Children who produce poor homework or no homework at all, do so for many reasons. Lets’ consider a few of these.
Most often it's because they don’t understand the work and are also scared of getting it wrong. In their own private logic it’s better not to do it than to fail at doing it. After all, - you can save face with your peers if it hasn’t been done but if the marks are low then you get labelled a “dummy”. Keep an eye on this, acknowledge when they get it right and always offer a choice e.g. There are 5 sums set for homework – do 3 or 5; "You decide", – it is important that you accept the 3 as happily as the 5, thus enabling the not-so-able to feel a sense of achievement and be encouraged. You may find some will do more the next time. Some won’t, but it’s better they do a little than none at all.
Often children do not get the support from home – they have no place in which to do their homework, no time set aside etc., no routine, no organisation at home, and some have other demands on their time. Doing homework and making it work is worth a class discussion on the value of homework etc.
I sometimes feel that homework is the monkey on a teacher’s back. Some children have so much that they just give up because they can never get it done and have had little support in prioritising. Some teachers load homework. Homework should be discussed and agreed upon, days organised and times set so children know how much and what is expected of them. Each student could have a small notebook in which all homework and assignments set are recorded alongside the due date for submission.
Not doing something is often an unconscious and passive attention seeking process. Be aware of this. If you think this is the case then find other ways of noticing them when least expected, and in ways unexpected. Take away their need to not do homework!
Remember – what is learnt in a lesson is what is valuable. Become skilled in not losing out on lesson time by being well planned not just in your content and materials but in your behaviour and discipline management. You get twice as much done when you are effectively skilled in managing a class’s behaviour.
Jenny Mackay