When I was planning my lessons this year, I packed in more than I ever had before. While that might send like a negative effect of this little experiment, it was actually one of the best parts for me. I expected more from my students than ever before. We floated on clouds of no-homework bliss for a solid week… And then here's what really happened when I did away with homework… M.!” I remember one kiddo saying. In the beginning, it was as if they would do anything to keep this privilege. Their eyes got big, they sat up taller, and an air of confidence washed over them. Of course, when we first told students about this change, there was hooting and hollering and cheers galore! I let them have their moment and then gently pulled them back together. I reassured them that it was totally possible that they wouldn't have homework, but that it would mean they had to give me their all every. We also had a disclaimer that if students did not complete their classwork in a reasonable period of time or were excessively off task during an assignment, they would need to bring it home to complete it. We still STRONGLY encouraged students to be reading each night, and they were required to have a novel in progress at all times. We also continued our weekly letter writing, where students had to respond to us in letter form by the end of the week. You can read more about that idea HERE. I'll never have a classroom where I don't do it! You can see that we didn't COMPLETELY do away with homework, but we did do away with 99% of it.
“It's going well!” I would respond, but I wouldn't give many details. Now, after a full school year without it, I definitely have some reflections on how it went, what changes I would make, and if I would do it again! After a Full Year of No Homework Throughout the school year, I had many colleagues pop in and ask how our no-homework policy was going. Yet, I still felt like the reasons to do away with homework were more important than the benefits of homework itself.
I know that homework has its place, and I know there are concepts and skills (especially in 4th grade!) that require repetition to really grasp. While each of those three changes contributed to a very different feel in my classroom than years prior, I was particularly nervous about doing away with homework. We started flexible seating (you can read more about that adventure HERE), we implemented a Bring Your Own Device program, and we did away with homework. Like I said– BIG year! Last school year was a really big year in my classroom.
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