Hello again! It's Kim and I am linking up to "Tried It Tuesday" with Fourth Grade Flipper. I am bringing you an idea about how to manage homework in your classroom. Several years ago, I stumbled on an educational idea called learning contracts. Basically, the teacher designs a document that lists most (if not all) of the assignments that a student will be doing within the unit. Each assignment is awarded a certain number of points based on its length or complexity. Students pick various activities to accumulate the desired number of points. This idea works particularly well in high school, where students have the ability to be more self-directed and motivated. I created several learning contracts in my Honors Geometry classes that included required assignments, such as taking notes and doing warm-up problems, along with homework, daily assignments, and mini-projects. Early on, I realized that several of the activities actually required enough student effort to be a stand-alone grade in the grade book instead of just a single item within the learning contract. So...
I decided to turn the idea of a learning contract into a homework contract and save the bigger assignments for separate grades. Here is one of the many homework contracts I have created:
I include the unit's topics, standards, and essential questions. I also include how to access the online textbook. I star the items that are required, which for me is the warm-up problems and notes in class. I then list the homework assignments for the unit. We just adopted new Common Core standards, so our homework assignments are not firmly set before we begin the unit. So for now, I leave a blank space for the students to fill in their homework assignment when it is given.
The day that an individual homework assignment is due, I walk around the room with a stamp while students are completing warm-ups. Any student who has their homework completed as requested (with work shown, etc) gets a stamp. That stamp is worth 10 points on the homework contract. Students that don't have the homework on time can complete the assignment with us as we go over it in class. If they turn in the homework late (without the stamp) in the learning contract at the end of the unit, they will earn 5 points for that assignment. I never record homework. Students are responsible for keeping up with the contract page, which is usually printed on colored paper. While students are testing, or during test conferencing/test correction days, I call students up to count up the points they have earned on the learning contract. It is a good time to talk about organization and why they are not completing homework during this time too. I then count the homework contract as two daily grades in the computer. My high school students loved knowing exactly what was expected of them for the unit!
Of course, this format can be totally customized to what works in your classroom. I have adjusted the points for warm-ups and notes throughout the years. Currently in 6th grade math, I have warm-ups and notes counting 15 points each. I strive for 7 homework assignments a unit, which makes the total points add up to 100. I find that I rarely get to 7 homeworks in a unit with 6th graders though!
The homework contract gives students a vision and direction for the unit. Along with a student agenda, it helps students know where to look for any math homework. It takes much of the homework record keeping away from me and in turn gives more responsibility to the students. Please feel free to respond in the comments below with any questions you may have about implementing homework/learning contracts in your class!
Kim
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