Do you give homework Twitter poll

This was my most successful poll yet. Over 200 people participated. Thank you! Participants had three choices this time.

1) Yes I give homework (daily or weekly).
2) Yes, but... (for those that only assign reading, incomplete class work and etc)
3) No! #ditchhw

I voted option #2. I usually give homework when there's incomplete class work. I give enough time to my students to complete the work. They have enough time to come see me and ask questions. On top of that, I e-mail the questions and answers to parents so that they feel more comfortable helping out.

Another type of homework that is assigned in my class is studying for a test. Students will know of an evaluation one week in advance. How much they study is up to them and their parents. I'll also give time in the classroom to study as well.

The last type of homework ''given'' are projects. I like to give different types of projects during the school year. I give enough time to complete the projects in the classroom (weeks, months, whatever is necessary to create something worthwhile). However, sometimes students like to work on the projects at home. This happens quite often because I think the projects are fun and interesting.

Now, here are the results of the Twitter poll:

Participants had interesting things to say:

I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do things. There are so many ways to teach. As long as you are true to your values and your schools' values and as long as you have your students' well-being at heart, you can't go wrong. Of course, that is just my opinion.

Would you rather...specialists and generalists in #physed

I recently Tweeted a poll (that I unfortunately deleted by mistake). I asked the following question:

Would you rather your students have physical education 2-3 times a week with a specialist or 4-5 times a week with a generalist?

Stats:
135 participants voted
80% voted for the first option (2-3 times a week with a specialist)
20% voted for the second option (4-5 times a week with a generalist)

Interesting conversations ensued:

Full disclosure, I voted for generalists 4-5 times a week. The vote is based on my personal experience of having taught as a ''generalist''. I taught my grade 5 students the following subjects: French, mathematics, social studies, sciences, arts and physical education (4 times a week). My 1st specialist taught a combined class of physical education and health. My second specialist taught one class of music and my third specialist taught English twice a week. As a generalist, I was able to find holes in the gymnasium schedule and pencil in my classroom. This allowed me to get them in the gymnasium 4-5 times a week. When we didn't have access to the gymnasium we would have our physical education class outside. I also didn't like them to move for 60 minutes and then sit for the rest of the day. I added lots of movement opportunities in the classroom. We have to be careful to not create a generation of actively sedentary students.

The reality is that we need our students to have physical education and movement opportunities every day and that won't happen with physed specialists only. Both the physical education and generalist teacher need to combine forces in order to make sure our students move enough throughout the day.

Learn to move.

Move to learn.