So Have You Finished Your Homework Yet?

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Today I’m delighted to have Naimish Gohil a full time Teacher, Entrepreneur, Educator and Founder at Show My Homework – A Platform for Tracking & Monitoring Homework.
http://www.showmyhomework.co.uk

“A couple of days ago, I was on the train heading home and it was about 5.15pm when I over heard a mother talking to her son on her iPhone.

It was an endearing conversation. It took me back to my childhood and memories of the same kind of conversations I use to have with my mum. In 1993 – 1998, mobile phones were scarce, so the conversations with my mum tended to happen around the kitchen table eating tea and biscuits followed by an episode of The Three Musketeers. I’m guessing times have changed today and it is more like Call of Duty online with friends organised via Facebook of course.

Without digressing too much, back to the conversation. The mother was asking her son if he had hanged his uniform up, cleaned his football boots, put his PE kit in the wash, did you eat your sandwiches etc. It seemed like this was a regular conversation the mother would have with her son everyday. I’m all for routines! Ofsted inspectors often talk about setting routines and providing consistent experiences and messages. This is something that is evident in schools with ‘outstanding’ outcomes and has a positive impact on students.

When the subject of homework came into the conversation, the mother asked a number of questions starting with ‘have you done your homework?’ followed by ‘are you sure?’ This was followed by what was your homework on? And then finally ’I’ll be checking when I get home’….

Unfortunately I don’t have superman like ears although they are big enough, I couldn’t quite make out what the son had said so I have made some assumptions based on the questions the mother asked one after the other.

Running through my mind was a few things at this point. I wish the mother had access to our homework calendar on her iPhone. Before she called her son, she would have known what homework he had, when it was due and how long it was going to take for him to complete, along with any resources he may needed such as a video clips from YouTube or Khan Academy, resources from Wikipedia or BBC etc.

Knowledge is Power and if the mother was armed with this information prior to calling her son, she would have felt much more in control and aware of what is going on with her son’s homework. I believe the conversation could have been vastly different. Details matter and make a difference. Imagine if the mother had said to her son,

“Have you started your ICT homework? It will only take you half-an-hour to complete. I noticed Mr Gohil has given you a tight deadline this week. Make sure you get this done first. Also that video is great about iPad presentations, let’s watch it together tonight”

Read more here http://showmyhomeworkblog.com/post/31977665733/homework-conversation-between-mother-son

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