How to create meaningful homeworks and exercises.

As you become a teacher you start learning about the process and from your students. At some point, you will learn that in some classes is mandatory that you leave homework and include exercises in class, but first, you must know why this is so important and how you can create this from scratch.

Why this is important? There will be some courses that require more emphasis and practice than others, most of these courses will be practical courses like math, physics, biology, etc. Their process requires following a procedure and some rules or they have to learn to perceive the difference between two things and look exactly the same but are not the same.

Homework and exercises are also good. After all, they give the student the chance to practice on their own and develop their critical thinking too because they will not have the chance to ask you directly.

• What’s the purpose of the homework? you have to define clearly why you want to assign that homework in specifically, why another will not work as good as this one. What do you want the student to achieve at the end of the homework?
• From where are you taking the homework? This homework comes from the notebook, workbook, blog or you pick it randomly from Google. You must check twice if the homework that you’re picking will help your students to achieve the goal of it or if it’s just because.
• Leave too much homework or not leave homework at all: There’s a middle point of leaving too much homework or not leaving it at all, you have to think about your students and their academy loans. I know that some topics require more practice than others but that’s the reason why exercises were created, the purpose of the exercise is to give the student the chance to practice in real time what they have learned and you also be there to ask any question that they may have.
• Choose quantity over quality: is not necessary that you leave much homework, as I mentioned before think about your students and empathize with them. As long as you leave one homework that gives them the chance to include all the information that they learn in class and they develop their critical thinking it’s okay.
• Offer Timely Feedback: The feedback is a key instrument for students’ development and education. Assess and offer immediate and positive evaluation of assignments to aid students’ comprehension and development. Highlighting positive instances and proposing areas for improvement and recommendations for additional learning activities. Students should be invited to contemplate on their progress and then use the feedback to improve on their work.
• Promote Reflection and Metacognition: Stimulate the students to make a reflection on the process of their learning and test their understanding via self-reflexive activities. Ask them to spell out what they have gained in the process, how have they been going about the task and what approaches have they employed. There is no way that students can develop self-awareness and become more autonomous learners without metacognitive activities.

Lastly, cultivate a supportive and inviting educational environment in which the students get stimulated to work on their assignments. Acknowledge their accomplishments, suggest ways to get better, and give them a chance to triumph. Students taking on such challenges will be immersed in learning to develop the ability to take responsibility.

Finally, consequently, as we have seen, homework and exercises of great depth are of huge value in the process of learning and the final success. Teachers can develop assignments that will reinforce the learning objectives by using active learning, connecting assignments to the real world, encouraging critical thinking, differentiating instructions, facilitating student interaction, providing feedback when it is needed, fostering reflection and metacognition, balancing demand on quantity with quality, and creating a conducive environment.