Comments on: The Homework I Gave

By: Carnival of Math #18 « JD2718

Carnival of Math #18 « JD2718 — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:00:53 +0000

[…] The Homework I Gave Secondary Mathematics Education “I assigned homework to four of five classes this week, which […]

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 02:06:01 +0000

ok, I was typing too quickly… the option was to do the problems on which you need the most practice.

By: dan

dan — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:53:19 +0000

Well … intrigued as I am by Bill’s optional homework efforts, my homework was decidedly un-optional. They just had some say in the matter.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 01:11:03 +0000

So I tried the optional HW today with my seniors. We’ll see how it works.

By: bcarrera

bcarrera — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:56:11 +0000

I’ve been giving my pre-calc students the option of doing homework or not for the past two years. Since pre-calc at our school has turned into a review of Algebra II, it has helped the kids make it through the material.

I give an assignment, and tell them that they need to do enough to understand the concept for the test. Most of the time I end with a focus on the word problems, which I feel are the most important part anyway.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:30:05 +0000

As usual, you’ve given me something to think about. Thanks.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 02:28:16 +0000

I have taken to adding the letters “yc” to some of my assignments. I have a class, and elective, where discussion of problems (problems, not exercises) is crucial. To get a range of experiences into the room, I will assign things like:

PS6/1 – 7, 2 non-consec, yc

Which means problem set 6, from problems 1 through 7 choose 2 non-consecutive problems, your choice.

All you have to hear is one “ooh, that looked hard, what did you do?” to understand how completely into “choice” these kiddies have become.

Different assignments for different kids and for the benefit of all kids.