How to make the most of homework

Homework is an inseparable part of the learning process. As well as dozens of excuses for not doing that if you work with teenagers. Tasks that replicate the ones from the coursebook, answer keys provided, too little or too challenging – all of that doesn’t make studying at home appealing.

How to show the importance of homework to teenagers? How to sweet-talk, persuade, motivate them? How to make the most of homework? Let’s try to find answers in this article. 

Assign properly

Homework is typically given in the last couple of minutes of the class. It might sound surprising, but we can vary even the way of assigning it to our teens. This is what Penny Ur, the world-renowned teacher educator and writer, says in her book ‘100 Teaching Tips’:

‘If you know you have a homework assignment to give, explain it sometime in the middle of the lesson and make sure students have noted it down. Don’t leave it until the last minute. Students may be packing up and not listening to you; you may not have enough time to explain properly; and the overall message is likely to be ‘homework is an afterthought, not so important’. So it’s much better to give it earlier. In general, give the homework immediately after the lesson component that it relates to: for example, comprehension work on a text you’ve been reading. Then you aren’t rushed, can explain fully and answer questions about it, and students have time to write it down. If you note it at the side of the board as you explain, then you can use this note as the basis for a brief reminder before closing the lesson later.’

This strategy works especially well with lower-level teens as they have time to look through the homework-to-be and ask for extra instructions or clarifications. Probably, you will have less of ‘I didn’t understand what to do’ after that.

Vary

We mostly deal with workbook-related homework. This is fast, convenient, easy to check and time-saving. However, there are many more alternatives to use as part of studying between the classes. Probably, teens will love getting off the beaten track of grammar and vocabulary gap-fills and do something new for a change.

Assign real-life tasks. Walking around the town, spotting shop names or city signs in English; watching series; listening to songs and reading news will expose teens to a lot of language. 

Give links to material from TED Talks or TED Education, or ask students to read more on the classroom topic on the Internet. You can then extend it to a whole-group discussion or a social network post. 

Ask teens to record a short video related to the topic you are studying. It can be a tutorial on something they can do really well, a presentation of their home town or just Instagram* stories-like description of daily routines. 

Try giving homework ahead of schedule. Ask learners to look through the next unit of the coursebook. With high levels, you can offer them to check the texts and substitute them with some other stories on the topic which they personally find interesting. Assigning some exercises in advance will also help the teacher understand what students already know and plan the following lessons accordingly.

Shift the responsibility to students. Tell them that their next homework is…creating homework. Let them make a short exercise or activity based on what you are currently studying. They bring home-made exercises on their USB drives to class, you print them out and arrange students in pairs or groups to deal with the tasks. We usually do that with teens when I ask them to bring their favourite songs with the lyrics and a short exercise, like a gap-fill or a couple of comprehension questions. 

All in all, if you add a bit of variety even twice a month, it can make the homework routine more exciting and less predictable. 

Pay attention

If homework is assigned, it has to be checked. Teachers sometimes get into the habit of turning that into one of the classroom routines. 5-7 minutes at the very beginning of each class, students read out the answers one by one, teacher nods in agreement – and we are back to the track, teaching new material. However, such an approach has its disadvantages. First, why don’t you check homework at the end of the lesson? This way even those who have been late for a class can participate. Second, changing interaction patterns can bring its benefits too. Below are some ideas of checking homework:

• Students compare their answers in pairs. If different answers or troublesome questions come up, they are discussed open-class.
• Arrange students in pairs and provide each with half of the answer key. Then, students check each other’s work and explain the answer in case of a problem.
• Teacher hands out the answer key. Students check their work. Teacher can ask them to reason some of the answers.
• Students nominate the next person to answer
• While assigning homework, tell teens that next lesson each of them should come up with 3 questions about the homework. It can be anything, from asking for grammar clarification to being curious about collocations or etymology.

If homework regularly fails to be checked, students tend to get demotivated and too chilled. So, try to find ways and time to check things up.

Homework implies a lot of benefits to your teenage students. It develops learners’ autonomy and teaches teens to learn by themselves. It helps then retain the information they get in the classroom. It provides them with one more opportunity to practise English, after all, which can be precious in a non-native environment. What’s more, homework provides opportunities for countless extensive activities. Add a sprinkle of creativity and unexpectedness to that – and, probably, you’ll be getting less ‘The dog ate my homework’ kind of excuses.

What are your homework routines? Is there any magic activity which never fails to work with your teenagers?