It’s time to tackle the thorny, all-important issue of motivation.  This conversation is pivotal in creating the culture we need in this class.

“Why do you do homework?,” I ask them.  They look around, somewhat taken aback by the question.

“I don’t want to flunk the test that will be based on the homework,” Tom says.

“Sometimes I learn from homework, but mostly I do it because my grades depend on it,”  Mara says.  There are murmurs of assent.

“Well, let me ask all of you this, then:  how much homework would you do if you weren’t getting points for it?”  

“I might still do some homework if the topic interested me, or if I thought it was important,” says Alexis.   I already know she is a highly motivated student, and quite successful in school.  “I don’t know how much work I would do, but I wouldn’t stop altogether.”

“Well, I would”, says Jason.  “I would still pay attention in my classes, but if I didn’t have to work at home, I would absolutely give it up.  There are so many other things I would rather be doing, and I don’t have time to do them all when I have two or three hours of homework every night.”

“Okay, so how important is homework in terms of learning?” I ask.

“Sometimes practicing a math problem helps, and I can read a novel and maybe get something out of it, but most homework is busywork for me,” Jason says.

“I agree.”  This is Raphael.  He hasn’t smiled once in the four days I’ve seen him.  I’ve had the very strong impression that he would rather be somewhere, anywhere, other than school.  “I honestly don’t learn anything from most of the homework I do.  It’s just something we have to do because the teacher said so, and we’ll lose credit if we don’t do it.  If it weren’t for the grades, it would be a complete waste of time.”

I’m glad Raphael said this; he has hit the nail on the head.  “The ideas that homework isn’t all that useful for learning, and that you’re only doing it to get a good grade, are both part of what I call ‘doing school.’  When that’s the game we are playing, you do the work for me and I reward you with points for doing it, right?

“But what if, somehow, you were not working for me, but for yourself?  What if, instead of my giving you points or some other reward, it was up to you to decide for yourself ‘I did great work, or ‘this is mediocre,’ and evaluate yourself accordingly? 

“What if we could make sure that homework was actually useful in learning the material?  We’ll get into this a lot more next week, but we are going to redefine the purpose of homework in this class:  instead of being busywork, homework will be how you get ready to talk about the topic in your study group.  It’s how we are going to share the wealth.  If you understand the homework, you are now ready to teach it.  If you don’t understand the homework, you are now ready to ask good questions and learn from the others.

“In either case, doing homework will prepare you to actively participate in conversational learning.  And that’s where a great deal of the learning you are going to do in this class is going to take place.  We don’t need points for that.  In fact, I don’t need to give you any grade at all.”

I definitely have their attention.  They are looking around to check out each other’s reactions; there is a low murmur in the room.

“Now imagine this process works (and I know from years of experience that it does).  If we do this right, you will really learn the material.  When you take a test, you won’t be regurgitating and forgetting;  you will be showing what you know.  If the grading system is fair, when you learn a lot, a high grade will naturally follow.  And now a good grade will actually mean something.

“So here’s the deal:  we are not going to use points in this class.  I find them to be a serious distraction, and we don’t need them.”

This is clearly a bombshell.  They take a moment to digest it.  Students who know each other are already talking, and several students actually laugh out loud.  

“But how are we going to end up with grades on our report cards?” Steve asks.  “Without points, how will we know how well we are doing?”

“You will be evaluating a lot of your own work, and I will keep track of your test grades.  You’ll also have a portfolio in the room to store all your work.  At the end of each quarter, I will have a grade conference with every one of you.  We will look at all your work, and figure out what a fair grade is.”

“What if we disagree with you?  What if someone decides they want an A, even though they haven’t done A work?”

Clearly, some reassurance is in order.  “Well, I find I overwhelmingly agree with my students about what a fair grade is.  There may be some fine-tuning to do, of course, but that’s what the conversation is for.  If anything, when I do disagree with a student I often find myself arguing to raise their grade, not lower it.

“I think you’ll findthat if you trust the system, we can get the usual preoccupation with grades out of the picture.  Because you won’t be paying so much attention to grades, you will actually learn more.”