Tag: ownership

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Homework?! Ugh! Is It Even Worth It?

I’ve seen a meme going around that says something along the lines of, “If you hated homework as a kid, you’ll hate it even more as a parent!” If you are a parent or caregiver of a school-aged kid, you may understand just how true that statement can be. You know what I’m talking about— the nagging your kid to get it done, the whining that ensues, the time management balancing act that happens. It can be a lot for some households. 

This struggle begs the question: is homework even worth it? If it is just one more thing to add to the list of things to do, is it even worth the time and energy it takes to get it done? Are students even benefitting from it?

The short answer is sometimes. The long answer is a bit more complicated and has a lot to do with what the assignment is and what skills a student is using or gaining by doing it. If the assignment is just filler work that doesn’t practice any skills learned beforehand in class, homework isn’t going to accomplish much, and will likely leave both the student and the parent frustrated. 

But… if the assigned homework truly is an extension of what was learned in class, employs useful skills, and isn’t just a time filler, homework can indeed have some benefits. Let’s explore some of them— and maybe I might convince a few nay-sayers that homework can be at least a little bit helpful.

Benefit #1: Additional Practice

Additional practice time can provide kids with the extra practice they need to really understand a concept. Sometimes all it takes for a kid to “get” it is a little additional time working on it. If they already understand a concept, extra practice never hurts, and can help solidify the knowledge in their mind. Reading homework is especially beneficial, as reading skills are something that will be used their entire lives and are always useful. It never hurts to improve!

Benefit #2: Less Stress

Doing work at home can often be less stressful for kids, as they are in their own environment where they (hopefully) feel safe. Usually at home, the time constraints aren’t as tight, thus providing kids with a less rushed experience. When they are able to slow down and really focus on what they are doing, they are able to work more effectively and, oftentimes, more accurately. For students who, for a myriad of reasons, don’t like to ask for help at school, doing work at home can help them to feel safer asking for help from a parent.

Benefit #3: Time management

Managing time can be a tricky skill for kids to learn. This can be especially true for younger kids, as their brains can’t quite comprehend time and scheduling things. They tend to look at the now rather than a few hours ahead, and don’t understand that if they do “fun” things first, they have to still fit in their homework, dinner time, and night time routine. 

Having homework can help them learn how to better manage their time. Parents can use it as a tool to teach their kids how to schedule their time effectively so that they have time to do all the things they want to do and need to do.

Benefit #4: Time with a parent or caregiver

Homework can open opportunities to allow kids and their adults to have time together. Sure, sometimes that time can be stressful, especially if homework is involved, but the time spent working one on one is never wasted. Oftentimes, parents know how to reach their kids better than the teachers do. This can help students to understand concepts in a new or different way. Parents can also provide useful tricks and tips that helped them in school. I still remember working with my mom and grandma to memorize all 50 state capitals in fourth grade— they came up with fun mnemonic devices to help me remember what I needed to— most of which I still remember today. They provided me with really helpful tools to accomplish what I needed to, and as an added bonus, I got extra time with my mom and grandma. It was a win all around!

While I know homework can be a divisive topic, with not everyone agreeing on its benefits, hopefully I’ve shed some light on the topic and have helped you see it in a different way, and maybe, just maybe, convinced you that homework isn’t totally useless!

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Letting Kids Fail

My third grader is given a weekly homework sheet, with one side math practice and the other reading practice. Sometimes the reading assignment is to read a passage and answer some comprehension questions, and sometimes it involves reading as much of a passage as possible in one minute, on four separate occasions, while having an adult follow along and count any errors made. The teacher sends the paper home on Monday, and it is due on Friday. With four days given to finish the assignment, you’d think it wouldn’t be a problem to complete it. 

By Thursday night, after my husband and I have both asked (and offered to sit down with him while he does it) our son what feels like 182 times to get his worksheet done, we are tired of asking and have started to feel like we are nagging him. One week last month, he dragged his feet, as usual, and was in a panic on Thursday night when he still hadn’t finished his assignment. Of course it was a week where he had to read a passage four different times, and we were running out of time. Around 10:00 pm, we finally just told him to go to bed and we could try again in the morning. 

Morning came, and he still had zero interest in finishing his work. Out of time and energy, I told him to put his paper in his backpack and just turn in what he did have done. We talked about who was responsible for the assignment being incomplete, and what he needed to do about it. He admitted it was on him, and that he should have done it when we first asked him to. I sent him out the door and hoped for the best.

The protective mom in me wanted to keep him home until he finished it so that he wouldn’t lose points on the assignment. How could I let my own child fail? He’s only nine, after all. As I battled internally for a few minutes, a little voice inside reminded me that failing is part of life. We all have to learn by failing at some point in our lives. Is it a hard lesson to learn? Absolutely. Is it a necessary lesson to learn? 100%. 

As a mom and former teacher, I know how hard it is hard to watch the kids you love fall short. It’s hard to watch them struggle. When our kids are younger, we are there to swoop in and fix things for them. We keep them in a little bubble of sorts to keep them safe and protected. But as they get older, we can’t continue to solve all their problems and keep them in a bubble. As parents (and teachers), it is our job to set up our children for success in life, and one of those crucial lessons to teach is that failure is inevitable, and that it’s okay to fall short sometimes. We must give them the tools they will need for when they do fail so that they can appropriately adjust and find ways to regroup, rethink, and try again. 

So while I wanted desperately to save my son from not getting full points on his homework assignment, I also wanted desperately to teach my son that our actions and choices very often determine our success, and that failure is part of life. I wanted him to know that it’s not the end of the world to mess up on one assignment, and that he could try again next week, learning from his previous experience. I wanted him to know that how we handle failure is important and how we choose to do better the next time is what matters the most. 

As parents and teachers, we’re faced with some pretty tough internal battles. We naturally want to protect the kids we love, but also need to remember that sometimes too much protection and sheltering ultimately doesn’t help, but hinders. We must find a balance between the two and hope we are giving our children and students what they’ll need to succeed in school and in life.

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Lack of Motivation: A Common Struggle in Today’s Classrooms

In my last post, I introduced a poll I conducted, wherein I gathered information regarding common challenges students today are facing. As a reminder, eleven teachers were polled, and 100% of them indicated that lack of motivation was one of the top struggles they see their students face. 81% of them named both distractions and access to technology as other top problems. Teachers were asked to share how they see these problems present in their classrooms, and what they are doing to help their students combat the issues. 

Today, I’ll dive into the number one most common problem: lack of motivation. 

When I created the poll, I was expecting to have lack of motivation be a concern for secondary teachers. What I was surprised to learn, however, is that elementary teachers are experiencing the same problems with their students, too. 

One first grade teacher said, “There are so many students that don’t buy into learning, and they don’t care to learn what they are being taught. I find that this typically either comes because students struggle with a subject or because they are so good at it that they feel bored- even though there is usually still something they need to practice in the lessons.”

A second grade teacher described her experience: “I feel like a lot of students try to pick and choose what they want to care about. If it isn’t a fun activity, it is really hard to get them to participate and pay attention even if it is a necessary skill for them to learn and to be successful.”

Secondary students also struggle with being motivated. One teacher, who teaches grades 7, 8, and 9, remarked, “I see students that are coming to school to earn a grade, rather than coming to school to learn. Very few students see the purpose of learning to grow.”

What is causing this massive lack of motivation among students today? Perhaps many of these students are experiencing difficulties in other areas of their lives, and school has become something they dread rather than look forward to. Maybe students today are so used to getting instant gratification from their various devices that traditional methods of learning just aren’t as exciting for them anymore. Could it even be that students’ schedules are so full that school has become just one more thing on their “I don’t want to do this but have to do this” list? 

Lack of motivation could stem from any number of reasons. But one thing is for certain: motivation is something that students will need to use for the rest of their lives. They have to figure out what drives them and pushes them to learn and get things done… even if it’s doing something they don’t really want to do. I often tell my own children that, “sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do, and that’s ok!”

As a teacher, having students who just aren’t motivated to learn and/or work can be very frustrating. You can’t force a student to learn, and external motivators and rewards will only get you so far. So what do you do, then, when a student loses their motivation? 

The teachers that were polled are doing great things to try and combat lack of motivation in their classrooms. One second grade teacher said, “I try to make my lessons as engaging as I can, but with all new curriculum that is very scripted, it is really hard! I try to talk to them in a more “adult” way and explain why they should care about a certain activity or how I am still using a certain skill in my life as an adult and how they would need it too. I have taken a class on gamification and I have also received my technology endorsement so I try to implement and utilize technology in a meaningful way that engages, but most importantly, helps teach and reinforce. I have a lot of different management tools I implement (class jars, class money, table points, secret students, etc.) to help them stay focused and on task.”

Another teacher, who teaches grades 10-12 shared, “I scaffold or model the tasks and encourage them to develop the skills to learn how to manage these issues for themselves.”

A sixth grade teacher explained, “With the… motivation issues, I push my kids hard and hold them to high expectations… If they choose to sit around at school and waste the time, the assignment doesn’t just disappear. I’m trying to help them see the satisfaction in finishing and doing a good job!”

These are all great ideas! While the ultimate solution has to come from within each student, teachers and other adults and help students see the value in a job well done. Teachers have an incredibly awesome opportunity to help students understand just how powerful their minds can be. Once a student makes up their mind to be motivated and can truly see the value of learning and trying, amazing things start to happen, and the whole world opens up!

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2024 Scholarship Recipient Spotlight: Josephine Gardiner

We’re continuing our spotlights of our 2024 scholarship winners. You can read our other spotlight posts here, here, and here. 

Today’s spotlight is on Josephine Gardiner, whose aim is to provide free swim lessons to underprivileged and underserved children. Josephine grew up swimming and on swim teams, and feels very comfortable in and around the water. As she watched her classmates and others swim, she realized that not everyone was as confident in water as she was. 

Thus, her project, “Pool Panthers” was born. Josephine’s overall goal was to “improve water safety and wellbeing for youth and teens in under-resourced communities.” To achieve this goal, she plans to teaching basic floating and swimming skills, teaching children how to use swim equipment, helping children understand water safety skills, educating parents and guardians how to be effective water watchers, and promoting a fun water environment while also encouraging children to love water while being safe in it. 

Josephine planned to hold lessons at low-income housing complexes, alleviating the problem of how children would travel to their swim lessons. She used Red Cross trained volunteer instructors and life guards, and would hold multiple lessons at the same location so as to reach as many kids as possible. She also made sure to cater to all skills and comfort levels. 

By providing these free lessons, Josephine has been able to promote a safe relationship with water while still allowing for children to have fun and get use out of their community pools. 

You can find her on Instagram @poolpanthersswim

Great work, Josephine!

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2024 Scholarship Recipient Spotlight: Thrisha Kalpatthi

Every year, we award five $10,000 scholarships to graduation seniors who have created and put into action a program of some kind to give back to and help their community. Our 2024 winners worked hard to do just that. You can check out our top winner here. We’d also like to take the opportunity to spotlight the other four winners! 

Today’s spotlight is on Thrisha Kalpatthi, who launched Pittsburgh Metro Math.

From her early grade school years, Thrisha has been involved in competitive math. As she got older, she noticed a lack of diversity in those competitions. She began to see that most competitions were geared toward students who had more experience and who had sharpened their math skills with the use of coaches and other prepatory materials. Students who did not have access to those extra resources often left competitions without awards and feeling discouraged. This outcome would sometimes lead to those students losing confidence and interest in math. Thrisha realized that it would be incredibly beneficial to create “an inclusive environment that would foster talent among all aspiring mathematicians.”

Using her own experience and knowledge about mathematic competitions and creative problem solving, Thrisha set out to find a way to help these aspiring mathematicians. Together with her sister, she designed, organized, and launched the Pittsburgh Metro Math Competition. In order to make this happen, she secured scholarships, created competition questions, and gathered volunteers. She held two competitions with great success, and even raised $1500 for the Brashear Association, a non-profit organization in her community. She is also working on launching weekly math classes, hoping to equip students with the knowledge needed to compete and excel in higher level competitions. 

Good work, Thrisha! I love this project and the positive impact it has had on students and the interest in mathematics that it has generated for students in her area. 

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Overbooked and stressed out: Are we doing our kids a disservice?

Every parent wants to raise confident, well rounded children. We want to give our children the growing up experience they deserve. So many parents want their children to play a sport, learn a musical instrument, be at the top of their class, and be involved in other school sponsored extra curricular activities. And while all of these activities are good things to want your child to be involved in, at what cost does that involvement come? Are we overbooking our children, causing them to be stressed out and too busy? 

There are many benefits to having your child involved in extra curricular activities. Those activities can teach children things that just can’t be taught as well in the classroom— things like how to be a good sport, being part of a team, and how to manage your time effectively. Friendships can form. Kids can learn to be disciplined and what it takes to improve at something. Music lessons can help students in their academic studies and can boost creativity. Martial arts can help kids learn self defense, respect, and determination. Extra curricular activities are also a great way to boost confidence in children and teens. They can see their hard work pay off and they can feel good about their accomplishments. 

But what happens when the extra “stuff” becomes too much? Parents want their children to be involved and to develop their talents, but it often comes at a cost. Kids need time to just be kids. They need time to decompress from their day, and need a chance to slow down. If they are overbooked with extra activities and responsibilities, those chances to slow down become few and far between. Oftentimes, we see academic success and progress suffering at the hand of too many extra curricular activities. Opportunities for non-extracurricular social interaction lessen. Sleep deprivation can come into play when students are so overbooked that they don’t get to their homework until late at night, which then can bleed into poor academic performance because their young brains are not functioning at full capacity when they are already tired and overworked, not to mention the toll that poor sleep habits have on cognitive function during the daytime. 

I am constantly in awe and disbelief at the teenagers in my neighborhood. They are all doing incredible things, and it is remarkable to see their talents bloom. That being said, I know it comes at a great cost. One girl a few houses down from me is a competitive dancer. After school most days of the week, she heads from school to home, just to turn around and head to the dance studio for the next few hours of her night. On Wednesdays, she finishes dance at 6:30, then promptly heads to her church congregation’s youth activity for the week, which usually lasts until 8-8:30. Once that is over, she can head home and do her homework and get some down time before heading to bed just to start it all over again the next morning. I’m exhausted just writing this! 

I don’t know if there are any easy solutions to this dilemma. What I do know is that young minds are precious and should be treated with care. It is essential to find a decent balance between being involved and being too involved. For some families, that may look like cutting out extra curricular activities all together. For others, it might mean cutting back on how many extra activities they are involved in, or maybe cutting back from participating in competitive teams and sticking only to school or city recreation teams. Some families may have magically figured out the perfect routine and balance that works for them (lucky!). 

Whatever the case may be, there is much to be considered when putting children and teens into extra curricular activities. There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. But one thing is certain: we need to be sure to look out for the well being of our rising generation, and need to make sure they are healthy and well!

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Teacher to Admin: Mike’s Story

The administrative team in a school makes a big impact on the teachers and students in the building. Every administrator is different, and every administrator leads in a unique way. The role of a principal or assistant principal is to support, lead, and teach their students and teachers, among other things that would fall under these three categories. In order for an administrator to fully understand what their teachers need, I believe it is crucial that they have spent some time actually teaching in and managing their own classroom. It’s one of those “you don’t understand it until you’ve actually done it” kind of things. I had the chance to talk to Mike, a teacher-turned-administrator, and was able to get his insight on the shift from a classroom teacher to a vice principal. Let’s see what he had to say!

What grade(s) and subject(s) did you teach while you were in the classroom?

6-12

Social Studies – Utah History, U.S. History, Geography, World History, Government, History of Pop Culture, History of Food, Positive Psychology

Financial Literacy

Interior Design

Drama

I was also a school counselor for a year.

What is something you miss about being in the classroom on a daily basis?

The thing that I miss most about being in the classroom is the deeper, more individualized connection I was able to develop with students. I was able to see them on a regular basis, get to know them, understand what strengths they had and what needs they had.

What influenced your decision to leave the classroom and become an administrator?

I went into teaching to advocate and support students. I went into administration to advocate and support teachers. I realized if I could support teachers in a building, I could actually have a broader impact on the larger school population. I also had some situations where I felt like I wasn’t being supported by administrators and wanted to be part of the change. Furthermore, I’ve always been one who wants to learn systems from every angle. Experiencing the public school system from a teaching perspective is much different than experiencing it from an administrative perspective.

What is your favorite thing about being an admin?

My favorite thing about being an admin is problem solving. Every single day is different, and every day requires me to access different parts of my brain, my experiences, to come up with solutions to very unique problems. I step into the building with no idea what will happen that day, and that is exciting to me.

I also love watching them navigate “firsts”  on a regular basis. First locker, first break up, first death of a loved one, first failing grade, first passing grade, first solo in a concert, first place in a race, etc. Being able to help them navigate through these firsts is so rewarding.

What would you tell someone who is considering becoming an admin, but isn’t quite sure they want to make the switch?

I would tell them to make sure to cherish the time they have in the classroom. It’s one of those “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” situations. Classroom teaching is difficult, but there’s just something about it that you don’t quite get to experience once you leave it. You still get to interact with students as an administrator but it’s just different. I would also encourage them to ask if they can shadow an administrator for a week. I think it’s easy for a teacher to view administration as something that it’s actually not. I was completely blindsided by the amount and scope of work that I had to deal with as an administrator, and that’s partially because I have worked for some great administrators that made the job seem easy, even though it wasn’t.

What do you love most about the students you work with?

I am inspired on a daily basis by my student’s resiliency. The fact that students get up every morning, get on the bus, come to school (something many of them don’t love), and face many unknowns and challenges every single day is inspiring. Students have very little control over what is happening in the world around them, yet they still show up. Every. Single. Day. I have seen students experience some of the most horrific things one could imagine, and yet, there they are in 1st period, learning about the pythagorean theorem. I also see this resiliency watching them navigate “firsts”  on a regular basis. First locker, first break up, first death of a loved one, first failing grade, first passing grade, first solo in a concert, first place in a race, etc. Being able to help them navigate through these firsts is so rewarding.

What great insight; thanks, Mike! From his answers, you can tell what an excellent administrator Mike is. Administrators like Mike, who lead with kindness, understanding, and love, are the kind we need in schools today. Students face so many hard things in their lives, and school should be a place they can come and feel safe and taken care of by the teachers and administration at their schools. The next time you see the administrator of your own school or of your children’s school, take a minute and thank them for their hard work!