My first job in education was as a paraprofessional at a private school for students with language based learning disabilities. I started the year as a para and quickly moved into being the teacher while the teacher I worked with was on bed rest maternity leave. I lived in Northern VA and commuted to Rockville, MD. I was a 20-something baby, living with a roommate and trying to pay the bills. I had two other jobs so that I could afford to live. I coached a swim team before school and then after school I was an assistant manager at a Williams Sonoma in the mall. Not only did I work a second (and third) shift, but I felt like I was working all the time. I barely made it through that year. All I did was go to work and then eventually make it back home to sleep for a few hours before I had to get up and do it all over again. I was exhausted. Thankfully, I realized that this working 16 hour days things was not good for my health or my sanity. At the end of that year, I got a teaching job and moved to a place where I could afford to live and only work one job.
Why am I telling you this? It certainly gives me some perspective about where I came from and might give you some insight into my work ethic and my ongoing struggle for work life balance...have learned that burning the candle at both ends causes you to completely burn out! But I am not actually writing about this work life balance and telling you my story because I want to focus on adults working too much. I am writing about this to talk about our students, our kids and their work life balance.
On Thursday morning, we had a different kind of curriculum meeting at central office. The leadership team from around the district was lucky enough to have a session with Alfie Kohn. If you have not heard him speak...you need to! He talked about a lot of things, challenged everyone's thinking, and encouraged some great dialogue amongst the leaders of the different schools. But his main focus was to talk about the effects of homework. And the phrase that stuck out the most for me was the idea that we make our kids work the 2nd shift. They spend six hours in school working. And then we send them home to work the 2nd shift; we assign them homework because apparently six hours of work during the day was not enough.
Alfie talked with us about trying to answer the question...does it make sense to make kids work the 2nd shift? I will share with you in this post some of the research and thoughts that he shared and then I hope to spark conversation among teams, groups, the whole school. Homework is a hot topic. I know this will touch a nerve with many people. Homework is one of those time-honored traditions that has become part of what education is. But is it worth it to stick with this tradition? I know some people will immediately argue that homework helps kids learn better, that it raises achievement. Except for elementary school, no study has ever found any kind of academic benefit. So let's forget about that idea for a minute. How about all of the non-academic benefits of homework? Homework helps teach independence. Homework helps with self discipline. Homework teaches good study habits. And again, no study has ever supported this claim. But we all still say it because we feel like it should have a benefit. Let's forget about that argument for a minute. How about the idea that homework helps with the home/school connection, it gives parents a window into their child's school day? Not many kids love homework. Not many kids are excited to get home, drop their backpack and then dive into more work. I have experienced it first hand with my step-son, tears, battles, yelling, avoiding. Pretty sure that is not the image that I want any parent to associate with school. And then there is also the argument of you will need to do homework at the upper grades so you better get used to it now. We are basically saying that even though research has proven that there is no benefit at the younger grades, we still think we should make you work the 2nd shift to get you ready for future years of working the 2nd shift.
Have I made you uncomfortable yet? Are you working on your defense to convince me that homework is a good thing? I welcome the push back and the dialogue. Let's talk about this more. But let's also promise each other that we are going to question what we do and not just do it because it's what's always been done.
Research aside, let's think about the human side of education. Let's think about our students. Let's think about our own kids. Back when I was working the 2nd shift in my early twenties...I know that for that year I missed out on a lot of life. I was always tired. I never stopped working. And I was not exactly happy. Don't we want our students rushing back into school each day, excited to learn and grow with us? Don't we want to encourage families (our own included) to spend time together, to slow down, put devices down, and talk to each other? Don't we want our kids to be happy?
I think of one of my favorite picture books: A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech. In the book, the principal thinks his school is so great and that we need more school. He keeps adding time, days in school, but finally a little girl teaches him that if the kids are always in school, then there will be no more learning to climb a tree, no more teaching younger siblings to skip, no more learning outside of school. The principal learns that school and the learning that happens in school is only one part of the experience of growing up and being a kid.
We will be talking about the idea of homework more throughout the year. I encourage you to think about what you do in your classroom. Do you assign homework? Why? What has been the effect of homework on your students and your families? What has been the effect of homework on your own kids? Ask your kids. Survey your students. What are their thoughts about homework? What does it look like in their homes?
Is six hours of learning a day enough? Do we need to keep making kids work the 2nd shift?
Currently reading:
This weekend I finished listening to The Parker Inheritance. I definitely enjoyed this mystery that spanned several decades from the 1950s to today and tackled some tough current issues like segregation, racial discrimination, bullying, and homosexuality.
I also want to use this section to talk about Global Read Aloud (GRA) which is coming up soon and kicks off on Sept. 30th. Here is a link to the website where you can learn more and sign up if you are interested in having your class participate: https://theglobalreadaloud.com/ . There are several picture book author studies involved with GRA, but my favorite is Jacqueline Woodson. I have several of her picture books including The Other Side, Each Kindness, and The Day You Begin, if you want to borrow any. There are several early reader books listed, but the one I own is Winnie's Great War. I also own this one...
I have read several of the middle grade book recommendations, including Front Desk and Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. I have also read The Bridge Home and Harbor Me. And you can ask Laurie Coe about this book because she read it in the spring...
Global Read Aloud is simply about reading and enjoying a book with your class and then making global connections centered around the book. So read a book with your class and then reach out to a class outside of Holden. Let me know if you need help connecting with other schools...I have friends in schools across the country and internationally!
Events this week:
Monday - Liz out of the building for S3 Academy Workshop, Gr 1 and 2 EL Creative Writing/Tech Club @ 3:30 in the the libraryTuesday - Liz out of the building for MSAA Convocation and Board Meeting
Wednesday - Gr 3-5 EL Creative Writing/Tech Club @ 3:30 in the library, Open House from 6:00-8:00 - 6:00 Liz will welcome parents in the gym for about 10 minutes, then send them to classrooms from 6:15 until 6:45. At 7:00 Liz will again welcome parents in the gym and then send them to classrooms from 7:15 until 7:45
Thursday - Half day, dismissal at 12:15, all staff will gather in the library at 1:00 - we will be focusing on student health and safety, PTA Frozone Fundraiser from 1:00-9:00
Friday - Special assembly with all grades in the gym @ 2:30!
Great things I noticed last week:
- The 3rd graders met their Senior pen pals on Thursday. I love being able to be part of this kick off event. The 3rd graders left the cafeteria saying they were so excited and that they had so much fun. And the seniors left with smiles and so happy to be connected to our students. Here's a video of some of the images from that afternoon...
- I popped in and listened to Mrs. Leroy reading aloud to her students. Always love listening to a good story!
- Picture day seemed to go off pretty well on Wednesday. I loved having lots of staff together for our photo in the morning, and I finished the day with a request to sit in on the 5th grade group photo. I have a feeling the funny photo involves me having some bunny ears behind me! Loved catching our triplets getting their photo together.
- The halls are beginning to fill up with student artwork. Be sure and stop and admire all of the different projects on display. Here's just a sample from our little artists.
If you want to read more about Alfie Kohn and his thoughts on many educational practices, check out his website: https://www.alfiekohn.org/
I always love Gerry Brooks and his way of putting a smile on our faces. This recent video of him makes me love him even more. Not your typical laugh out loud video, but an important one for all of us:
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