There are 3 parts to my homework. First, the students read 30 minutes every night. Second, they have 2-3 math problems to do, with lessons we have done that day, or previous days. I find that doing 2-3 problems rather than 10+, where the students who don't get it, give up and just give an answer -without trying. Only doing 2, may take some kids 30 minutes, but 2 is not so scary, and they don't give up.
The last part is the final 5. The final 5 came from a Quantum Learning, and my friend Lindsay Freestone. The idea behind it, is to spend the last 5 minutes in class reviewing what we learned that day. Then, the students take the final 5 to bed with them, and read it the last 5 minutes before going to bed. There is a part of our brain called the hippocampus, which awakens right after people fall asleep. The hippocampus takes what we learned from that day and puts it into long term memory. It takes the last thing we did first, so if the students studies the final 5 before bed they are more likely to remember what they did in class that day! (Cool right?)
We spend the last 5 minutes of the day summarizing what we did. When I first introduced the final 5, I did the whole thing for them, and they copied the final 5. After a week, they started to draw the picture. After a month, they did the vocabulary (based on the topic I wrote). After another month, they do the main points on their own, based on the objective written. Soon, I will have them write the objectives on their own, based on the topics, then eventually they do will do the whole things on their own. It takes time have them do it on their own.
I have had the most success getting students to turn in homework. I also feel like my students are actually doing the work on their own, and learning more, than when I gave a lot of homework. It's pretty amazing. I also have had many parents tell me that they enjoy homework with their kids, and parents are giving them more work and extending at home- for fun! It is amazing.
