I have been thinking a lot about homework and studying in the past few weeks. It's amazing and cool to see how many different philosophies there are on this. I, like many other teachers, have strong opinions about studying and homework, but it's important to note that these opinions are based on my style and what I teach. Language is not subject matter, so my opinions on this matter do not necessarily apply to other disciplines, and they are just that: opinions.
However, I think that we teachers are hard on each other when we have different homework philosophies. Those who give a lot of homework think that those of use who don't aren't being rigorous enough, and those who don't give a lot of homework think that the other teachers are being too "traditional." I thought it would be a cool idea for me to share my opinions as to why I am a minimalist when it comes to homework and studying to show that there is a reason behind my choices. This is what works best for me as a teacher of Spanish.
Homework:
I really do not like giving homework, but it's definitely not something I NEVER do, either. I consider myself a minimalist when it comes to homework, but I am way closer to giving no homework than I am to giving homework and here's why:
Acquiring a language is based on input (exposure to the language) through communicative interaction. It is really hard to give communicative homework, so homework ends up being grammar practice and fill in the blank with the correct verb form, which you know is against my personal teaching philosophy. That's not to say that it is impossible to give communicative homework, but it's definitely not as easy as giving explicit grammar activities.
On the Homework Panel episode of the Inspired Proficiency Podcast , six teachers talked about how they approach homework as language teachers. I like what the people who do give homework have to say, and I don't disagree with their methods. These include things like watching videos, TV, etc. However, I saw myself more in the last three teachers who give little to no homework.
If we are going to give homework, I, personally, believe that it should still be as communicative as possible and should be used for input. A lot of teachers say that homework is extra practice, but I find that it is frustrating for the students who already know how to do the material and are bored doing the assignment, and it is frustrating for the students who are trying and not succeeding at the homework. It creates unnecessary tension at home between students and guardians/parents, and I just don't want to contribute to that.
I also feel that homework tends to inflate students' grades a bit. Most teachers assess homework based on effort, so kids are getting good grades for being compliant. When I do give homework, it rarely goes in the gradebook, but I have other ways of rewarding the students who did it.
When I give homework, I want them to still have to somehow interact with the input. So, the other day, I asked my students to pick someone at home and guess how often that person did a list of things. For example, You play the piano often. This was done in class, and then they had to go home and interview the person they chose to see if they guessed correctly or not. I told the students that, if they conducted the interview in Spanish, they could video it and send it to me to earn group points. It's definitely not my favorite assignment, but here's what it looked like:
All this being said, I have learned recently to value different teaching styles and opinions. I have said before that I view myself first and foremost as a Spanish teacher (aside from my students' mental health and safety, of course). I do not view myself as a life skills teacher above facilitating their language acquisition. I do teach my students life skills but in less explicit ways.
Other teachers, especially at the middle school level, disagree with me. They feel that teaching the kids good study habits, organization skills, etc. is more important than their content. This is GREAT. We need people with these different views because then they are getting a lot of different lessons from different teachers with various styles and beliefs. And I am not saying that organization skills and study habits, etc. are not important to me; of course they are. It's just not my number one priority. I will not be giving my students binder checks and things like that because I want their grades to reflect their skills as language learners.
Studying:
As mentioned above, there are a lot of teachers who believe that teaching students good study habits is important, and I love that. It is important for the students to learn how to prepare for assessments--especially in areas like math that are subject matter. Since language is not subject matter, I believe that, if I am doing my job, the students should not have to study. And this is my belief about language teaching. I am not sure that my philosophy would work for other subject areas, but who knows?!
However, I think a lot of teachers are teaching students study habits that are not what's actually best. I love what the two guest speakers on this episode of The Cult of Pedagogy had to say about the best ways to study. I do not think that these are the skills that most teachers are teaching the students when it comes to study habits, so give it a listen/read and see if there's something you can get out of it as a teacher or as a student.
So, back to my classroom. I am a firm believer in communicative language teaching and proficiency based assessments. This means that all of my tests and quizzes are open ended. I want students to show me their performance proficiency at ALL levels. With this, come spontaneous assessments. Almost all of my assessments are unannounced. Therefore, I do not talk with my students much about study skills because, like I said, if I am giving them spontaneous assessments, then I have to believe that, if I have done my job, they should not have to study. I do not want to know what students can go home and memorize. I want to know what students can do off the top of their heads.
Anyway, I think that it is important for teachers to stay as up-to-date as possible. I know that we are so busy, but doing a little research here and there is so important. We are teaching the people of the future; we should do it well. If we are going to teach students study skills, then we should do our best to make sure that we are teaching them the best ways to go about that. If we are going to give homework, we should make sure that it aligns with our pedagogical beliefs and research. Homework should be purposeful.
As always, I love and welcome comments and questions!
Thanks for reading!
Timothy
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