HOMEWORK ALERT:
Wednesday, September 19th, 2012
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* Please note that today your child has math for homework. We have been working on number patterns and your child had learned that when describing a pattern, they need to tell the following:
a) the number to start with in a pattern
b) how much the number increase or decrease by.
c) write a description using numbers like 3, add 2, add 4, add 2...
To demonstrate their understanding, I had looked at Question #6 in their textbook. To be successful, they need to read the question very carefully and look at the clock very carefully! This will help them answer the question properly. *
You will find that we do not have much homework in my class, nor are there many of the traditional "tests". There will be some specific assignments that come home, a few projects, and students will sometimes bring home unfinished work or short activities, such as math skills to practice. They work hard when they are at school, and so many students have extracurricular activities that are very important to them, such as soccer, dance, music lessons, etc., so homework just for the sake of it really just adds pressure and stress. I don't believe it's worth it, especially given all the research that suggests additional tasks done at home do little or nothing to improve academic achievement or understanding. There does not even appear to be a relationship between regular homework and the development of good work and study habits. I am always watching and talking with the kids, so assessment and feedback is going on all the time. You will find information here on what we are doing in class, as well as links to games and good information sites that support what we are learning, and these can always be worked on/played with at home if you'd like to get them working on something when they have a night free.
Every teacher's guiding document on assessment, evaluation and reporting is called, Growing Success, and if you are interested, you can read it for yourself at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf.
