Currently I use a system of homework that utilizes the Technic Today Book Series. Starting in 6th grade student work through books 1-3 with assigned lines due each quarter/trimester. For example: my 6th graders are on a trimester schedule so the first trimester they have no homework as we are learning our way around the new instrument. When the 2nd trimester starts in November they have 15 etudes due by February at the end of the Trimester and the last 15 etudes due by the end of May before school is out. These are all done at their own pace but they must complete the assigned etudes by the due date to get an "A" for their homework. Ideally they will stay on track with this and be done with book 1 and be ready for book 2 their second year of playing. The homework completion is 25% of their grade. Students do not get extra credit for working ahead but they are seated according to the number of etudes they have completed.

Having said all of that, here are my dilemas after doing this for one year:

1. My colleague and I like to hear each student play so that we can correct errors and have sort of a "mini lesson" with each student. It's nice to hear everyone but it's starting to get tough to get through everyone. They are allowed to "pass off" etudes during class (we call them out alphabetically), during school wide study hall and after school. Even with all of these times it's still difficult to get to everyone.

2. They wait until the very last minute to get lines done so the end of the quarter/trimester is a MAD HOUSE!

3. Kids complain to parents that they "don't have time" to finish the etudes and I've had more phone calls and nasty emails this year than ever because the kids are not telling the whole truth.

Now, here are my questions:

1. If you have something similar to this do you grade the same way? If not, what do you do?

2. If you have a similiar homework policy do you listen to individual students or is there another way you recommend helping them get their work done?

3. Any suggestions as to how to get students motivated to get this work done besides just having it tied to their chair placement?

This is the first year I've done this type of homework program and I think in the long run it will be a great asset to our program. I can already tell that it's helping my beginners as we are able to move faster without having to work on so many of the basic counting and note issues. I did practice records in the past and those just did not work. It was a license to lie on both the kids and the parents part in many cases.

Thanks for reading this and for any insight you can give me.

Respectfully,

Becky Harris

Lansing Middle School

Lansing, KS