Introduction

As you may remember (or not, because come on, it’s not like you commit to memory everything I write here), I have been using a binder system in Algebra II this year. I made it a conscious goal this year to teach organization, and to try to make homework more meaningful. The basic idea behind these binders is to (a) help students learn how to be organized and (b) allow students to view homework as not just a chore to “get it done and forget about it.”

Conclusion

So I thought I’d end with the punchline. The binders were a darn good success, for the first year I used them. I saw the results in class when we talked about homework. And for the most part, students themselves bought into the system and saw the benefits themselves. I’ll probably change things here and there a little, but not much.

Signs of Success: Evidence for the Conclusion

I already knew they were doing something seriously good when I threw up answers to the homework on the SmartBoard, and almost all my kids marked the questions they got right with a CHECK and the questions they got wrong with an X. They were also much more proactive in asking homework questions. For that alone, I knew I was probably going to continue these binder checks.

On our last and final binder check, I asked the following:

For 5 more points, I ask your honesty when answering questions on two things. I would never penalize you for being honest when I ask you to be honest. I really am looking for some thoughts on this binder thing.

(1)  Has keeping a binder kept you more organized throughout the year than without the binder?

(2) What is your process for correcting homework/assessments? When and how do you do it? Does it help you?

I also verbally talked to them about how this feedback wasn’t about them, but was about this thing we did this year, and I need them to be completely honest in their responses — even if it meant bashing the binders.

I contemplated typing the most positive responses, letting y’all think that those were representative, and moving on. Because overall I think that the binders were a success, and these responses would have illustrated that dramatically. But heck, things are nuanced, and skipping over the details leaves out the juicy and important bits. So…

Here are a some of the responses to the first question.

(1)  Has keeping a binder kept you more organized throughout the year than without the binder?

It has kept me more organized for the long term versus the present. I think that more frequent binder checks would help us keep us up to date, so like after each unit/assessment.

Yes! Honestly it does because in past years when it comes time to study I can never find the notes/hw/tests I need.

Keeping a binder has made me less likely to lose my work and more organized. It is likely that this will help me in studying for the final. Although it is a pain, I am glad that we do it.

Yes!!! I honestly am so happy that you made us do this, even though it is a bit of a hassle. Now that exams are coming up I am so grateful I have all my material. I wish I had done this for all my classes.

I really did not enjoy doing it. I thought it was really annoying but now when studying for finals it is very helpful. And it has definitely made me more organized.

I guess it has forced me to keep a lot of my old things together but it is not necessary.

I didn’t type all the responses because most read like the one in italics. Overall, when looking at the responses, I distilled the following. The binder checks are slightly annoying, but definitely helpful. For the few students who are already organized, nothing much changed with organization. For the rest who aren’t consistently organized, many seemed to find it frustrating but helpful, and a few just found it frustrating. Many also said they are happy they’ve done it because now they have everything set in order to study for the final exam.

I typed out most of the responses for the second question.

(2) What is your process for correcting homework/assessments? When and how do you do it? Does it help you?

Either I correct them when we go over them in class or I check the course conference later and correct them. It doesn’t always help because sometimes I forget to correct them and then I lose points, but for the most part it helps.

I do it the night before the binder check and it helps me because it’s review and usually I forget how to do the problems at first.

I usually do it before the binder quiz and I go over it with someone for the corrections. Honestly it does help even though it is tedious and hard to do corrections. When I study for tests it is very helpful. It is also good because I know what I have and don’t have.

I try to do it when we go over answers in class or when I get an assessment back. If I realize I’ve not done that, then I will try to correct it when studying for an assessment or before a binder check. It’s helpful to have the right answer to study, but sometimes we go fast going over them and it usually messes me up if I missed out on correcting them.

I usually correct homework when we go over it in class. It is pretty helpful because if I don’t understand something we will go over it when I usually wouldn’t ask too many questions. I correct my assessments out of school on my own. Usually I’ll try and figure out what went wrong but afterwards if I can’t figure it out I’ll ask a teacher for help.

I correct homework when we go over it in class. And I usually correct my tests the day I get them back but sometimes later. It is helpful because then you know what mistakes you have made and how to fix them, and also what you need to work on.

I correct them when we go over it in class. Sometimes before binderchecks I’ll go thru them to find wrong questions. It doesn’t help me personally.

I correct homework assignments in class when we go over the homework and I correct assessments as soon as I receive notice of a binder quiz. Correcting homework helps me better understand problems that I did not know before. It also compels me to be more proactive in my learning.

I correct homeworks in class when we are going over how to do the problems, because that is when I understand what I did wrong and I correct test[s] before the binder checks. It would help me if it were just for the sake of correcting, but binder checks hurt my grade more than help.

Yes, it helps.

With HW I do it in class as we correct it, but for tests, I usually do it a little before the binder check by pulling out notes and old HWs on the topic which helps me overall.

My process is checking in the back of the book, writing down right answers in class, and revising my work in class so I have it correct. It helps me keep track that I’m doing it correctly.

I do it all at once when the binder check comes. Probably not the best idea, but it works.

I do it when we go over it in class or before the binder check. It doesn’t really help me. I never really use that material to help me study anyways.

I was most interested in reading the answers to this second question. Because it was on this front that I predicted that my kids would all tell me that they do all their homework and assessment corrections the night before the binder check, and that they didn’t find doing them useful, and that there would be an outpouring of complaints about their grades (many got Cs and Ds in the first quarter for the binder checks). I suspected that most would say it was just an annoyance and not helpful at all.

But clearly most students explicitly or implicitly talked about how being forced to correct their work helped them, and be more proactive in their learning. I was happy that many found it useful in consciously separating their knowledge into what they do know and what they don’t know.