It’s the end of the lesson, pupils are packing away and barely listening as you yell “your home learning is to finish off your class work, don’t forget!”There are so many things wrong with this scenario it pains me to even imagine it! Answer honestly, is this exemplary of your lesson? If it is, don’t fret but do read my advice…
Why not set your home learning at the start of the lesson rather than at the end? Your pupils have been concentrating for an hour during your lesson (hopefully!) and during the last 5 minutes they are winding down probably thinking about what lesson they’ve got next or what they’re going to eat for lunch. Do you really think they are going to listen to what their home learning is? Unlikely.
However, asking your pupils to copy down their home learning at the start of the lesson, ensures they’re relaxed, focused and are actually registering what they are being asked to do, then you explain what you expect from them allowing suitable time for questions if needed.
A great way of differentiating is with the Home Learning Take Away Menu! This allows pupils the choice of what task to do to learn at home (much less planning for you and much more freedom for the pupils: win, win!). The more able will often go straight for the most challenging task which I think is fantastic at stretching them and building their confidence to progress dramatically. This will be available for download very soon!
