Teacher not grading math papers

[IfIOnly]

I'm trying to figure out my 9th grader's teacher's approach to homework. I should note that DS's school is a college prep/collegiate-style school. The students have certain classes M, W, F and possibly T and TH as well. Kids regularly email and contact their teachers, and the school works well for kids who take initiative and are self-disciplined, or at least are willing to learn to be and have parents who will help keep them on track. The kids each have an adviser that they meet with at regular intervals as well. It's great preparation for and a transition to college life. So there's some background.

 

My concern is that my ds's math teacher doesn't check problems on homework! Homework is also not given a letter grade. I know that's typically how college works, and after searching online, even other middle schools and high schools work. I'm just uncomfortable with this approach at this age. And this is coming from me as a homeschool teacher having my children each day redo their missed math problems from the day before. Yep. You read that right. That's about as mean as it get's here, but because I struggled so much in math as a kid, I wanted to make sure my kids have a strong foundation and understanding. This seems to be the case since my son integrated very well into his brick and mortar math class, finishes early on tests and scores well. He's getting an A in the class and does well in class competitions. All that to say, I believe going over missed problems and fixing them to be valuable and even necessary! 

 

Help me problem solve for this situation, please. I'm willing to grade the papers myself, but DS will have to go over the missed problems with his teacher or dad because he passed me up in math a loooong time ago. :/   Do you think it's reasonable to talk this over with the teacher and ask if he's willing to grade the papers or give DS an answer key to do so himself?  Thoughts and advice? Thank you!

 

Edited: I should add that DS entered this particular school midyear, and I only found out about the teacher not checking homework recently.

Edited March 17, 2018 by IfIOnly

[JenneinCA]

In high school we were assigned homework problems and expected to look in the back of the book at the answers to see if they were correct. If we had questions we were supposed to ask them at the beginning of the next class. I can’t see how a teacher could possibly have time to correct and grade dozens of homework problems per student per day in any reasonable time period. The student is responsible for learning the material and asking questions if he/she doesn’t understand. I don’t remember a teacher actually correcting and grading math homework past about fourth grade.

[IfIOnly]

In high school we were assigned homework problems and expected to look in the back of the book at the answers to see if they were correct. If we had questions we were supposed to ask them at the beginning of the next class. I can’t see how a teacher could possibly have time to correct and grade dozens of homework problems per student per day in any reasonable time period. The student is responsible for learning the material and asking questions if he/she doesn’t understand. I don’t remember a teacher actually correcting and grading math homework past about fourth grade.

 

Okay, interesting. This is our first real experience with public school, so I did not know this could be the norm. DS does not have a math textbook, nor does he have an online curriculum. He isn't given answer keys for homework either. What I'm wondering is if since he came midterm, perhaps students checking homework themselves was discussed previously discussed, and the teacher has forgotten to tell my son about it? 

[hshibley]

My kids have had similar experiences in math classes in brick and mortal schools. Some teachers grade homework such that you get 100% for reasonably completing most/all the problems, 50% for partially completing the assignment, 0% for not completing assignment. Homework was a small portion of the grade for the course. Those classes tended to rely on quizzes to judge mastery of a topic and viewed homework as a learning experience.  Check to see if your student has access to the answers to the homework problems either through an online text book or resources posted by the teacher.     

[Ali in OR]

In my experience (former math teacher, current sub) it is typical that teachers do not grade homework problems for correctness. At my dds' high school, teachers have about 180 kids (6 classes averaging 30 kids)--there just isn't time in the day to correct the homework. Most grade on completeness--they can walk around the room and look to see if the student attempted all of the problems. Students have to become responsible for checking their own work. Teachers will go over the hardest problems together. They often put up a key of correct answers for students to then check their work. I used to have kids sit in groups of 3 or 4 and go over the homework together (works well in a high-performing college prep atmosphere). If you want more than this for your child, talk to the teacher. At my kids' school there is a tutoring center where they could get more help. They might be able to arrange to meet the teacher before or after class to check work (ie look at the teacher's book and check their own). There are always private tutors.  I agree that it's important to check kids' understanding--I try to keep up with my dd's AP stats so I can check her work and go over things with her. Unfortunately schools aren't sufficiently staffed for this level of instruction.

Edited March 17, 2018 by Ali in OR

[EKS]

My son's math teacher (same teacher both this year and last) does not check homework.  I find this acceptable only if students have access to complete solutions.  And they should have this access at the time they are working the problems, not the next day in class or whatever, so that they can rework problems on the spot.  I think that grading homework (in the sense that a percent correct grade goes in the gradebook) and not allowing students to rework problems to 100% is not a pedagogically sound practice.

 

(Unfortunately, my son's teacher likes to prepare his own problem sets, so there are no answers in the back of the book and no solution manual is available.  For a year and a half, I worked the problems myself so that he had solutions since I feel so strongly about the need to check and correct problems.)

 

 

[IfIOnly]

In my experience (former math teacher, current sub) it is typical that teachers do not grade homework problems for correctness. At my dds' high school, teachers have about 180 kids (6 classes averaging 30 kids)--there just isn't time in the day to correct the homework. Most grade on completeness--they can walk around the room and look to see if the student attempted all of the problems. Students have to become responsible for checking their own work. Teachers will go over the hardest problems together. They often put up a key of correct answers for students to then check their work. I used to have kids sit in groups of 3 or 4 and go over the homework together (works well in a high-performing college prep atmosphere). If you want more than this for your child, talk to the teacher. At my kids' school there is a tutoring center where they could get more help. They might be able to arrange to meet the teacher before or after class to check work (ie look at the teacher's book and check their own). There are always private tutors. I agree that it's important to check kids' understanding--I try to keep up with my dd's AP stats so I can check her work and go over things with her. Unfortunately schools aren't sufficiently staffed for this level of instruction.

Thank you for this info! I appreciate hearing from a math teacher on this topic and your encouragement to stay connected and checking for understanding.

[Catwoman]

Honest question — What’s the point of a kid doing a bunch of math homework if he never finds out whether or not his answers were correct?

 

I would think the teacher should either do a quick review of the homework at the beginning of the next class, or have an answer key posted somewhere so the kids can check their answers. Otherwise, the kids could be doing the problems incorrectly and making the same mistakes day after day because they don’t realize they’re doing things wrong... until they get a low score on a quiz or a test.

[lmrich]

He needs to be checking them on his own then. Ask about the solution manual.  If there is not one, I have seen apps that can show the steps to a problem. 

 

And by the way this is very common; homework or practice problems are not checked by the teacher but are supposed to be checked by the student.  Math homework must be checked and checked daily. We learn from our mistakes, but so many kids have no idea they are making mistakes. 

[Storygirl]

DD16's math teacher does grade homework, and I'm glad, because she is not the strongest math student and needs oversight.

 

However, when I was in high school, my math teachers did not grade homework. I had one teacher two years in a row who didn't even look to see if we had done it. I know this, because years later I found my spiral math notebook, and most pages had the homework assignment written at the top of a blank page. I hadn't done the assignments. (I still did well in the class.)

 

My senior year, I had a different teacher. He would walk up and down the rows of desks at the beginning of each class and mark in his book whether each person had completed the homework. We had to have it out on the desk, ready for him to check.

 

I do think it's better for my particular children to have their homework checked, because we have some math weaknesses and disabilities. However, I think it must not be unusual for teachers to just make sure it has been done.

 

You might tell the teacher that you think your son's work needs to be corrected and ask for suggestions.

[EKS]

He needs to be checking them on his own then. Ask about the solution manual.  If there is not one, I have seen apps that can show the steps to a problem. 

 

This works for some problems.  For example, you can type a problem into Wolfram Alpha and get step by step solutions.  But frequently those solutions are in a form that would not be immediately understandable to students.  Another way to check certain problems is by graphing with something like Desmos, but that doesn't give step by step solutions.  And none of this applies to word problems, though sometimes you can find similar word problems worked out online.  

 

In short, if a teacher thinks that students are mature enough to do the homework without having it checked, they should think they are mature enough to use a solution manual responsibly.

[almondbutterandjelly]

Okay, interesting. This is our first real experience with public school, so I did not know this could be the norm. DS does not have a math textbook, nor does he have an online curriculum. He isn't given answer keys for homework either. What I'm wondering is if since he came midterm, perhaps students checking homework themselves was discussed previously discussed, and the teacher has forgotten to tell my son about it? 

 

I suspect this is the case.  Email the teacher about it.

[cera2]

The standard here is that homework is checked for completion rather than accuracy.  It has to do with the available time in class, parent preference, etc.  As someone who is now teaching I would not be willing to grade an individual student's homework each day.  I simply have too many other tasks to do and can't justify the time.  

 

I would ask the teacher if it is possible to have the solutions posted at least weekly on whatever online learning platform is used (almost all schools use one now) so students are able to check their own work if they want to.

[AngieW in Texas]

I teach high school chemistry and forensics.

 

Correcting 100 chemistry papers in a timely manner with feedback that will actually be helpful isn't really possible, especially given that as soon as anybody gets their paper back, the students who haven't completed the assignment will copy it and turn it in. We are required by the district to accept late work. 

 

We have a textbook, but it is horrible, so none of us use it. We create our own materials or use worksheets that we find online (but we usually edit them because you can find full solutions for almost any worksheet online).

 

When there are calculation-type assignments, I give my students the answers when I give them the assignment. They are supposed to come to me for help if they can't get the correct answer. What I do when I check the assignments is see if they have set up the problems correctly and whether or not they remembered to write the complete answer with units.

 

I also do a lot of self-checking assignments. Next week we will be doing stations assignments. After they finish the card they are working on, they go to the next station and find the card that has the answers to the problem they just worked. If they can't find their answers, then they need to come to me for help.

 

We do a lot of plickers problems too. These are problems that the students work out on white boards or on paper and then show me their answers with a plickers card. Once I have everybody listed as responding, I work through the problem so the students who didn't get it, can see how it is supposed to be done.

 

 

[Daria]

Honest question — What’s the point of a kid doing a bunch of math homework if he never finds out whether or not his answers were correct?

 

I would think the teacher should either do a quick review of the homework at the beginning of the next class, or have an answer key posted somewhere so the kids can check their answers. Otherwise, the kids could be doing the problems incorrectly and making the same mistakes day after day because they don’t realize they’re doing things wrong... until they get a low score on a quiz or a test.

 

A teacher is going to be doing lots of activities in the classroom that provide students with feedback as to whether they understand the information.  They'll be working problems together, doing some kind of self correcting activity like the previously mentioned plickers, doing in class work that's graded, etc . . .   Students who struggle also should have opportunities 

 

Grading individual homework assignments is one way to give feedback, but it's not the only way.  It's also not really a feasible way.  I know the math teachers at our school each have 5 sections of about 25 kids.  Even if it takes 1 minute to grade, that would be 2 hours a night.  Most of our teachers have about two hours of paid time a day when they aren't teaching, and might put in another two of their own time.  Spending half that time on homework grading, when they could use it meet with students for preteach/reteach, create lesson plans, analyze assessment data to prepare differentiated instruction, plus do non classroom things like attend faculty meetings, run a club, etc . . . 

[Catwoman]

A teacher is going to be doing lots of activities in the classroom that provide students with feedback as to whether they understand the information. They'll be working problems together, doing some kind of self correcting activity like the previously mentioned plickers, doing in class work that's graded, etc . . . Students who struggle also should have opportunities

 

Grading individual homework assignments is one way to give feedback, but it's not the only way. It's also not really a feasible way. I know the math teachers at our school each have 5 sections of about 25 kids. Even if it takes 1 minute to grade, that would be 2 hours a night. Most of our teachers have about two hours of paid time a day when they aren't teaching, and might put in another two of their own time. Spending half that time on homework grading, when they could use it meet with students for preteach/reteach, create lesson plans, analyze assessment data to prepare differentiated instruction, plus do non classroom things like attend faculty meetings, run a club, etc . . .

I didn’t suggest that the teacher grade individual homework assignments. I suggested either a quick review at the beginning of class or that the teacher post an answer sheet so the kids could check their answers.

 

Again, what’s the point of homework if the kids never know if they are getting the correct answers?

[Lecka]

A study group to compare answers with classmates is also possible. Even calling a class mate on the phone and reading off answers is possible. I did both here and there in high school. It was encouraged by teachers.

 

Maybe they encouraged this at the beginning of the year.

 

It worked well for me.

[busymama7]

Starting in 8th grade the answers were in the back of the book. We knew before turning it in/having it looked at if we knew how to get the right answers. If not we could ask at the beginning of class about problems we didn't understand

[IfIOnly]

Thank you all so much!  And sorry I haven't been keeping up with this thread as much as I would have liked!  Today was a crazy, busy day, and in hindsight I should have waited to post this question. I really appreciate your replies and experiences. Also, I went to 3 different high school in 3 different states, and we were never required to grade our own math papers. I've never heard of it until now and had no idea it was a thing. I'll email the teacher and hopefully find out how to access answer keys.

 

 

 

[Daria]

I didn’t suggest that the teacher grade individual homework assignments. I suggested either a quick review at the beginning of class or that the teacher post an answer sheet so the kids could check their answers.

 

Again, what’s the point of homework if the kids never know if they are getting the correct answers?

 

No, but OP did.  My point is that the situation you described where a student is doing the same kind of problems night after night, doing them wrong, and has no idea they're doing it wrong, isn't going to happen, because students are getting lots of other feedback on their work, in more efficient ways.

 

I'm not saying that teachers should never spend a few minutes reviewing a problem.  But when you go over every question in class, it's eating up a lot of precious time.  Using that time to do new problems with a system like plickers  gives people feedback, keeps everyone busy (even those who didn't do the homework, or who did it and know they got everything right) gives the teacher instant data on whether to stay there or move on.  

 

Generally kids know "I got that" or "That was hard, but I think I figured it out, and what we did in class confirmed it" or "I wasn't sure I knew that, and when we did the plickers problems today it showed that I didn't.  I'll go see the teacher at lunch".  That's more important than knowing a percentage.

[IfIOnly]

No, but OP did.  My point is that the situation you described where a student is doing the same kind of problems night after night, doing them wrong, and has no idea they're doing it wrong, isn't going to happen, because students are getting lots of other feedback on their work, in more efficient ways.

 

I'm not saying that teachers should never spend a few minutes reviewing a problem.  But when you go over every question in class, it's eating up a lot of precious time.  Using that time to do new problems with a system like plickers  gives people feedback, keeps everyone busy (even those who didn't do the homework, or who did it and know they got everything right) gives the teacher instant data on whether to stay there or move on.  

 

Generally kids know "I got that" or "That was hard, but I think I figured it out, and what we did in class confirmed it" or "I wasn't sure I knew that, and when we did the plickers problems today it showed that I didn't.  I'll go see the teacher at lunch".  That's more important than knowing a percentage.

 

Well, to be fair, I had never heard of teachers not grading the assignment, so my thinking was perhaps the teachers don't mind doing it if a student would prefer or requests it. Like I said above, I've been to several high school in various states and have never come across this!  

[Catwoman]

No, but OP did. My point is that the situation you described where a student is doing the same kind of problems night after night, doing them wrong, and has no idea they're doing it wrong, isn't going to happen, because students are getting lots of other feedback on their work, in more efficient ways.

 

I'm not saying that teachers should never spend a few minutes reviewing a problem. But when you go over every question in class, it's eating up a lot of precious time. Using that time to do new problems with a system like plickers gives people feedback, keeps everyone busy (even those who didn't do the homework, or who did it and know they got everything right) gives the teacher instant data on whether to stay there or move on.

 

Generally kids know "I got that" or "That was hard, but I think I figured it out, and what we did in class confirmed it" or "I wasn't sure I knew that, and when we did the plickers problems today it showed that I didn't. I'll go see the teacher at lunch". That's more important than knowing a percentage.

Again, I didn’t suggest that the teachers had to go over every homework problem in detail every day.

 

Maybe you know better teachers than I do, but I wouldn’t assume that all (or even most) students are getting lots of more efficient feedback on their work or are being taught in many different and creative ways.

 

Again, I simply don’t see the point in assigning homework if the kids have no way of checking their work, and many of the kids I know would not “go see the teacher at lunch†to ask for help, even if the teacher was actually available at that time and was willing and had the time to help individual students with their questions.

 

It would be great if all kids went to the teacher when they needed extra help, and it would also be great if all teachers had the time, energy, and inclination to always be available to help their students whenever they needed additional explanations, but although that scenario would be wonderful, I don’t think it is necessarily the reality.

[IfIOnly]

Again, I didn’t suggest that the teachers had to go over every homework problem in detail every day.

 

Maybe you know better teachers than I do, but I wouldn’t assume that all (or even most) students are getting lots of more efficient feedback on their work or are being taught in many different and creative ways.

 

Again, I simply don’t see the point in assigning homework if the kids have no way of checking their work, and many of the kids I know would not “go see the teacher at lunch†to ask for help, even if the teacher was actually available at that time and was willing and had the time to help individual students with their questions.

 

It would be great if all kids went to the teacher when they needed extra help, and it would also be great if all teachers had the time, energy, and inclination to always be available to help their students whenever they needed additional explanations, but although that scenario would be wonderful, I don’t think it is necessarily the reality.

 

Catwoman, I honestly don't get it either. Even after listening to some reasons why on this thread, it still baffles me.

[Daria]

Again, I didn’t suggest that the teachers had to go over every homework problem in detail every day.

 

Maybe you know better teachers than I do, but I wouldn’t assume that all (or even most) students are getting lots of more efficient feedback on their work or are being taught in many different and creative ways.

 

Again, I simply don’t see the point in assigning homework if the kids have no way of checking their work, and many of the kids I know would not “go see the teacher at lunch†to ask for help, even if the teacher was actually available at that time and was willing and had the time to help individual students with their questions.

 

It would be great if all kids went to the teacher when they needed extra help, and it would also be great if all teachers had the time, energy, and inclination to always be available to help their students whenever they needed additional explanations, but although that scenario would be wonderful, I don’t think it is necessarily the reality.

 

So, here's what I'm not understanding is what you think a kid who isn't willing to go ask for help when they get questions wrong on an in class assignment, is going to do when they get questions wrong on homework? 

[Catwoman]

So, here's what I'm not understanding is what you think a kid who isn't willing to go ask for help when they get questions wrong on an in class assignment, is going to do when they get questions wrong on homework?

But what does that have to do with kids not being provided the answers to the homework problems?

 

My point all along has been that there is no point to giving kids math homework if they will never know if they got the answers right or wrong. Why would a kid even bother to do the homework at all? It’s just busywork and a waste of time to do a bunch of problems if the solutions are never provided.

 

You were the one who was suggesting that the kids will have all sorts of other opportunities to learn the material and get extra help, and I simply meant that I don't believe the reality is as wonderful as the concept.

 

I think that if the homework is supposed to reinforce the concepts being taught in the classroom, the kids need the answers to the problems. If the kids get the answers and explanation of at least some of the homework problems, that would give them a chance to see whether or not they understand the concepts, and if they were having trouble, they could ask questions right there in class during the review rather than having to skip lunch to try to get individual help from the teacher, who may not even be available.

[IfIOnly]

I teach high school chemistry and forensics.

 

Correcting 100 chemistry papers in a timely manner with feedback that will actually be helpful isn't really possible, especially given that as soon as anybody gets their paper back, the students who haven't completed the assignment will copy it and turn it in. We are required by the district to accept late work. 

 

We have a textbook, but it is horrible, so none of us use it. We create our own materials or use worksheets that we find online (but we usually edit them because you can find full solutions for almost any worksheet online).

 

When there are calculation-type assignments, I give my students the answers when I give them the assignment. They are supposed to come to me for help if they can't get the correct answer. What I do when I check the assignments is see if they have set up the problems correctly and whether or not they remembered to write the complete answer with units.

 

I also do a lot of self-checking assignments. Next week we will be doing stations assignments. After they finish the card they are working on, they go to the next station and find the card that has the answers to the problem they just worked. If they can't find their answers, then they need to come to me for help.

 

We do a lot of plickers problems too. These are problems that the students work out on white boards or on paper and then show me their answers with a plickers card. Once I have everybody listed as responding, I work through the problem so the students who didn't get it, can see how it is supposed to be done.

 

Thank you, Angie, for mentioning this. Several of my DS's teachers don't use or offer textbooks, but it's not an online school with online curricula either. Maybe this is part of the problem. It at least gives me some idea of why a teacher/school would choose to forgo textbooks.

 

Edited: I will add that the teachers are awesome about communicating online through Google Classroom and other avenues though. They sometimes provide lecture notes and subject matter reading material, as well as always send clear assignment directions and due dates. 

Edited March 18, 2018 by IfIOnly

[Ivey]

I don't think I've ever heard of a high school teacher grading students' daily homework, but it does seem odd to me that your son doesn't have access to the answers. Maybe they are posted online somewhere? My son's math teacher posts homework answers on the class discussion board and responds to students' questions there as well.  

[Lecka]

I’m going to respond to the comment about why do the homework if it’s just busywork.

 

The answer is, so you learn the material and can do well on quizzes and tests. That is why.

 

My son’s teacher right now seems to give quizzes as a proxy for that.

 

I think she assumes there is a lot of copying of homework (it sounds like from what my son says that this is the case) and this way she can see who understands the homework and who is lost and copied from their friend.

 

So she does homework checks but she goes by quizzes to see if kids understand.

 

My son feels pressure (normal “I should be prepared for math class†pressure) and takes his cues for how much he is understanding from the quizzes.

 

I have also had a long-term issue with him that he often doesn’t judge his understanding very well based on homework, because he may have some help on homework, and then not have a clear idea of how he would do on his own.

 

I don’t think this is a perfect system but I do think it gets around allowing kids to skate through with copying homework.

 

He is in 7th grade and I am seeing with him and his friends, I think there is immaturity here and not seeing the need to actually figure out how to do the problems on their own.

 

But he is doing his math together with friends at school, too, in a study hall. But I think over this year they are getting that they have to be ready for the quizzes.

 

Then what I am also seeing this year, is that there is tracking and some kids who aren’t keeping up with this system this year are going to be tracked lower, and then I doubt they are going to be in this kind of set-up in high school.

 

I think it may be more that the higher tracks will be ones that expect kids to be responsible with their homework and able to learn fairly independently.

 

The lower tracks I think will take things slower and have a lot more time in class for going over things.

 

And then for the comment about not being able to find out the answers — it’s just not true. If a teacher wants to make up their own problem set, it is very easy to call a classmate and go over the answers.

 

I used to do this all the time. Granted I think it would usually be for 5-10 problems. But I would call and other kids would call me.

 

I didn’t always call, if I was confident in my work. I definitely called if I wasn’t confident.

 

I don’t remember how it was handled in class, if we turned it in or had access to answers at school.

 

I think it may not even have been called homework, it may have been called practice problems.

 

But we had to do them to be ready for class, there could be a quiz, or we could just be lost in the next class period.

 

Really if a student gets all the answers wrong once and then does bad on the quiz or sees in class that they did it wrong ——— okay, that’s too bad, but it can be their sign to change what they are doing.

 

If they can’t or don’t handle doing that, then they can be in a class that is oriented that way, but it is probably going to have to move a lot slower to build in class time for that.

 

I think these are reasonable expectations in a lot of ways.

 

And I think it’s even helpful to kids who get confused and have a temptation to copy. I don’t think these are bad kids, they are just confused and immature.

 

But I think if it’s allowed to go on until a unit test it is not doing those kids any favors, because then they will be really lost and behind.

 

I think if all the kids were mature about their homework, then it would make more sense to focus on the homework.

 

Also — even with showing up the next day, if there is group work, you can compare answers in your group. I can remember doing that at times, too. It’s fine. Edit: and then I think I do remember, the teacher would have an answer key if we disagreed about something.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Lecka

[Pippen]

Well, to be fair, I had never heard of teachers not grading the assignment, so my thinking was perhaps the teachers don't mind doing it if a student would prefer or requests it. Like I said above, I've been to several high school in various states and have never come across this!  

 

This will become more common as more schools adopt standards (skills) based grading. The idea is to not penalize students when they are in the early practice stages of a learning a new skill. Homework completion grades also aren't used. Their final grades for a standard or skill should reflect their final learning, and not be lowered because they didn't understand it early on. 

 

However, the teacher should be providing answer keys on a daily basis as well as going over frequently missed problems. 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Well in my college math courses (and my son's) 90% of the homework was not graded and not checked.  We had what they called "graded homework" assignments given occasionally.  They were more like take home quizzes, and I think the intention was to force those who don't tend to do their homework to at least do SOMETHING.  The daily homework was not checked or graded.  How on earth would an instructor even manage that?  Not unless they used those stupid on-line homework things which I HATE.  I had one instructor who used those.  It was awful.  Multiple guess, poorly worded, glitchy, and expensive.  No thanks.

 

During class you could ask about specific questions from the homework.  You checked it yourself otherwise (answers were in the back of the book or the instructor provided the answers).  And heck there are 100,000 websites out there that help you check homework too if you need it.  Many will give steps too. 

[Lecka]

Another thing with writing answers on a dry erase board and holding them up, or having a quiz, that is really motivating for my son to be ready for class and done what he needs to do as far as homework.

 

It really motivates him.

 

If he just handed in homework, he would probably not look at it when he got it back. This is an issue with him, he is not mature this way as much as I would like.

 

Also, if I help him with his homework, not this year because he would rather do it at school with his friends, or in study hall, etc, but he would often be passive about it and not really try. The motivation was not always there.

 

The quizzes or holding up answers on a white board are amazing for that, for him.

 

And then for the comment about maybe the teacher isn’t available that day.

 

Realistically for my son he probably needs to enroll in study hall or attend homework help. It’s true sometimes the study hall teacher might not know how to do the math, that has come up a little bit, but then it turns out he can get help various ways. It’s available. I can see this being a problem, though, in general, but in middle school I think many people can help with that level of math. Later on it may be classmates who can help, or an older student in study hall.

 

This is normal to me, I think it works well for a student who will do homework independently and use study hall time responsibly.

 

It’s asking a lot, too, but I think to move faster and cover more material, it’s needed.

 

I think in a slower class then more time can be taken in class for things.

 

I think this is part of the choice of being in faster-moving classes, to some extent.

[Lecka]

Also personally I often have had classmates explain something to me more clearly than a teacher. I have also explained things to another student in a way they understood, when he/she didn’t understand from the teacher.

 

I think this is pretty common as kids get into middle school and high school, even with good teachers. Sometimes it works out that way.

 

I also remember many times going to a teacher’s room for help and figuring things out with classmates while the teacher was busy with another student, and having that work out well, and faster and more pleasant all around.

 

These might be how things are at the school your son is at. It’s more informal but I think it can work really well.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Lecka

[Catwoman]

I’m going to respond to the comment about why do the homework if it’s just busywork.

 

The answer is, so you learn the material and can do well on quizzes and tests. That is why.

 

My son’s teacher right now seems to give quizzes as a proxy for that.

 

I think she assumes there is a lot of copying of homework (it sounds like from what my son says that this is the case) and this way she can see who understands the homework and who is lost and copied from their friend.

 

So she does homework checks but she goes by quizzes to see if kids understand.

 

My son feels pressure (normal “I should be prepared for math class†pressure) and takes his cues for how much he is understanding from the quizzes.

 

I have also had a long-term issue with him that he often doesn’t judge his understanding very well based on homework, because he may have some help on homework, and then not have a clear idea of how he would do on his own.

 

I don’t think this is a perfect system but I do think it gets around allowing kids to skate through with copying homework.

 

He is in 7th grade and I am seeing with him and his friends, I think there is immaturity here and not seeing the need to actually figure out how to do the problems on their own.

 

But he is doing his math together with friends at school, too, in a study hall. But I think over this year they are getting that they have to be ready for the quizzes.

 

Then what I am also seeing this year, is that there is tracking and some kids who aren’t keeping up with this system this year are going to be tracked lower, and then I doubt they are going to be in this kind of set-up in high school.

 

I think it may be more that the higher tracks will be ones that expect kids to be responsible with their homework and able to learn fairly independently.

 

The lower tracks I think will take things slower and have a lot more time in class for going over things.

 

And then for the comment about not being able to find out the answers — it’s just not true. If a teacher wants to make up their own problem set, it is very easy to call a classmate and go over the answers.

 

I used to do this all the time. Granted I think it would usually be for 5-10 problems. But I would call and other kids would call me.

 

I didn’t always call, if I was confident in my work. I definitely called if I wasn’t confident.

 

I don’t remember how it was handled in class, if we turned it in or had access to answers at school.

 

I think it may not even have been called homework, it may have been called practice problems.

 

But we had to do them to be ready for class, there could be a quiz, or we could just be lost in the next class period.

 

Really if a student gets all the answers wrong once and then does bad on the quiz or sees in class that they did it wrong ——— okay, that’s too bad, but it can be their sign to change what they are doing.

 

If they can’t or don’t handle doing that, then they can be in a class that is oriented that way, but it is probably going to have to move a lot slower to build in class time for that.

 

I think these are reasonable expectations in a lot of ways.

 

And I think it’s even helpful to kids who get confused and have a temptation to copy. I don’t think these are bad kids, they are just confused and immature.

 

But I think if it’s allowed to go on until a unit test it is not doing those kids any favors, because then they will be really lost and behind.

 

I think if all the kids were mature about their homework, then it would make more sense to focus on the homework.

 

Also — even with showing up the next day, if there is group work, you can compare answers in your group. I can remember doing that at times, too. It’s fine. Edit: and then I think I do remember, the teacher would have an answer key if we disagreed about something.

I never said that homework is just busywork. I said that homework is just busywork if the kids are not provided with the solutions to the homework problems so they can check their answers.

 

I think it’s ridiculous to assume that kids can simply call their classmates to ask for help with their homework problems. You’re assuming that all kids have a group of friends. What about the kids who don’t have friends, or whose friends are in different classes? What about shy kids who aren’t comfortable calling random classmates to ask about the homework? What about the kids whose friends understand even less about the math homework than they do? It’s great when kids get together and form study groups, but a lot of kids don’t do that, and even if group work is part of class, what good is it for kids to review their work together if no one has an answer sheet?

 

Many kids go home from school and do their homework alone. If they do that homework and bring it to school the next day and no one looks at it and the teacher doesn’t even bother to post the answers for them to check their work, I think that teacher is doing them a real disservice.

[school17777]

In my kids’ high school, the answers are in the back of the book, but not the solutions. The class starts off with the teacher asking if anyone had trouble with any of the problems. They go over the problems as a class. The homework grade is a completion grade and is worth 10 or 20% of the whole grade. Each teacher had their own way of checking for completion.

 

Eta: Quizzes and tests were graded. Test corrections were offered on tests, but not quizzes.

Edited March 18, 2018 by school17777

[SparklyUnicorn]

Didn't read every response so forgive me if this was covered, but do you actually want them to GRADE the assignment or check the assignment?  Homework is supposed to be practice of the concepts and to me grading that would be quite unfair. 

 

 

[unsinkable]

I'm trying to figure out my 9th grader's teacher's approach to homework. I should note that DS's school is a college prep/collegiate-style school. The students have certain classes M, W, F and possibly T and TH as well. Kids regularly email and contact their teachers, and the school works well for kids who take initiative and are self-disciplined, or at least are willing to learn to be and have parents who will help keep them on track. The kids each have an adviser that they meet with at regular intervals as well. It's great preparation for and a transition to college life. So there's some background.

 

My concern is that my ds's math teacher doesn't check problems on homework! Homework is also not given a letter grade. I know that's typically how college works, and after searching online, even other middle schools and high schools work. I'm just uncomfortable with this approach at this age. And this is coming from me as a homeschool teacher having my children each day redo their missed math problems from the day before. Yep. You read that right. That's about as mean as it get's here, but because I struggled so much in math as a kid, I wanted to make sure my kids have a strong foundation and understanding. This seems to be the case since my son integrated very well into his brick and mortar math class, finishes early on tests and scores well. He's getting an A in the class and does well in class competitions. All that to say, I believe going over missed problems and fixing them to be valuable and even necessary!

 

Help me problem solve for this situation, please. I'm willing to grade the papers myself, but DS will have to go over the missed problems with his teacher or dad because he passed me up in math a loooong time ago. :/ Do you think it's reasonable to talk this over with the teacher and ask if he's willing to grade the papers or give DS an answer key to do so himself? Thoughts and advice? Thank you!

 

Edited: I should add that DS entered this particular school midyear, and I only found out about the teacher not checking homework recently.

I'm coming at this from a perspective that the purpose of a math class for a student is to learn that material and that the job of the teacher is to provide all the students with instruction and to teach the material.

 

I think if homework is required (and I think it should be) then the students need feedback (in the form of answers) and soon as possible after the homework is completed.

 

That can come in different forms (an answer key, correcting homework in class, having teacher correct homework etc).I

 

The teacher and students should also have a way of knowing who is doing the homework and who is doing it successfully. This, too, should happen ASAP after the homework is completed, and it can happen in a number of ways. Kids can record/report their "grades" (in the sense that they got all or most or few problems correct), teacher can walk around and visually inspect, teacher can collect homework, etc...

 

Math concepts build on each other. Learn and practice and review. Practice is near useless if someone is practicing incorrectly.

[MEmama]

DS reports that their math homework gets graded, albeit not always right away. The same is true in all his classes.

 

I went to high school in the '80s and our math homework was always graded promptly. It's weird to me that most of his teachers wait so long to get their assignments back.

[Pippen]

DS reports that their math homework gets graded, albeit not always right away. The same is true in all his classes.

 

I went to high school in the '80s and our math homework was always graded promptly. It's weird to me that most of his teachers wait so long to get their assignments back.

 

I taught PS in the 80's and just went back. I can tell you that the work load has increased tremendously, and that planning time that I used to have available is often not mine to use as I need. I literally have no time at school to grade and I have 120+ papers to grade every time I give a graded assignments. Nearly all is done at home--usually it wipes out hours of my time on weekends. 

[MEmama]

I taught PS in the 80's and just went back. I can tell you that the work load has increased tremendously, and that planning time that I used to have available is often not mine to use as I need. I literally have no time at school to grade and I have 120+ papers to grade every time I give a graded assignments. Nearly all is done at home--usually it wipes out hours of my time on weekends.

Oh I believe it.

 

I just think it's weird that he sometimes gets homework back months after it was turned in (not just math). I'm not knocking the system--nearly everything about his public high school experience is totally different than it was for me or DH. Different times is all--and in DS's case, MUCH improved overall. :)

Edited March 18, 2018 by MEmama

[Lecka]

Catwoman — I think for my son in 7th grade, he is seeing that he needs to talk to some kids who are better at math than he is and expand his friends (or kids he talks to).

 

I also see for him — he could make excuses or he could find a time in the day to make something happen.

 

He does have a lot of opportunities.

 

I agree there are more barriers for some kids and situations.

 

But if a barrier is the child is too shy to talk to classmates about homework ———— I think that’s a problem to be addressed, it’s something I think is a needed skill going into high school.

 

Also for doing work in a group and comparing answers I think it’s pretty likely that everyone gets the same answer it’s the right answer. If there are different answers and you can’t agree, then ask the teacher.

 

Edit: to some extents I think teachers try to get students to do the things that good students do. Good students do take initiative and figure something out. I agree sometimes barriers are insurmountable, but the things you mentioned to me aren’t insurmountable at all, and really if a specific student was too shy to talk to classmates then maybe the teacher can help the student by putting them in a group with a kind student or talk to them about how to start a conversation like that. I think those are things kids actually need to be able to do and it’s part of social-emotional learning.

Edited March 18, 2018 by Lecka

[fraidycat]

Okay, interesting. This is our first real experience with public school, so I did not know this could be the norm. DS does not have a math textbook, nor does he have an online curriculum. He isn't given answer keys for homework either. What I'm wondering is if since he came midterm, perhaps students checking homework themselves was discussed previously discussed, and the teacher has forgotten to tell my son about it?

What's the point of doing homework, then? I'd get him to ask for the answer key.

 

This is how DD's math classes work. She comes home with the assignment and they answer key so she knows when she is working the problems correctly and more importantly when she is not.

[QueenCat]

At the high school I work, the math teacher puts the key on the board. Students let her know which ones they need to go over. The grade is either 100 for completing it or 0 for not. If she sees that you tried, then you get the 100. This is very normal.