My Thoughts On Homework

So I've had this debate in my head for the past 10 years. It's about homework. And how and when to give it. I think about how I've handled assigning homework over the years, and it's scary for me to think just how lousy I used to be and sometimes still am.

Consider English class. Is it a better use of time to go home and answer questions out of a textbook or is it better to read a poem, jot down some notes about it, and use Facebook or texting to discuss it with friends? Is that even feasible? Can I even grade that? No one actually gets a thrill out of answering those textbook questions. Yet there are pages and clubs dedicated to discussing literature and art, physics and biology. And why is that? It's because people love to talk about what love and find interesting. But only if they are 30+. They don't love to be graded on how they answer questions; they just love to talk. Would it be more feasible to assign a student to find a popular reference to the book or story and explain it? In talking and discussing, they learn. And in this social media-rich environment, it's stupidly backwards to refrain from tapping in to that; however, schools don't want the liability/distraction of social media. What a conundrum since social media accounts for 80% of the lives of teenagers who would rather Tweet, Tumble, Facebook, text, or Kinect rather than discuss something face-to-face.

So how do you make homework relevant to "screenagers"? How do you imbed the rules of comma use to tweens? How do you help kids of the digital age recognize imagery and discuss symbolism without homework as practice?

One thing I've noticed over the last several paperless weeks is that I have become far more judicious about what I give as homework. I've had to come to terms that grading everything I assign is essential. And I have come to realize that having a night off from English work is not a criminally negligent act on my part.

I don't know where homework is headed in the 21st century, but I'm willing to bet that it's moving away from the canned textbook questions I grew up with. Homework will look more like getting prepared for a debate or meeting. It will come in many forms, and not every person will be doing it the same way. That's pure speculation on my part, but I think I'm on to something...