Athena High School - Greece Athena Staff Blog

26meeting the New York State Learning Standards and performance indicators. In addition,homework supports the learning process of students by teaching responsibility andencouraging the development of strong and effective work habits.General Guidelines1. Homework shall result in reinforcement of student learning that has been introducedin the classroom. It is designed in many cases to provide students with opportunitiesfor the practical application and synthesis of classroom instruction. Variety andstudent choice are highly desirable.2. Homework shall be geared to students' needs, abilities, and identified learning style,with assignments that are meaningful, creative, and challenging.3. Homework assignments shall always be given with an established instructionalpurpose and never given as a form of punishment. Four types of homework include:a. Practice: helps students master skills and reinforce in-class learningb. Extension: helps students take what they learn and connect it with real lifec. Preparation: prepares students for an upcoming lesson or unitd. Creative: helps students integrate multiple concepts (possibly from more thanone curricular area); often presented in the form of long-term projects4. Although the design of individual homework assignments is left to teacherdiscretion, in general, teachers shall communicate:a. how the homework is related to the topic under studyb. the purpose of the assignmentc. how the homework might best be completedd. suggestions for preparation, organization, and time expectationse. what the student needs to do to demonstrate completion5. The homework requested shall require the use of resources that are reasonablythought to be accessible or obtainable by each student involved.7. Assignments should consist of task/activities which students can reasonably completeon their own with a high degree of success.8. Accommodations in homework expectations shall be made for various lengths ofstudent absences.Communication1. Directions, instructions, due dates, and methods of review of homework by theteacher should be clearly communicated to the student, preferably in writing so that itmay be shared with parents. A consistent, easily seen location should be used to postassignments.2. Students absent from school should contact the teacher to discuss make-uprequirements and assistance.3. Students and parents should communicate with the teacher whenever confusion orproblems about homework arise.4. Students are individually responsible for completing their own homeworkassignments. However, when group or partner-work is advised for assignments,teachers should communicate the directions and expectations clearly, preferably inwriting, so that it may be shared with parents. Whenever possible, parents shouldreceive advance notice to plan student transportation.