Drowning in corrections!

Manaswini Sridhar

As a matter of routine interest, I always ask teachers I meet how they deal with homework. Their hitherto calm and happy expressions are instantly displaced by one of pain, agony, followed by the violent outburst of, “Oh my God! It will be the death of me! I don’t have a life of my own. In the hours I am not teaching, I am either correcting tests or homework. I think I will go blind with so many hours of (worthless!) correction. Neither children nor parents think about giving it their best; however, they want us to pore over every word (even when the handwriting is illegible), underline, correct and then offer feedback!” Those of us who are, or have been teachers, will totally understand such an outburst!

Most teachers teach six classes a day; there are at least 40 students in a class. Teachers are expected to assign homework to at least four of these classes every day. That is a staggering 160 submissions every day. The homework consists of nothing less than two pages since parents are displeased with anything less. So a teacher goes through 320 pages of writing in a day, in addition to the teaching job that he/she does. This is apart from the time that the teacher spends in setting a paper or making lesson plans or preparing for the next day. Where is the time for the teacher to enjoy any kind of life with the family, leave alone ‘me’ time? Is it humanly possible to deal with students of different ages and across different sections of society every single day with the kind of focus and calm that the situation actually requires? It is then not surprising that so many teachers lose their sanity and behave in a manner that makes the headlines.

What is the idea behind giving homework? It is surely neither to punish the child nor the teacher; nor is it to please those parents who feel that childhood must be spent at the study table, while they themselves indulge in games on the phone or watch those dreadful melodramatic serials on television. Homework is given as a kind of self-check for both the teacher and the child. Teachers should not be in a hurry to assign homework on a topic that has just been dealt with. The topic needs to be reinforced for a day or two until children become confident enough to handle it on their own. Once the concept is understood, executing the homework will not require the assistance of the parents or grandparents at home. Children will ensure that it is done independently. This kind of homework contributes to meaningful and beneficial education. Handwriting then also becomes neater and more legible because the child will not have to mask ignorance in the guise of sloppy and messy handwriting.

If the school is convinced that they are appointing educated, responsible and committed people as teachers, then these individuals should be given the liberty of preparing a chart at the beginning of the year announcing the days when homework is to be given to their respective classes, and when it is to be submitted. For instance, if I am the English teacher of four sections of classes I-III, I should then be allowed to create a chart like the following:

In this manner, it is obvious, that the teacher will have to correct 80 homework submissions on a given day and therefore can do a good job. Students too will have to nail the homework because the teacher will not be distracted by way too many submissions.

www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/writing-corrections-code outlines a clear and precise method for correcting homework, particularly essays. As the website suggests, it also is a method by which students learn from their mistakes since they need to unravel the code and rewrite their sentences based on the inputs given. When students are compelled to rework and correct their own mistakes, it makes them more patient and also gives them a better understanding of why and where the writing went wrong. There is hope then that they learn from their mistakes.

Students need to be awarded marks based on timeliness and quality. Students may be awarded 1 mark for submission of the homework on the specified day. Students may again be awarded another mark for attempting to correct their mistakes when they need to work on the homework again. So, if the teacher is assigning 10 marks for every set of homework, then the diligent student automatically scores two marks. This makes it so easy to churn out students who will be dedicated to the task, and this is a quality that will help them throughout their lives.

The marks awarded for the homework would then look like this:

When homework goes back to the batsman, parents begin to understand that in order to score runs, their wards will need to wield their brains in a more responsible and committed manner. The responsibility cannot be placed on the teacher forever. Students begin to comprehend why they lose marks, and can think of ways to overcome their shortcomings.

For the teacher, the homework grid is a guide to understanding her students better and knowing which of her students are responsible, and enjoy learning; the teacher can also categorize students under sections of needs help with grammar or needs help with being more patient so that silly mistakes can be avoided by just re-reading what has been written. In some cases, students, and in turn parents, will understand that the reason the child is losing marks is not because of any of the above, but because the child has not cared to study the spelling of words. Along with the teacher, the child and the parent can better grasp the reality of the situation and help their wards by telling them to focus on whatever aspect of the language or subject that needs to be dealt with. Teachers will have less questions put forward by parents; instead, teachers will also be better equipped to point out to parents, using the grid, where the problem lies and how the problem can be resolved.

So, schools and managements, why not allow teachers to be immersed in homework in the wholesome way, rather than let them drown in it? Because when teachers drown, they also take down the student and the parents with them…they have no other straws to clutch!

Tip of the month

Pre-primary children need to be managed even before they enter the classroom since they carry into the classroom all the noise from the playground or the world outside. Wait at the door for them so that they come in one by one in an orderly fashion. The minute they spy the teacher, they are less noisy! You then spend less time calming them down in the classroom and save precious minutes.

The author is a teacher educator and language trainer based in Hyderabad. She can be reached at manaswinisridhar@gmail.com.