Homework Apps - transforming my life :-)

[LunasSpectreSpecs]

I have two children at secondary school. First (a boy) is bright but chronically disorganised. Picking up demerits left, right and centre for forgetting homework - he's not actively avoiding doing it, but he forgets to write it in his diary, forgets to do it, ends up rushing it in the library at lunchtime - total nightmare.

Anyway, the school has just started using the Show My Homework app and it's changed my life. Kids each have the app on their phones and can access the website. App/Website shows what homework they have, links to resources they may need and shows when it's due. On my phone, I can log in and see what they both have for homework. No more forgetting. No more telling me they have nothing to do. No more shouting matches because DS has yet again got into trouble for not handing in homework I knew nothing about.

Isn't technology MARVELLOUS.

orange
For all KS4 homework i put it on after class or set to go live the day after class because thr homework is based (usually) on things we have just done in class.
I don't want material about what happens at the end of a chapter on the learning platform before we have read the chapter. It may may your life easier but it causes problems for my teaching when I'm asking students to consider what's going and half the class have seen the homework task 'explore how the writer makes simon's death significant'

Without the online platform you wouldn't get homework til it is set in the lesson.

The additional demands/expectations linked to these platforms are precisely the things that annoy me about them.

It may may your life easier but it causes problems for my teaching It would make my life easier because currently the teachers are not posting the homework when they should post it, i.e. on the day they say they are going to post it, surely it's not unreasonable to expect them to stick to their word?

Well many of the hw tasks seem to be multiple choice quizzes at the moment, so only online in any case. I don't know how valuable these are in terms of learning, but then I'm not a teacher.

The additional demands/expectations linked to these platforms are precisely the things that annoy me about them

Agree.
'Worksheet wasn't attached on SMHW' - I know I gave your child a sheet in class and they lost it. I didn't attach on SMHW as it was a hard copy that I photocopied - to add it to SMHW I need to scan it, save it and add it.

'You didn't put on SMHW that a calculator was needed for the test'. No I didn't but I told children every lesson for 2 weeks beforehand and actually they should always have their calculator for Maths.

I am also too busy to answer your emails which are basically excuses for your child not being organised.

My school has stopped giving kids diaries because £££. If I don't put the homework online then they've no way of recording it.

On the one hand it's good because it doesn't rely on their accurate recording of page numbers etc to do the right homework. On the other hand it is totally removing any responsibility to organise themselves from them. I've had a sixth former tell me they haven't done the homework because it wasn't put online. How will they cope at university?!

Maisy, yes, she could have had a school-home book but that would have made her feel different to all the others, with SMH she gets treated the same, at least for this aspect of her schooling. For us its a total winner.

My DC both have homework apps BUT there are issues which mean that it's less than reliable. And it seems to me as a parent that it's just another 'admin' duty to do...

DD had an issue recently where she was briefly off sick, we checked online for any additional bits of homework set that she missed being told about - nada. Only to find that she got told off for not submitting one piece on time - she knew nothing about it because she was ill when it was set, and for some reason the teacher hadn't put it up on the online SMH equivalent tool either...

DS has an 'old school' teacher for one of his subjects who a) often forgets to put work up on my SMH and b) when he does remember to do so, often forgets to mark it as submitted - so it looks as if DS hasn't done it (but he has).

And it's not only an extra admin job for parents - it's more work (presumably) for the teachers too?

Only to find that she got told off for not submitting one piece on time - she knew nothing about it because she was ill when it was set, and for some reason the teacher hadn't put it up on the online SMH equivalent tool either...

I think the "maverick" nature of some teachers causes a lot of issues generally. If the school has decided to introduce a SMH system, then all the teachers should abide by it. It's up to the leadership team to deal with teachers' issues. It completely devalues the whole thing if some maverick teachers decide to do their own thing for their own reasons.

If my son missed a homework that wasn't on SMH then he wouldn't be getting punished or told off for it, I can assure you, and if the teacher tried, they'd be told otherwise in no uncertain terms, regardless of whether they'd told it in class or not.

As for a previous post by a teacher whinging about pupils emailing her asking for homework details because she hadn't put it on the system, that's her own bloody fault! If her school has decided to use the system who the hell is she to decide not to bother? She could avoid her pupils emailing her if she did what she should have done and put it on the system. If she has problems with that, then she should take it up with her HOD and school management, not take it out on her pupils!

If you know anything about teaching, you'll understand that the profession desperately needs more 'mavericks' and fewer yes men.

Lots of our students hate SMH. They refuse to engage with it and pretend to have logging-on issues (it can be glitchy or go offline sometimes tbh). I teach over 250 students a week and haven't got time to investigate these issues, they are expecting to let Student services know themselves.
They'd much rather be handed a worksheet in class. So I do both. I'm meticulous about deadlines and record keeping. And yet I still get some parents on my back. You can't win.

If my son missed a homework that wasn't on SMH then he wouldn't be getting punished or told off for it, I can assure you, and if the teacher tried, they'd be told otherwise in no uncertain terms, regardless of whether they'd told it in class or not

Hang on, so the teacher could give matetial in class, spend 10 mins setting it and making it clear what needs to be done and if your child doesn't do a clearly set piece of homework you'd be blaming the teacher for not uploading it?

This sort of crap is exactly why I'd be more than happy for my school to get rid of our damn system.
Maybe it's just me but I had excellent turn in rates on homeworks, had procedures in place for those who strugfled to record it in planners/had send needs and it all worked brilliantly

Now i have to set it in class, then set it online because if we set it online with bullet point instructions some parents have called and complained that some staff aren't setting it in class so 'how do ypu expect my child to know what to do...'
Oh and then you set the task online but child loses their worksheet so some parents complain you didn't put spare copies of the worksheet online too (because obviously it's too much to ask a teenager to glue a sheet in their book and not lose it!) with no concept that some of our homeworks are from print resources so those parents think we should spend more time scanning in sheets to then upload them as well all so their darling doesn't hsve to think for themselves, organise themselves or look after a single piece of paper.
And then we've had the influx of parents who think they know loads about homework setting and like to call SLT/HOD because they don't think their children get enough homework/think they have too much homework/feel the need to chip in with their thoughts on homework tasks etc so those of us in leadership posts end up having to catch colleagues to ask about homework because so and so's mother wants to know why you've set literacy skills as homework when you've studied war poetry in class when really taking one look at their child's book proves why they need literacy skills refreshing

It's only a minority of parents but it really pisses me off because i have more issues now having a damn online system (should add I'm good at using the system) than before.

Hang on, so the teacher could give matetial in class, spend 10 mins setting it and making it clear what needs to be done and if your child doesn't do a clearly set piece of homework you'd be blaming the teacher for not uploading it?

Yes, if the teacher hasn't followed the school's published homework policy.

It's only a minority of parents but it really pisses me off because i have more issues now having a damn online system (should add I'm good at using the system) than before.

So raise your concerns to your head teacher if you have problems with it. No point in just doing your own thing as some kind of protest.

My school has stopped giving kids diaries because £££. If I don't put the homework online then they've no way of recording it.

My son's school likewise stopped giving out homework diaries. The teachers know this, yet some still don't put the homework on the online system (always the same ones who can't be arsed). But give credit where it's due, most of the teachers put homework on every time and include links to web resources or a .doc/pdf of any worksheets etc for the ones who may have missed the lesson).

Setting homework in advance isn't always a good thing. Planning homework is good, but you need the flexibility to change the homework based on how the children got on with the work in the lesson. I wouldn't just plough on with a task in a lesson if the students were struggling, I'd change tack, or do more examples or a million other things. I need to be able to do the same with homework if it is to be effective.

I upload homework last thing the same day, but occasionally that might be 7 or 8pm. Students are told in the lesson and expected to do it regardless, and it is never due in the next day so there is plenty of time for them to get it done. What I can't be doing with is the parents who say "but SMH wasn't clear enough". Well, no. Because I went through the task in detail in the lesson, told the students to highlight the work that was required and offered the opportunity for them to ask questions if they didn't understand. I'll be damned if I then spend another 20 minutes typing up what was said simply because little Jonny cba to pay attention.

DDs school don’t have the app, all seems to work fine without it and a I am blissfully unaware of most of her homework until the odd occasion when she chooses to ask for resources or materials.

I know a teacher at a school that uses SMHW and she says the downside is the SMT at her school don’t use it for the benefit for the pupils but to get data on what teachers are setting for homework and there seems to be some sort of sanction for teachers who don’t set homework even if they feel the class need a break for a week etc, there is little room for discretion and adaptation and when used in this way it can cause problems with homework that spans several weeks such as a project as whilst it may appear in SMHW for that entire period depending on the metrics it may not work for the school’s targets so again another area it can work against our lovely teachers who know their class and what will work best for them. I appreciate so don’t have the full picture but this is one angle that was explained to me.

We (staff) get a monthly email to all staff with SMH data, ranking which teachers have set the most homework. There is a target to meet.
It feels a bit arbitrary tbh.

So raise your concerns to your head teacher if you have problems with it. No point in just doing your own thing as some kind of protest

1. I have raised my concerns about thr way some parents are highly unreasonable about it.
2. What part of 'i am very good at using thr system' translates to 'doing my own thing in protest'?

IsabellaDMC You are right on so many tbings.
you need the flexibility to change the homework based on how the children got on with the work in the lesson. I wouldn't just plough on with a task in a lesson if the students were struggling, I'd change tack, or do more examples or a million other things. I need to be able to do the same with homework if it is to be effective.
This.

I upload homework last thing the same day, but occasionally that might be 7 or 8pm. Students are told in the lesson and expected to do it regardless, and it is never due in the next day so there is plenty of time for them to get it done.
This. People going all 'you should do it in the lesson' would probably be the first to whine that 'DC didn't understand a key concept for the homework because they say the teacher is too busy ignoring them on the computer'.
What I can't be doing with is the parents who say "but SMH wasn't clear enough".
This. SMH and similar platforms are there as a log to students etc. The instructions on SMH need only be the same as thr instructions for homework pre-tech platform.
Well, no. Because I went through the task in detail in the lesson, told the students to highlight the work that was required and offered the opportunity for them to ask questions if they didn't understand. I'll be damned if I then spend another 20 minutes typing up what was said simply because little Jonny cba to pay attention.
This x100

Online platforms can be great.
Some parents/students seem to think that thr existence of an online platform means the teacher should spoon feed in class, the write word for word what was said in class, nd have it uploaded early for parent convenience (sod teaching sequences), then have spare copies of worksheets etc (one parent even said their DC wouldn't have a detention because I had failed to explain terms in the homework. The concepts were in the child's exercise book. At 14 it is not my problem if they choose to take poor notes. Parent felt I should upload my powerpoints and lesson material!)

99% of my students know my line on homework but boy did it take longer to get therr when we have an online platform vs not having one.

OMG at teachers being publicly ranked by amount of homework set. Nothing about quality there!

Badbadbunny
The teacher should have uploaded it.

But a student is more than caapable of organising themselves to complete a task issued in class with resources given to them.

I have major issues with an increasing culture (of which online homework platforms are part if it - hence my irritation) where schools are increasingly allowing students to take minimal responsibility for their learning and progress. Wasted y7-9? Don't worry we'll give you a reduced ks4 timetable to catch up english and maths. Pissed about in y10? It's fine, staff will stay back and sort your work out with you. Not bothered working in class and are underperforming? We'll put you into intervention. Students missing homework deadlines and losing sheets? Don't worry, the teacher should spend twice the time setting homework in order to duplicate what they've done in class to an online system so that you can start it thr nighy before it's due, get stuck and send a message to the teacher at 8pm saying you're stuck and then when you've not done your homework your parent can write a note saying 'timmy asked for help but didn't get it'.

As an aside, does anyone work in a school where this policy has been added and they have been allocated time to do it? I must spend 40-50 mins a week putting homework online, so by my reckoning I should be getting an additional PPA lesson to do it.

Ha - nope, we're all on the very minimum PPA time. I think they'd laugh at the mere suggestion. You're right though, it is an extra admin task.
Do all our own photocopying at our place too, there's no repro person.

As an aside, does anyone work in a school where this policy has been added and they have been allocated time to do it?
Nope.
It's just an extra task to take responsibility away from students who we expect to ge grade 8s, do a levels and get to uni but who have parents who think we should upload aĺl but the answers online.

I keep it mininal. Aka.
'Write 2 analytical paragraphs answering thi's question: How does Priestley present Birling in Act 1?'
Or
'Complete poetry revision grids. Electronic copy attached'

I've explained it in class, given material in class so I'm not spending ages writing loads (after all, I had great homework rates before a system was introduced). Funnily enough once I get past thr start of the year rubbish, people just get on with it.

On thr rare occasion I've put something on late (more than within 24 hours of the lesson but nornally it's on that night), I extend the deadline by a day.

Dd reckons the kids who never did their homework are still not doing it

I found that to be the case too. All it has done is give the teachers an extra admin task and some students an excuse not to do it. There may be a minority like the OP's child who is now managing with it due to parents taking at least partial responsibility for the organisation of it. And I'm not convinced how much that helps long term. It simply takes more of the responsibility for a child's learning away from the child him/herself.