3-Read Friday #42

Independent tasks, learning words, and homework

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Here are three blog posts that I found interesting this week.

1. Independent Tasks – Problems and Solutions by Peter Foster

Here is a scenario I observe in many of the lessons I am lucky to watch each week: The teacher sets the students off on independent work, and almost immediately, a number of problems occur: some students are slow to start, some immediately get stuck, the noise level in the room creeps up, and so on. Pete drills down into the specific nature of some of these issues and provides some concrete strategies for dealing with them.

2. Learning Math is Learning Words by Michael Pershan

Our eldest child, Isaac, is currently in Reception, and it is blowing my mind just how much he is learning. I am particularly interested - obviously! - in how his mathematical understanding is developing, which is why I found this post from Michael so interesting. Michael describes a fascinating conversation between him and his three-year-old son, revealing an important distinction between maths and language learning.

3. Let’s talk about homework by Jo Castelino

I recently visited a school with a 17% completion rate for online homework across Years 7 to 11. When I drilled into the data, that figure was even lower for older students and those in the lower sets. Many schools have a homework problem, and it is tricky to solve because - by definition - homework is work done (or not done!) outside of teachers' control. Jo outlines some of the key issues here, and teases what is sure to be a cracking new book on the subject. And if you want more gold on homework, check out this thread from Adam Boxer.

If you found this edition of 3-Read Friday useful, feel free to share it with colleagues. Also, you can check out all the back issues of my Eedi newsletter and Tips for Teachers newsletter here. But, most importantly of all, have a great weekend.

Craig