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Teach them "The Catcher in the rye"I teach this literary sensation to every my students very succsesfully. they are very fond of it and they can speak English well after studying r all the new woards and slangs having in this book. thanks for your attantion. Respectfully yours George from tbilisi. P.S. friend of Luka
Obviously this depends on the kind of program. Where I work, class participation counts as part of a student's final score. This means both class and homework assignments are graded and not doing them counts. However, I also tell my students that at the end of each week, to ensure that they actually do their homework and learn from it, not just go through the motions, I will give a short test or quiz similar to the material given as homework. A similar reading comprehension text or a quiz on vocabulary or grammar structures presented and practiced throughout the week is expected by the end of each week. This keeps my students on their toes, especially when they realize that I am serious and that I follow through with what I promise. Believe me I have tried this and it works. In this way both my students and I can monitor progress and what has been learnt. Rania
It's a good idea to ask your students what their opinion is about homework and how much time they can spend on it. Be sure when you get their agreement about the amount of homework they'll do it.
Try to find some interesting materials that your students like best. You can ask them some questions to find out their interests. Students usually like challenging exercises; I mean some kind of exercises that cause them to develop friendly positive rivalry with one another.
Assign a mark for doing exercises, for example if the final mark is 100- make it firm that 40 score is allocated for doing exercises and class activity. Sometimes giving a small present to inactive students, when they show signs of progress, may make them more active.
I gave a little quizz every day about previous lesson's new words - including from the exercise books, which often had some extra ones - and took home their books to be marked once a week but it didn't make any difference. Not even the fact that often there would be exact copies of the exerices in their exam papers so if they'd done the exercises, they would have known the answer!
I was teaching evening classes with students having lessons 3 times a week. With working day being long, the students didn't always have time for the homework as well as taking care of their personal affairs and family. Some students also were studying full time at college and so had all that homework to do as well...
What I did whith my students is telling them at the very beginning of the academic year that they will be expected to do homework since their completed homework will be considered as a very inportant evaluative part of their overall achievement or their final grade. They know that if they want a good grade (and most of them do) they wont get it without completing homework.
One interesting technique, which is common amongst teachers familiar with Neurolinguistic Programming, is simply to give the students a choice between 2 or 3 different homework exercises on the same theme.
We are all different, with different learning styles, not to mention marked differences in what motivates boys and girls (in the case of teens, certainly)... so this should be taken into consideration.
At first glance it may seem like this creates a huge burden for teachers, but in fact, in time, it becomes second nature for the creative teachers (aren´t we all?) to suggest different activities, one of which is bound to appeal.
The real secret lies in the fact that if a student is faced with a choice, their level of motivation instantly increases when compared to simply being TOLD to do something.
Although we are teachers now, we are not able to forget in our childhood the kind of homeworks which are not an aid to review and practice a new lesson, even more, when we were not really able to understand the new subject developed at an specific class.
Due to this fact and obviously, as teachers, we should notice what types of homeworks suit our classroom. A burden of homeworks could not be a good mean to let our group learn a whole lesson. Teachers should always motivate and inspire a warm atmosphere at learning. Therefore, in my case, I ask my students to do some homeworks specially when I identify that there are some learning gaps.
Homework should always be well planned too. I never force my students to finish their homework. I was also student and i know that homework was always a burden. Give the students only short task but meaningful. - Always learning to be a great teacher...
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luka
Rania Jabr
Obviously this depends on the kind of program. Where I work, class participation counts as part of a student's final score. This means both class and homework assignments are graded and not doing them counts. However, I also tell my students that at the end of each week, to ensure that they actually do their homework and learn from it, not just go through the motions, I will give a short test or quiz similar to the material given as homework. A similar reading comprehension text or a quiz on vocabulary or grammar structures presented and practiced throughout the week is expected by the end of each week. This keeps my students on their toes, especially when they realize that I am serious and that I follow through with what I promise. Believe me I have tried this and it works. In this way both my students and I can monitor progress and what has been learnt. Rania
Amir A. Ravayee
Dear Friend,
It's a good idea to ask your students what their opinion is about homework and how much time they can spend on it. Be sure when you get their agreement about the amount of homework they'll do it.
Amir Abbass Ravayee
amazinanian
Try to find some interesting materials that your students like best. You can ask them some questions to find out their interests. Students usually like challenging exercises; I mean some kind of exercises that cause them to develop friendly positive rivalry with one another.
Assign a mark for doing exercises, for example if the final mark is 100- make it firm that 40 score is allocated for doing exercises and class activity. Sometimes giving a small present to inactive students, when they show signs of progress, may make them more active.
Best wishes
A Mazinanian
mousey
I gave a little quizz every day about previous lesson's new words - including from the exercise books, which often had some extra ones - and took home their books to be marked once a week but it didn't make any difference. Not even the fact that often there would be exact copies of the exerices in their exam papers so if they'd done the exercises, they would have known the answer!
I was teaching evening classes with students having lessons 3 times a week. With working day being long, the students didn't always have time for the homework as well as taking care of their personal affairs and family. Some students also were studying full time at college and so had all that homework to do as well...
Lindita
What I did whith my students is telling them at the very beginning of the academic year that they will be expected to do homework since their completed homework will be considered as a very inportant evaluative part of their overall achievement or their final grade. They know that if they want a good grade (and most of them do) they wont get it without completing homework.
I hope that you'll find this suggestion useful.
Graeme
One interesting technique, which is common amongst teachers familiar with Neurolinguistic Programming, is simply to give the students a choice between 2 or 3 different homework exercises on the same theme.
We are all different, with different learning styles, not to mention marked differences in what motivates boys and girls (in the case of teens, certainly)... so this should be taken into consideration.
At first glance it may seem like this creates a huge burden for teachers, but in fact, in time, it becomes second nature for the creative teachers (aren´t we all?) to suggest different activities, one of which is bound to appeal.
The real secret lies in the fact that if a student is faced with a choice, their level of motivation instantly increases when compared to simply being TOLD to do something.
Hope this helps!
Graeme Hodgson - Director English Language
British Council Brazil
www.britishcouncil.org.br/elt
mlvecuador
Although we are teachers now, we are not able to forget in our childhood the kind of homeworks which are not an aid to review and practice a new lesson, even more, when we were not really able to understand the new subject developed at an specific class.
Due to this fact and obviously, as teachers, we should notice what types of homeworks suit our classroom. A burden of homeworks could not be a good mean to let our group learn a whole lesson. Teachers should always motivate and inspire a warm atmosphere at learning. Therefore, in my case, I ask my students to do some homeworks specially when I identify that there are some learning gaps.
lizziegb
If I could make almost 90% of my students do homework, I would be very, very happy. Congratulations Bhushan!
Could you tell me how old are your students and what kind of courses do you offer?
I could give more appropiate suggestions if you give more information about your classes. A big hug from South America!!!
Ligia Elizabeth Garrido, Lima, Peru
faizul