All About Homework in Middle School Math
Whether or not to assign middle school math homework can be a controversial topic. Whether or not you are assigning homework to your middle school math students, some sort of practice is important for students to learn and expand their mathematical thinking. Below are some ideas for math homework at the middle school level.
Should homework count as a grade?
This can be a tricky one for sure! When my previous district transitioned to grading for learning, my view of homework and its purpose changed quite a bit from when I began teaching. Homework is a chance for students to practice whatever concept they are learning in class. It doesn't necessarily need to count towards a student's grade, other than being marked as turned in or missing. However, if you are not assigning a grade to homework, I do feel it is important to spend a great deal of time stressing to students how completing homework assignments has an almost direct correlation to how they do on tests, quizzes, and other in-class checks that reflect how they are doing in the class! Below are some ideas to include in your daily homework routines.
1. shared homework list
Sharing a homework list ahead of time with each student and parent on a shared Google document is a very effective communication tool. This was one of my favorite changes I made to my homework routine when I first began doing this. Before each chapter or unit starts, add all of the chapter's upcoming assignments to the document and print a hard copy to post in the classroom. As you get closer to each homework assignment, add the due date to the document. Parents really appreciate knowing the assignments in advance and it especially helps if a student knows that they will be absent for a day.
2. Checking homework assignments
At the start of each class, I walk around the class and check each student's homework assignment from the previous day. During this time, I am looking for whether or not the student has completed the homework and shown work (if needed). Checking the answers is the responsibility of the students. I always assign problems from the book that have answers given in the back. This way, students and parents can check their own work as they complete the assignment. Although I don't collect every homework assignment, I still have these homework turn-in baskets in my room for any late work that needs to be checked!
3. Ideas for Homework Completion
In the past, I have struggled with getting students to complete their homework on time. Tracking our homework data as a class has helped motivate some of my students to improve their homework completion. For students who are missing a lot of work, my school also has them stay after school a couple of days each week to help them get caught up. This has helped motivate some of my students who have started to fall behind with work. Recently, one of my classes made it to 100% for three straight days! You can check out THIS POST for more details about tracking classroom homework data.
4. Ideas for middle school math homework
If you are looking for some options for middle school math homework, you may be interested in these math review packets for 5th-8th grade math. The 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade review packets offer a wide range of math review problems for middle school math. Each of these also includes a free review packet if you would like to try one out before getting the full set.
It seems like every year my middle school math homework routines get tweaked to make it a little bit more effective and efficient. So far, I like how this system has been working. My students are much more accountable for turning in work than they have been in the past and it has shown in the percentage of students who are turning in homework. I'd love to hear how you run your homework routines in the comments section! Enjoy those last few days of winter break everyone!