The news media, parents, teachers, and students often speculate if homework is meaningful and whether the pros outweigh the cons.  In this class, you will learn about the history of homework and how the diverse make-up of families can impact a student’s ability to keep up.  What is the solution?  What type of homework and how much is actually beneficial?  Read the textbook, complete meaningful and practical assignments at your own pace and you will be ready to design a plan that works!

For K-12 Teachers

This class is offered for 3 Quarter Credits

Required Textbooks:

Rethinking Homework: Best Practices that Support Diverse Needs by Vatterott

Register Anytime!  You can start your course TODAY!

1. Click "Registration" below.  Our site will redirect you to an SPU registration page where you will pay both the TINT and SPU fee with a credit card. 

2. You will receive an email from SPU with your receipt and a link to the coursework. 

3. You have a year to complete the work at your own pace.  Your grade will be posted on your transcript within a few weeks (and often sooner) of you finishing!

Fees:

Option 1:  Non-Credit/Audit TINT Tuition Fee (30 PDUs):  $525

Option 2:  3 Quarter Credit (60 PDUs) = TINT Tuition Fee: $525

+ $165 SPU Credit Fee (Click here for SPU Info) = $690

Click Here For Coursework Preview

Student Testimonial:

I don’t think my ideas around homework have changed dramatically, but I think my practices will definitely shift after reading this book.  My biggest takeaway from this course is realizing that, as with everything else, building relationships and knowing what’s going on with my students’ lives and needs are really crucial to understanding why they aren’t doing their homework.  Outside of their academic needs, I think their personal needs have a huge influence.  I think I’ve also realized what more meaningful homework could look like and how to make that happen in my class. 

Initially going into this class, I thought I would find a way to just not give any homework at all, but I found this not to be the case.  Since practicing math is so crucial to learning new skills, I think it still has a place in my classroom.  I think what I’m taking away from this course is how to do homework in a better and more meaningful way.  I’m really excited to try a method similar to what I discovered on the blog post mentioned earlier, and I think it will allow me to help my students find more meaning in what “practicing” math looks like.  I would say that my goals have been met and that I can refine my practice around giving and evaluating homework.

—TINT Student

I have enjoyed taking this course. I have been looking for more clarity on how to incorporate homework in a meaningful way, and this course has helped me with this.  I really enjoyed learning about the history of homework and why it began, and following it all the way up to the present.  I have seen many changes in our society as I have been teaching, and realize that as times change, so needs to change our teaching practices. Understanding today’s families and the students that we now serve is crucial in creating homework that is useful and possible to complete.

This class was very helpful to me.  It really made me think about what my current practices are, how effective these practices may be and what I could do to improve my homework practice.  I felt like I was really dissecting my homework practices and analyzing what would really be meaningful to all of my students.  While I know that I still have some work to do in creating more meaningful homework, I know that I am on my way to doing so.

—TINT Student

This class was very helpful to me.  It really made me think about what my current practices are, how effective these practices may be and what I could do to improve my homework practice.  I felt like I was really dissecting my homework practices and analyzing what would really be meaningful to all of my students.  While I know that I still have some work to do in creating more meaningful homework, I know that I am on my way to doing so.

—TINT Student

My goals have definitely been met and changed slightly.  I learned about a new way to look at and view homework more effectively than I previously had. I was thinking that this course would tell me about more efficient ways to grade and keep track of homework, but I had no idea that it would go the route it did by advising less and more meaningful assignments.

I am going to enter this year with new ideas of how to use homework involving student choice that really allow what they learned in the classroom to be applied to something that is important and applicable to them.  I really like to idea of parents getting involved, so I plan to send out that letter about how parents can assist their students at home.  Encouraging parents to get involved is a great take away for me from this course.

I am really excited to start incorporating things like Homework Menus and Choice Boards.  I am planning on lessening the amount and increasing the quality so that my students and parents are not overwhelmed and instead are having fun spending some quality time together while simultaneously completing an assignment.  I am eager to see how this changes the attitudes of homework in my class, especially for those that may normally not complete the daily tasks.  This was a very enlightening course and I cannot wait to see how it plays out in my class this year!

—TINT Student