Written work, how to design it and how to mark it

The majority of the written work or homework that has been assigned to the students here are in electronic forms. Throughout the limited photos, it was obvious that the students use ipads (or ICT) to be incorporated into their learning experience and the platform for their learning is Loilonote.

Students don't bring much aside from their ECA equipment

Nichidai has taken extra lengths and investment in this application. Each student gets an ipad (they can rent from the school), all they need to do is to insert their name and class number and student number and all of their learning, notes and homework would be inside their tablet. Apparently, like the school I studied in Osaka, Nichidai is big on using traditional materials such as blackboards, chalk, exercise books and even worksheet- though recycling is a big part of everyone's lives in Japan; I find it slightly bizarre that they haven't completely altered the learning environment considering that all teachers in Nichidai have an ipad. But you know, blended learning seems like the path they are taking at the moment (not quite, but we nearly there).

A good homework example

Since the classes our mentors conduct are eikaiwa classes, then the homework they set must be "speaking" homework! The students unfortunately, detest video homework and preferred written ones. At the end of the semester, when our mentors announced that the homework they set was entirely writing based, their "yay"s could be heard within the next second. And this again, has proven that writing or word based learning and work only applies for them as it was easy for them to memorize and they do not have to understand the majority of the questions and meaning behind, because, all they did was just memorize.



There was not much written work and the majority of their homework were based on the elements of their target language they set for the students and from there our mentors would see if the students have used or fulfilled the target language. The marks would a total of 5 for each homework. If the students were late, a zero would be written on their homework card; feedback would still be given however. If the students did not submit any homework, they would get an "x" and their behavior points would be deducted.

Normally, our mentors would always record an example video set for every homework for the students to refer to. Each video would contain a number of sentences containing the target language which the students were expected to use in their homework. From what I've known, the criteria such as the number of sentences vary from each homework. Not to mention, the students had to submit their videos alongside a homework card - each of our mentor will have their own color:

1. Mr. Thomas - Green
2. Mr. Long - Black
3. Ms. Jaimee - Pink
4. Mr. Gaffney - Red
5. Mr. Aron - Blue

Mr. Gaffney's homework card,
his students would have to submit
the video alongside this card

When it comes to creating homework especially for speaking, we have to ensure that the students fulfill the target language, this is also for the teachers to know whether the students do understand their lesson or not. From there our mentors would find ways to help them. The purpose of giving out homework is for the students to practice their skills so that they will be able to use them in the future.

Based on the article from ASCD, creating homework for students are as follows:

Purpose

As mentioned before, our mentors would put as much thought in creating homework for their students and most of the time, they were in relation to what they have learnt. The foundation of learning, well, at least to my terms, is that we learn things that should be essential. And speaking a foreign language such as English, per say, can assist students in gaining their confidence and interpersonal skills. Setting up homework where students best learn the purpose and for our mentors' speaking homework, learn the meanings of new words that they have learnt by using them in context. In class, our mentors have set up practice and production activities where they contain and are related to the real-life context, such as in one of the first year junior high school lessons, the students were given a restaurant scenario and the students had to take turns becoming the server and customer. The students would receive homework for this lesson with contents related to what they have learnt. And with this, the purpose will be align with student experience as they are able to grasp the concept of this lesson. The homework as well, is a type of feedback to the teachers to see whether they do understand the lesson and this enables the teachers to adjust instruction and, when necessary, reteach before assigning practice or production.

Personal thoughts:


In my eyes, I believe that our mentors have put much thought in terms of the purpose of creating the curriculum, the lesson and even the homework. I would constantly hear our mentors deciding the content of their lessons such as the target language to be useful in their future when they are travelling or studying abroad. They would link conversations used in our everyday lives and even inserting them in the Japanese context (which our teachers would always tell the students that "it is like when you're speaking in Japanese"). The majority of the students do manage to finish their homework, though some late submissions; they still did it however. Through the eyes of Behaviorism, so long as the students comply and finish their tasks, it means that they are responsive to the stimuli or the tasks set by the teachers. It was just unfortunate that the students do not see the link and usage of the homework set by our mentors, in other words they just view homework as something they need to finish rather than as a necessary medium in the process of learning.


Efficiency

The beauty of "speaking" homework allows teachers to immediately assess student understanding. In contrast, some traditional homework or tasks may be inefficient as in most cases, show no evidence of learning or sometimes, tasks that are a no-brainer, in other words, they are simply to fill up students' time. Creating homework requires to serve the purpose of learning and for the students to link between the usage and application of what they learnt to real-life context. Sometimes, it is fun and interesting for students to discover their artistic skills; for students to work on their homework alongside the usage of nonacademic skills may not reveal much about what the students learn such the content knowledge. Not only that, the students that I have observed take a very long time to write out the perfect word let alone drawing and yes, the students would erase everything and start over if they make a simple, minor mistake.

Personal Thoughts:

The students in Nichidai were "programmed" to always finish written task that requires not much language skills in talking. Our mentors have only given minimal homework that revolves around that as when we are learning a new language, we need to master the pronunciation and to make sure that the words we articulate make sense to others. Yes I agree that writing and the formation of the grammar, vocabulary, spelling etc are the foundation in learning a language. But the purpose of languages are many a communication skill that involves cognitive development in order to fully grasp the concept as well as understanding a particular group where those spoke a particular language belong to. As for the students, video homework takes minimal time, they do not need to watch for their spelling or grammar so long the way they articulate is clear. I have seen students take a very long time in writing a sentence. Knowing that this is a foreign language, I do understand that it takes time to find the correct word to express your thoughts- but the students would erase the whole word should they find a spelling error and it was very time-consuming; from what I have heard, the students here were perfectionists and also, there were no lessons or classes involving arts and crafts - only after school activities. Mr. Aron stated that because students do not do self-discovery in their artistic side, their minds have become systematic in terms of getting their tasks finished and they just do not accept mistakes or imperfections.


Ownership

Giving students the freedom to customize their work allows them to feel that they hold the responsibility over their work. A way to promote ownership is through them working on projects that require some time invested in researching, not only that, students' attention and interest will have to be put into account as well. History for example, can be put into the context of individual research, students get the freedom to choose a particular topic that interest them the most and from there, they get the choice to decorate the outlook of their work. For example, the History of China, students will have to abide the rubric and focus on the aspects of the culture, government, economy, or geography that causes the country to become what it is today. The students could for instance, create a presentation (powtoon, google slides, prezi etc) or maybe even designing a travel brochure.

When students practice reading to learn (and possibly grow to enjoy reading for pleasure). The choice of what, when and how much to read is especially important. Typical homework can be considered as tedious when incorporated with the traditional "read 3 to 6 pages each night". Forcing students to read and learn without context or letting them to do their own discovery in order to meet and fulfill those requirements may have the adverse effect of students actually reading and learning less than they would if they were not "on the clock". Instead, we should think about how they learn best makes the learning more relevant. Also another thing about student learning is that setting up a collective, progress-based learning can effectively help students learn better - for example:

Try read an average of 30 minutes each night. Once a week, estimate how much time you've spent reading. Write a short paragraph about what you've been reading.

Personal Thoughts:

Unlike international schools, the students in Nichidai (in my school in Osaka) do not have the freedom to customize their work or the choice to express themselves- they just simply had to do what they were told and finish tasks that were given to them, no questions asked. Due to the constant repetition of this occurrence, the students regard this simply as work that they will forget and it is meant to be finished and sent to the teachers to satisfy them. In other words, they think that homework is just for the sake of doing and finishing them. Even in their learning environment, their classrooms were just bland and there's no life in learning. No posters or displays of their artwork, no decorations, not even the students' best homework were display at all. Only group work that has been done in class and there were not much decorating either- the art drawn on their group project were simply instructed for the purpose of their work and they were not drawing based on their personal liking. I understand that the Japanese lead a minimalist lifestyle- their apartments are small, not much decoration etc. This, I think, has an impact student mentality as well as the way they learn and it may not be easy to change that.



Competence


Competence, for some reasons have a link to self-esteem, confidence however can have an involvement to a student's competence as they know what they are good at and what they are not. Therefore, creating homework that is between challenging and achievable is a balance that may not be easy depending on the type of students each class has. Not only that, students should also hold a will of accepting challenges as well as the understanding the concept of learning from mistakes. Just like the theory of Zone of Proximal Development, students or learners should receive help in order to improve. Homework that students can't do without help is not good homework, students are discouraged when they are unable to complete homework on their own. To ensure homework is doable and possibly containing the element of challenge for them, teachers must differentiate assignments so they are at the appropriate level of difficulty for individual students.

Struggling students may require fewer questions, less complex problems with fewer steps, or less reading. Some students may be given abbreviated reading assignments, adapted reading packets, or simplified directions. One of the simplest ways to help struggling students is to require less writing, with fewer blanks to fill in, or answers that the students can circle instead of writing out. Although some students may create a graphic organizer, others may be given a graphic organizer. Teachers might give some students word banks, copies of their notes, or hint sheets. English language learners may benefit from assignments containing pictures that give clues to meaning in assignments with difficult vocabulary and may find it easier to complete work in their native language first.

Also the amount of work is a huge obstacle to feelings of competence for some students. A task that takes the average students 15 minutes to complete could take another student an hour. It doesn't make sense for slower students to have to spend more time on homework than other students do - instead, teachers should simply give them less work. Teachers must also take care to adequately explain assignments (such as writing) and structure them so students know how to complete them. Teachers should also create scaffolded tasks- such as partner homework, preferably a combination of stronger and weaker students.

Personal Thoughts:

Our mentors create homework that tends towards the majority which is the level meant for average students. Their reason is that too simple English instructions may disrupt the purpose of improve the students' English level while those who have managed to understand- it is to maintain their level - plus our mentors' way of putting out differentiated task by having Japanese translation of the directions.

Also, simple and less writing exercise is the main theme and component in our mentors' homework as it is a language/ eikaiwa class- you need to speak to improve. Our mentors noted that there is some resistance in learning anything that is outside of japan. However, our mentors stressed to the students that it takes only 5 minutes to complete the video homework. Unfortunately, there are still some students who did not even submit their homework. When our mentors gave them partner video homework, it was for the students to improve each other in their English level - or scaffolding, they would make sure that each partner the students get would be a mixture of levels, because, (they had given them the freedom to choose their partner before) the students would seize every chance to find their good friends- most of the time, good students would partner up with good students, same goes for weaker students or those who were not interested in learning, this causes an imbalance in homework quality and the gap is very large.


Aesthetic appeal

Everyday, students make decisions about whether to do a homework assignment on the basis of their first impressions. The way homework looks is important. Five- page worksheets or endless lists of definitions or math problems look boring and tedious. As a gourmet cook would say, "Presentation is everything." Less information on the page, plenty of room to write answers, and the use of graphics or clip art make tasks look inviting and interesting.

Teachers sometimes compromise learning in an effort to create appealing tasks. It is best to find tasks that can be as simple as Scrabble where students get to create their own pattern of content-related words. Tasks should be created for students to find connections between the concepts that the words or homework represent.

Personal Thoughts:

Just like in ownership, the students just simply view homework as means of just doing and finishing them only to be checked by the teacher. They simply do not think the there is any other personal purpose to homework, this also applied to the teachers in Nichidai. Our mentors do try to do some little touch-ups in their presentation slides when they were teaching. They would add in some illustration, clipart and etc. The students, well, I found some of them gotten pretty distracted with the art and would start coloring the art such as recolor the hair or some of the words when they enlarge the pdf files in class. They were interested, but, for the wrong reasons. I have heard that despite there were technological conveniences for the teachers to teach such as the projector; the Japanese teachers did not make use of them- they rarely display anything using the said projectors- they rarely play videos

Overall

I personally feel that our mentors have tried whatever they can to improve the students in Nichidai; the mentality of studying in schools as a passport to pass their entrance exams rather than life-long learning still persists to this day. To the students, they don't have much say in their career path, only a few who are lucky. As the majority of the schools are highly competitive, I can understand that the students are not really interested in the purpose of learning but to memorize and absorb as such as they can for that entrance exams in universities that is all. Alongside the usage of juku, students are just to remember, remember and remember what they have learnt instead of understanding what they have learnt. According to a research article, parents are the ones who make decisions on student education and career pathways. In a sense they "try to directly influence the aspirations of their children at home and through their correspondence with school teachers," . But they do not actually get themselves involved with the progress of student success. In terms of designing and structuring homework, the majority of the Japanese teachers only use textbooks and exercise books set for their students, they rarely create homework for their students. This may also be an underlying cause for the students to treat all homework as bland. Because of this mentality, our mentors' effort seem to have been slightly futile, but not always, as the first year junior high students were very keen on decorating their work once they were given the chance to do so. So to an extent, the principles do apply, well, in the context in English; it just depends on the type of students and mentality; because in the end, no batch of students would be the same. Not only that, it also depends on the curriculum- how or what does Nichidai want from their students.