Why work hard: Homework Edition

Remember my blog post from yesterday about how many students don't do work and still pass? 

Check this story out. 

Disclaimer: While it may appear that I am raving mad about this situation and yesterday's blog post, don't worry! I have long since thrown my hands in the air and, as Britteney says, SMH. (Every time she texts me that, I have to look up the darn meaning: SMK = Shake my head!) So things like this story don't bug me anymore. It just is what it is here. And since my focus is sustainability and I know that my CPs are not (yet) at the point of defying odds and giving 0s for lack of work, I just go along, giving all the extra time a student could ever need to finish an assignment. Oh man, am I becoming a the fatalistic Indonesian teacher??! 

So, in Indonesia, rarely do I give homework because: 

a. the students don't do it, or 

b. they just copy from one smart student...a smart student, who, btw, lets them copy- what the heck?!

Today I interviewed 2 students:

Q: "Why don't students here do homework? Is it just English homework that people don't do?"

A: "No, Miss, most of us do not do the homework for any of our classes."

Q: "Why not? Don't you have time to do it at home?" (Save helping mom and dad around the house or at a family business, Indonesian high schoolers don't have jobs.)

A: "Yeah, we have time. We are just lazy. We like to text, use the internet, and watch TV."

Stellar, students. As my CP says, "These are your students, Miss!" To which I, without fail, respond, "These are your students, too!" 

Last week I decided to risk it and give the following assignment. Here was the plan of action:

- Read a 5-paragraph story

- Draw 5 stick-figure pictures about the plot

- Write a one sentence summary. 

- Due in 4 days. 

- Work with a partner. (God forbid an Indonesian student work alone on anything.)

Enter me on Monday morning, 4 days after assigning this. I'm revived from my weekend rest and yesterday's blog rant. My first class is IPA, my "smartest" 11th grade class. "Smartest" because they are the science class (IPA), so according to Indonesian teachers they are more studious and diligent. In general, their attendance is legitimately better and their behavior calmer. As for their English grades, a little better than the social classes (IPS), but not extraordinarily better.

Anyways, imagine my delight when I learned 2 girls did the homework. 2/26. Awesome. This is their first assignment in 2 months (shall we revisit the reasons why they don't do homework? TV, texting, and internet)...

So really, my grade book should look like this: 

Check out those test scores (out of 25)!! One student studied for the test. I made 4 practice activities, biked 30 minutes to copy the worksheet for them, and gave it to them 2 days before the test to do. One student used the worksheet to prep. Anyways, case in point here is the assignment on the left. 2 students would have passed the assignment.  

But oh, dear reader! Don't forget yesterday's blog post! This is my Indonesian village! The land of second chances or free passes, take your pick. Instead of giving 0's, we gave them 45 minutes in class to try to finish. And guess what? Only about 75% of them finished even then. Sigh.

16.5 months to go.