This will be a short blog. Motivated students put in effort.
DONE!!
Ok?? not good enough??
I think effort is the hardest topic to write about 1. because it will come across preachy. 2. because we all know what it takes, to some extent, but it is very hard to teach.
In my college classes what I do is I assign points to everything I want done well, and I present not quite a rubrick, but a sense to the students of how I will evaluate the papers if certain elements are missing.
For example, in my physics class (General Physics) I dock points for not following through with the following:
1. showing all work in handwriting I can read
2. giving units on all quantities
3. showing a diagram of the forces involved in the problem
4. etc.
I give similar clear expectations for students in writing classes, spelling out number of words, number of paragraphs that each present a coherent argument in support for the thesis statement, etc.
But on a more global scale, I think some of learning to put in effort comes from the teacher. And for those of you who are homeschooling or dealing long term with homeschool coops, there are some principles which can be taught long term. (Ideally, I really think putting in proper effort on each assignment is something we teach students long term, which is why I think that homeschoolers may be able to do a better job than school teachers who only have students for one class for one semester.)
In order for a student to put in effort, he or she needs to have enough time to do so. If the student is swamped with too many details in too many classes, he or she may just give up in advance and be used to turning in these slop job poor assignments in every class, just to be able to say that this assignment is done.
Homeschoolers have the unique ability to control the student’s environment to make sure that there isn’t an overwhelming amount of assignments, so that the assignments the student is required to complete and do well in are fewer, specific, with good directions. And in addition the homeschool teahcer has the ability to ensure the follow through by DEMANDING that the student does a good job, and if not, to send the assignment back to the student requesting the necessary corrections. The homeschool teacher should never settle for less than what he o r she wants the student to do well in. This is where I absolutely think that homeschooling trumps everything else. We as homeschoolers are not on someone else’s schedule. We don’t have to shrug and say, oh well, we have to move on. We can INSIST until we have a job well done, so the student gets in a habit of doing everything well, rather than just plow through material. The perserverabnce, the follow through, the not giving up until it is right, is paramount, I think, to creating an excellent student.
My students never continued in anything we did in homeschooling until they had acquired 90% at least (that was in math and Science and Latin). And with essays, I never let them go until the essays were at the 90% level of the mastery and skill I expected them to have. (This will vary kid by kid in terms of ability, maturity, and patience, and must be decided by the parent, of course).
But I would say, keep your assignments few and worthy. My focus was Latin, Math, and Language arts (English lit and writing). Those were core, those had to be done 90% or better. We did other stuff, but not as thoroughly. I never wanted to overwhelm my students with too many subjects. SO some were just reading or watching a history DVD; or doing a hands on science experiment… but Latin, Math and LA were KINGS of our homeschool and I accepted nothing less than effort and perseverance and follow through in doing those well. —
Now, lest you think I had titanic and never ending battles with my students… they were trained so young and so early that they knew no better, and I had few battles during the 16+ years I homeschooled. They still, to this day in college, have excellent follow through on assignments (I think!! I don’t live with them) because it is what they are used to.