Purpose
This site is for Christian Haich's classes at Polaris K-12 and various interests that loosely relate to his teaching.
Homework
What is homework? How should it be graded? How should those grades count in your final grade? How much is too much? I've struggled with all of these questions in my teaching career, and my views have evolved over time. So here is my homework policy this year for all of my classes.
I may choose to assign homework depending on the lesson and the class. However, I will not grade homework.
Nor will I collect it. Students will keep their work in a 3-ring binder for their reference. It is theirs, not mine. No part of their grade will be based on homework. Instead, students' grades will only be based on performance on quizzes and tests. If a student is not getting sufficient practice, it will show on their performance on quizzes and tests. What is sufficient practice? That varies with each student and each chapter. So I will suggest practice, but I will not grade the practice.
I have many more reasons for using this model for homework:
In summary, I will not collect nor grade homework.
I may choose to assign homework depending on the lesson and the class. However, I will not grade homework.
Nor will I collect it. Students will keep their work in a 3-ring binder for their reference. It is theirs, not mine. No part of their grade will be based on homework. Instead, students' grades will only be based on performance on quizzes and tests. If a student is not getting sufficient practice, it will show on their performance on quizzes and tests. What is sufficient practice? That varies with each student and each chapter. So I will suggest practice, but I will not grade the practice.
I have many more reasons for using this model for homework:
- Grades should reflect only understanding of material, not completion of tasks.
- How much homework should a student do? How long should it take? This varies by student, and should be determined by the student.
- Going over homework at the beginning of class robs the teacher of valuable lesson time and the student of valuable time to develop an interest in the lesson.
- Homework is practice, and should be a space for students to make mistakes and fix them.
- Students can only develop responsibility and personal motivation in learning if given the opportunity to do so.
In summary, I will not collect nor grade homework.
Materials
Every math student should have the following in class every day:
Every math student should have frequent access to the following:
- A notebook with paper
- At least 1 pencil and an eraser
- Their textbook
Every math student should have frequent access to the following:
- Graph paper
- Colored pencils
- A protractor
- A ruler
- A calculator