing, incomplete, or poorly done receives an automated phone call home announcing their homework detention. They are then required to sit in silence from 3:30 - 5:00 PM and make up the missing work, and begin that day's work. No exceptions.

As a result, everyone does their homework, and does it well. By 7th grade, the kids know the routine. Tuesday, 3 kids didn't do science homework. Wednesday, 100% completed it. Thursday, 1 kid didn't use complete sentences. Detention.

Not only that, but they love it. I over heard a colleague asking a 6th-grader what he liked most about North Star. He said, "I like that we get a lot of homework. It gives us the opportunity to practice being responsible every day." Uh, okay!

I also love it. It's practice that the kids are guaranteed to do. It's like an extra 20 minutes of class every day, and I don't even have to teach it.

Last night, a student called my cell phone to clarify a question on the homework. She was the second student to ask if she could do an additional task on the assignment.

Yesterday, my kids came in after having read and answered questions on the scientific method. The entire lesson was asking them to summarize, analyze, and discuss what they had read. "What is the next step in the scientific method?" "What does that mean?" "Why do we need to do that?" "What happens if we don't do that?" "Respond." And in response, "The first step of the scientific method is the problem statement" (always in complete sentences), etc. They are trained in group discussion, such that I often say, "Respond," and hear, "I agree with Student because of Detail, and want to add Other Detail and connect it to Literary or Other Class Reference". I just stand there and love watching kids learn.

Homework, anyone?