Every class period, about 3 minutes before the end, I write the homework for the next class on the whiteboard.
I look at my report sheet and write what I prepared before class.
Students copy what I write on the whiteboard onto their homework sheets.
It usually looks something like this:
LG SB 74 LR3X
LG WB 72
NB LG SB 74 C. W1X
Diary
(LG = Let's Go (the name of the textbook), WB = workbook, NB = notebook, LR3X = listen and read 3 times)
All students are very familiar with this homework routine, especially as it signals an end to the class period or a prelude to breaktime (10 minutes between classes).
Often they call out the homework to each other, as my body is partially blocking the whiteboard while I am writing.
A month or so ago, in one 4th grade class, two great female students asked if they could write the homework.
"What do you mean," I asked them.
"We want to write the homework" they said.
My first thought was, "No, that is not ok".
However, I realized that there was nothing wrong with their request.
In fact, they were being confident in asking, using good English, and empowering themselves.
"Yes," I replied, "One of you can do it today and the other next class."
So, for the first time ever I stood back while one of the girls did my job.
She picked up my class report sheet and wrote the class homework on the whiteboard.
In the larger context it was a little thing, yet it meant a lot to her, and it taught me a lesson.
Students are sometimes good at teaching teachers a lesson:)
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