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Promoting a healthy classroom climate isn't easy, and a solid framework is necessary to achieve this important goal.  One way of understanding a healthy classroom climate is one that is horizontal, otherwise known as distributed.  This primarily refers to the power relationship between students and instructors, and sees that relationship as the most important element of a classroom environment.

In a traditional classroom - known as a vertical or a centralized classroom - the instructor is all-powerful.  Students sit in rows facing the instructor, who lectures during class time and assesses student comprehension based on student-to-teacher interaction.  Physically, the vertical classroom emphasizes the authority of the instructor and minimizes the agency of students by separating them (or not placing them in groups) and making sure that all students are watching the instructor at all times.  Learning resources - posters, pictures, study guides - are lacking, or placed behind the teacher on the front wall.  The classroom is structured so that students enter, sit, and leave.  Many educational researchers describe this mode of learning as "teacher-centered."

The vertical classroom is not optimal for several reasons.  First, it allows for a limited range of assessment and instruction methods.  Students are unable to learn from each other.  Second, the vertical classroom limits the range of activities that can take place.  Students are unable to work in pairs or in teams, and class-wide collaboration is impossible.  Finally, by creating a classroom culture of authoritarianism, student creativity, autonomy and agency is severely limited.  Vertical classrooms rely on outdated and disproven educational ideas about the "tabula rasa" (blank table) method of learning, and teach students to avoid making mistakes, which are crucial for effective troubleshooting-based learning.

The alternative is horizontal learning.  This mode of learning places the focus on fostering an environment where spontaneous and organic learning happens constantly.  Students may sit in small groups or in one large U-shaped arrangement.  The teacher is not at the front of the class, so the student does not implicitly associate the instructor with the source of knowledge (a whiteboard or projected screen) and ideally remains at eye-level with the students.  Learning supplements are scattered around the room, and ideally, "stations" are set up so that different areas of the room have clearly different and multi-purpose functions.  Students can sit where they want, and desks are moved regularly to vary the relationship between students and the classroom space.  The one-directional authoritative delivery of information is replaced by a constantly growing and changing web of information sharing, with the teacher learning from the student, and the student learning from her peers at least as much as the student learns from her teacher.  Educational researchers describe this mode of learning as "student-centered."

There is no perfectly horizontal or vertical classroom, and each has their merits.  Teachers often adopt a "diagonal" structure that combines elements of both.  However, given that traditional Western education systems have prioritized the vertical structure, it is crucial for effective educators in the 21st century to consider current educational research and integrate horizontal methods when possible.  Here are some practical steps we can take to make this vision a reality:

1.  Prioritize group activities, and when possible, whole-class activities.
2.  Use the think-pair-share assessment when possible.  This involves individual reflection of information, collaborative reflection, and then group reflection.
3.  Stress collective rights and responsibilities over individual expectations and punishments when creating classroom agreements.
4.  Do the same assignments you give your students, at the same time as they complete those assignments.
5.  Emphasize collective ownership of the classroom space.  Students should clean and re-organize the space after each class, but their work (especially art) should cover the class as well.
6.  Prioritize facilitation over instruction, when appropriate.  Model facilitative behaviors by asking questions and re-framing incorrect answers instead of shooting them down.  Set a goal that your students can eventually lead and even run classroom activities without your direct involvement.
7.  Limit traditional test-taking whenever possible.  The traditional test rewards subjugative learning and penalizes creative thinking.  Find alternative assessments.  Debates, presentations, and projects assess many more skills and competencies than exams.
8.  Sit in your student's seats.  What do they see from their perspective?  Horizontal classrooms have multiple areas of focus.  Are your students only supposed to look at the instructor?
9.  Create a rubric for discussion and debate-based activities, and explain this rubric early.  Normalize open discussion and grade this discussion regularly.
10.  Consider the amount of time you spend on giving instructions, the amount of time spent lecturing, and the amount of time spent completing an activity.  When possible, heavily prioritize spending more time on completing an activity.  Collaboration takes more time but yields significantly greater results.

The reward of a horizontal, distributed classroom is education in the purest sense of the word: novel, engaging experiences, critical and meaningful assessments, spontaneous learning and enthusiastic students. The reward is worth the reorganization.

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 Clearly label all materials in the classroom（Muhua Liu）

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 Clearly label all materials in the classroom（Muhua Liu）

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It makes teacher and students feel instantly calmer and more in control when everything is organized. When the classroom is organized, you don’t lose anything, you don’t waste time, you are efficient, so does student.

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Importance of Labeling in a Preschool Classroom

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Allowing students to interact with their peers. This builds up their team working and team-building skills. Students can brainstorm ideas amongst each other as well as get feedback from others.

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Ineffective Discipline Measures (Chris Johnson)

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Ineffective Discipline Measures (Chris Johnson)

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Discipline is something that every teacher thinks about constantly.  Fostering cooperation, healthy habits and emotional well-being isn't easy.  When a students disrupts the classroom climate, an instructor needs to be able to respond using a well-tested and thought-out set of responses.  We can think of those responses as a "discipline toolkit." Every instructor has a different toolkit, and every institution has a range of proscribed behavior problems and their standard response, but it is important to realize that most disruptive behaviors fall in a gray zone beyond what constitutes a clear behavior issue, and that no institution has discovered the "best" response for any given disruptive act.

What should instructors avoid when responding to a student's behavior, and what outcomes do they want to prioritize as a result of a teacher's intervention?  Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) principles help guide empathetic and effective responses to behavior issues.  When responding to students, instructors should do their best to never yell or swear, never interrupt, and to allow for silence between action and response so as to lower the temperature of a potentially volatile situation.  Aggressive behavior by an educator has as much of an educational impact as any other piece of information that a student encounters - what do we teach when we respond with anger?

It is also very important to not penalize a student's academic outcome due to behavioral issues.  Grades are a measure of academic performance, and students are within their rights to criticize a teacher they feel (or worse, know) is penalizing a grade because of behavior issues.  That being said, creative instructors can get around this by measuring "participation" in class and docking points for performance that does not boost participation.

Of course, the ideal outcome is to foster a classroom climate where students are so engaged, and where free expression is so respected that disruption is rare and never detrimental.  If a student refuses to focus, stop giving them attention, because that's what they're seeking.  If a student is rude, express hurt, and they will often stop.  If a student is harming others, isolate them from the rest of the group according to early-established and clearly-defined expectations.  Review the principles of SEL to determine what needs a disruptive student is trying to satisfy, and work to satisfy those needs.  Your students and your blood pressure will thank you.

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One of the most difficult aspects of virtual learning is a difference in technical capabilities.  Instructors using a virtual platform must balance different technical capabilities, knowledge of a given platform, and threats to group connectivity in addition to every other consideration an educator makes when working with a group of students.

Screen sharing is a useful tool for looking at slides and ensuring that the class is focusing on a particular set of information, but screen-sharing videos can often confound participants.  High-quality videos use a lot of data and will undoubtedly clog the audio and visual bandwith of a lesson.  Additionally, videos that seem to be playing fine from the instructor's screen will often appear laggy on a student's screen.

One way to avoid this issue is to not use videos, however they can be an invaluable resource in a virtual setting.  Instead, assign videos to students before and after a class, and use valuable in-class time to review the content of the videos.  Instructors can screen-shot important frames from a video and use them as additions to a slide presentation, which can help students recall key moments.

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Using physical classroom training curriculum(Muhua Liu)

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Using physical classroom training curriculum(Muhua Liu)

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In a classroom, you would have your PowerPoint presentation going in the background while you paced the floor talking. That doesn’t work on Zoom.

Instead, come up with activities that learners can do to stay engaged. Use the breakout rooms feature to pair learners up and have them work through situations together (team building activities or operation-related) and then come back to class with an answer.

In a classroom, everyone would take breaks and mingle by the snacks. That doesn’t work on Zoom.

Instead, include a few virtual breaks where everyone grabs a snack and shares what they’re eating, shows off a talent (like playing the banjo), or grabs an object that represents them so they can talk about it.

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4 common virtual training mistakes (+ how to fix them)

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Are you making these common virtual training mistakes? Stop using these remote training techniques and start adopting these training tips to prepare your new hires for the job. Even though in-person training isn’t an option, it doesn’t mean your employees can’t learn in virtual onboarding courses.

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Develop a class agreement (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Develop a class agreement (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Teaching inclusively requires that we spend time on developing a class culture in which all students feel safe, supported, and encouraged to express their thoughts, values, experiences, and perspectives.  It is important to clearly communicate what values frame and guide your course. This helps students to know what to expect and reduces unnecessary conflicts. Establishing clear expectations and agreements for classroom interactions provides a solid foundation for all following work. Class participation agreements – also referred to as class norms or netiquette (in the online environment) – make explicit the kind of interactions that contribute to productive learning.

You can develop the class participation guidelines on your own and place them in your syllabus or on a handout that you give to your students early in the term. However, experience suggests that it is more effective to engage students in creating their own classroom agreements. Involving your students in identifying what would help them participate fully in class, allows students to take ownership of these agreements.  The class participation agreements also lay out for students what they expect from themselves and each other. In cases of conflict, the class can refer back to the agreements as part of conflict resolution. Once agreements are established, each member of the class is responsible and accountable for living into them.

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In many ways, a virtual classroom is a "flipped" version of a normal classroom.  In a physical classroom, the instructor can design the space to focus attention on their presence or on a visual surface, like a whiteboard.  In a virtual classroom, the instructor is one of several faces of equal size on a screen at any given time.  In a physical classroom, group work can be highly directed and constantly monitored; in a virtual classroom, group work is subject to environmental and technical barriers, and often times instructors can only be sure that a student is actively listening - and even then, not always!

Effective virtual instructors use these characteristics to their advantage.  Virtual sessions should be seen as a space for learners to convene and share what they have learned outside of class time, and valuable in-class screen time can be used to merely introduce new concepts or review recently learned material.  Virtual instructors should prioritize independent learning outside of class.  One way to do this is to supplement in-class material introduction with several simple comprehension-checking activities outside of class.  Focusing on independent investigation outside of class allows the class time to be focused on group reflection, discussion, and presentation.

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Ignoring students' actual level and needs （Muhua Liu）

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Ignoring students' actual level and needs （Muhua Liu）

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You can’t teach kids that you can’t reach, and children who come into the classroom with mental health needs require different tools in which teachers are not routinely being equipped with.
To be safe, our students need to know that all the things they might feel or need to express will be honored and valued. In telling our students to try to “forget” about the problems we face, we are sending them the message that the lives they lead are shameful to begin with.
This is creating school buildings where the teachers and students end the day feeling like refugees, having engaged in a war none of them is equipped to win.
It’s important to note that a big part of that difference does not begin with students. The change actually must start with our own mindsets and beliefs as educators. It would be false to state that the communities our students come from are devoid of problems. It is understandable that we want our students to find success and happiness in opportunities that may appear out of reach given the current circumstances they inhabit.

Yet it’s important to remember we can acknowledge problems and want to give our students increased opportunities without causing them shame. Telling our students they can “escape” their community or experiences in their entirety, without giving them the tools and knowledge to help mediate some of the things they are struggling with, doesn’t fix their problems. Instead, it teaches kids that their experiences—the difficult and the beautiful—are something to be ashamed of and suppressed. We only make them believe that their silence and ours will somehow save them. Unfortunately, it will not. Speaking “properly” will not save them. Dressing “properly” will not save them. Even going to the best schools in the world will not fully “save” them.

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Engagement in virtual classroom(Muhua Liu)

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Engagement in virtual classroom(Muhua Liu)

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Whether they're in-person or online, engaged students work better, help create an attentive learning environment, and are more likely to retain key information. It is more challenging for students to be engaged in virtual classroom.
1. Online classroom decorum

Advice students to maintain decorum in a virtual class, with a proper place to sit, away from all distractions. Choose a virtual platform that offers a structured classroom environment with two-way communication. Students should be able to mute/unmute themselves, raise a query or initiate a chat during a class. The audio and video should be of high quality.

Language of interaction should not be rude and discouraging. It should give opportunities to all students alike, to ask questions and verify their understanding.

If some individuals have missed or not understood a concept, plan a separate session for them.

2. Use the right tech platform

Using the right platform helps improve student participation through real time communication and access to information. Select a platform that is feature packed for better communication, interaction and engagement. In today’s fast paced world, students expect to be constantly connected and want immediate reactions and responses. Online learning should be active learning with features like raise-hand, surveys, Q&As, and reactions through emojis.

As a teacher, if you can leverage the features of the virtual platform, you can improve the communication and engagement multifold. Share links of online study materials in the chat box and include articles, PPTs, videos, etc. to help students understand and grasp concepts better.

3. Communicate in several formats

Explore and utilise multiple options for online teaching and learning. You can arrange discussion forums, share recorded audios or videos, attach large documents in emails, etc.

Explanatory screencast videos are simple to create and can be accessed easily by students at a convenient time. Formats should not be complicated for users to understand.

4. Interactive learning

Online classes should not mean that students just sit around and attend a class passively. It should be more interactive. Therefore design a course to engage online learners, to get them speaking, raising hands and actively participating and learning.

University students can be given various tasks for active learning or “hands-on learning,” where they perform a survey after gathering data, do a group discussion, conduct interviews, case study, analyse data etc.

5. Gamify with badges and rewards

Gamification is a way to add game elements to add some fun to an online classroom through digital design techniques. The simplest one can be to add badges to recognise student accomplishments and certify them as a student of the week. It is a great way to provide encouragement and improve student performance and engagement.

6. Give timely feedback

Along with studies, feedback should also be ongoing, consistent, and timely. Feedback is an opportunity for students to know where they are lacking and improve over time. When the feedback is not timely, students tend to get disengaged and unmotivated.

Make it a practice to build regular and accurate feedback loops to stream with the teaching practices. A detailed, accurate, and positive feedback is always more effective than unclear praise or pointers.

7. Project-based learning

Project-based learning creates an engaging environment for students, as they are doing something on their own, grouped with other classmates. The sense of responsibility creates a challenge to their learning potential, and students end up putting that extra effort to achieve targets.

A time-based project, where students are required to interact and present a solution helps to develop multiple skills, critical thinking, and more importantly, engagement.

8. Active learning

Active learning is a method to engage students creatively through video call or chat groups. Perform activities in class that encourage discussion of the problem and interaction with classmates. Add some procedures in a regular class, for example:

Quiz or Interview– form groups of students, and organise Q&A sessions once a lesson is completed. It can be made interesting, like a quiz, asking questions related to lessons taught.

Office Hours– During teaching or after completion of a topic, take a pause and allow the students to clear any doubts or questions on the units completed.

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Virtual Classroom Student : Tips to Improve Engagement

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The most crucial step in the success of virtual teaching and learning is student engagement. Using the listed engagement techniques, you can motivate students to participate, leading to intensive engagement and higher achievements.

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Clear and fair Class Agreement (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Clear and fair Class Agreement (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Class agreement (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Class agreement (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. View disclosure policy HERE.
Classroom expectations help students build social responsibility. Try creating a classroom contract together using the children's ideas.
Social responsibility is about ethics and a duty for the greater good. As educators, we strive to teach students to understand and respect themselves, each other, and the world around them. It is promoting thoughtful interactions with others and thinking beyond oneself. It is about making the right decisions and solving conflicts.

If you have arrived at this post, I can assume it is due to curiosity or a need for developing classroom expectations. Perhaps you are wondering how to begin teaching social responsibility. Perhaps you are wondering where to begin and what steps to take.

I hope that this and future posts in this series give you actionable, straight-forward lessons and ideas that you can implement in your classroom today. Hopefully, you will start seeing the benefits in the ways that your students interact, deal with the highs and lows of their day, and make decisions in the classroom and on the playground. In addition, you will see the many little bodies in your classroom grow into ones that are fulfilled, peaceful, kind, and strong.

Creating Classroom Expectations with a Contract

Each year we create a classroom contract. This multi-step process helps children identify what is important in a classroom and to take responsibility for maintaining that. A classroom contract is something that is built with the participation and ideas from everyone. It becomes something quite strong and powerful. It is also a nice alternative to traditional classroom rules.

How to Create a Classroom Contract

Classroom Expectations Step 1: Have Conversations & Read Books

Starting at the beginning of the year, we have conversations with each day about social topics. We talk about respect, community, teamwork, responsibility, etc. I ask them questions and give them scenarios to discuss and answer. This encourages critical thinking and sharing of viewpoints.

Have weekly classroom meetings. During our classroom meetings, children are encouraged to openly share feelings, gratitude, give compliments. and solve problems.

I read books daily and choose stories that illustrate how children deal with different emotions and issues. We talk about the stories and students share their connections. These books for classroom meetings are perfect for teaching social skills and having those important conversations.

Classroom Expectations Step 2: Create an Anchor Chart

We gather as a class to create an anchor chart together ( What are anchor charts?). I have the chart ready with the title "A Great Classroom" and a Y shape below it to create three separate areas to add our ideas. Children are asked to give thoughts and answer questions honestly. Also, you could change the title to something different that suits your class, such as "A Peaceful Classroom" or "Mrs. or Mr.'s Classroom".

I start with asking them to imagine what a "great" classroom looks like (what they see when they look around in their classroom and at the children). As students raise their hands and share ideas, I add those ideas to the anchor chart. If I feel like an important idea has not been mentioned, I may give hints or ask questions until someone mentions it.

Some of the ideas for "A Great Classroom looks like include happy kids, working hard, fun, learning, helping, and more.

We switch to what a "great" classroom sounds like (what they hear in terms of noise and what people say). Children eagerly share their ideas and I add them to that section.

Some of the ideas for "A Great Classroom sounds like include quiet working, manners, laughing, kind words, questions, and more.

Lastly, we talk about what a "great" classroom feels like (what feelings they have inside when they are at school and how people make them feel). This part is a bit more difficult for children. When you talk, encourage them to think about how they feel on a good day and when good things happen. This is good practice for kids to identify different emotions.

Some of the ideas for "A Great Classroom feels like include open, welcoming, respectful, happy, honest, and more.

Classroom Expectations Step 3: Review Chart & Pick 3 Ideas

Review and reread the chart with the class. Ask them if anyone needs anything explained or if there are any questions. While the ideas are still fresh in their minds, children get to pick their favourite three ideas. They choose one idea from each of the three sections and add a sticker to mark that spot.

Children line up and come up to the chart with their stickers. I ask them to say which ideas they think are the most important and I help them, if needed, to find those ideas on the chart.

As stickers are added, we begin to see a few ideas from each section stand out. After all the stickers have been added, count up and write the number of stickers beside each "big" idea. Those "big" ideas become the main components of the classroom contract. If children believe those ideas to be the most important, then they will be more prone to follow through and work hard.

Classroom Expectations Step 4: Write & Illustrate Ideas

As an extension activity, you could have students record their own 3-4 favourite ideas or the top ideas chosen by the class. Using the free templates, children can write their ideas and illustrate them, make their own anchor chart, record the final contract, and more. Optionally, post their work along with the final signed contract on a bulletin board later on.
To use the FREE class contract resource, click the image below.
Classroom Expectations Step 5: Write, Sign, & Review the Classroom Contract

Separately, prewrite the class contract that includes the most important things decided upon as a class. I suggest writing them into a paragraph on a piece of chart paper and read them aloud each day.

Read and practice it with the class. Each child can put their name or stamp a thumbprint on the final contract to show that they agree. Post the classroom contract somewhere visible and review with the class often. I usually post it along a higher wall that we can all see and refer to often.

By developing a classroom contract with your students, you are letting them know that they are important members of the classroom community and that their ideas matter. This contract is a symbol of teamwork, cooperation, and respect. It lets children know and reminds them of what role they have as individuals. It is a powerful thing!

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Classroom Management Strategies Classroom Management Examples that Work Class Routines Listening Activities PIN for Later

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Classroom Expectations: Creating a Classroom Contract

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This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. View disclosure policy HERE. Classroom expectations help students build social responsibility. Try creating a classroom contract together using the children's ideas. Social responsibility is about ethics and a duty for the greater good.

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1. Enter the classroom with the material necessary for the day’s lesson. This includes handouts, textbook, stationery and a phone. (Arne)

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1. Enter the classroom with the material necessary for the day’s lesson. This includes handouts, textbook, stationery and a phone. (Arne)

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Coming to class unprepared not only puts the individual learner at a disadvantage, but they are letting down their partner, team and the whole class but not being able to fully participate in activities. They are unable to fulfil their role as part of a small community.

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2.    Show respect to your classmates and the teacher by arriving on time. (Arne)

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2.    Show respect to your classmates and the teacher by arriving on time. (Arne)

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Prompt attendance helps them learn by exposing them to as much instructional time as possible

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3.	Interact with others in the classroom in respectful ways. (Arne)

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3.	Interact with others in the classroom in respectful ways. (Arne)

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Not talking over each other is a tenet of civil discourse and a skill used later in life. We all consider how our actions impact our classmates individually and the class as a whole

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4.	Use resources. These include our phones, computers, textbooks, handouts and the teacher. (Arne)

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4.	Use resources. These include our phones, computers, textbooks, handouts and the teacher. (Arne)

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Learners have the power to make decisions about their own learning and are responsible for making their own decisions to achieve set goals.

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1.	Agree on when to turn on our cameras and when to mute/unmute audio (Arne)

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1.	Agree on when to turn on our cameras and when to mute/unmute audio (Arne)

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We all need to be able to see each other to foster a sense of intimacy and also to read each other’s body language. However, if students feel uncomfortable showing their homes they are welcome to use digital backgrounds.

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2.	Check in on classmates who are absent. (Arne)

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2.	Check in on classmates who are absent. (Arne)

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We all need to express and receive care from one another. This small gesture can show classmates that they are truly part of a bigger community and helps build a feeling of belonging.

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3.	Use breakout groups for small group discussions and checking understanding before sharing in the class. (Arne)

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3.	Use breakout groups for small group discussions and checking understanding before sharing in the class. (Arne)

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This shows support commitment to community and learning together. It also allows for students to feel more confident in expressing themselves in more intimate setting while also getting an opportunity to “rehearse” in front of a smaller audience

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4.	Show respect when leaving comments during asynchronous activities and remember that classmates will read them. (Arne)

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4.	Show respect when leaving comments during asynchronous activities and remember that classmates will read them. (Arne)

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This is part of being a responsible digital citizen. Etiquette is especially important when leaving as written comments as it is difficult to gauge intent when we only see the comment without knowing any possible wider context.

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1.	Have students be quiet in class. (Arne)

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1.	Have students be quiet in class. (Arne)

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The classroom should be full of collaborative discussion. This is an opportunity to practice showing respect and engage in active listening.

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2.	Not having behavioral expectations in the classroom. (Arne)

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2.	Not having behavioral expectations in the classroom. (Arne)

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This environment lacks the necessary structure that students require to be successful. Learners are left to themselves to figure out what is considered appropriate behavior.

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3.	Use summative assessment exclusively. (Arne)

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3.	Use summative assessment exclusively. (Arne)

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Formative assessment is necessary to gauge students’ understanding throughout the lesson and to make adjustment as are appropriate. Make provision for weaker learners to demonstrate conceptual learning through graphics or other forms of representation.

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4.	Have low expectations of learners. (Arne)

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4.	Have low expectations of learners. (Arne)

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Giving work that is not challenging allows some students to remain unengaged and does not encourage them to participate in the instructional conversation. Students should be invested in their own and others learning.

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1.	Pretend to be attending class. (Arne)

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1.	Pretend to be attending class. (Arne)

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This erodes any positive online environment and goes against the principle of fairness.

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2.	Use inappropriate backgrounds. (Arne)

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2.	Use inappropriate backgrounds. (Arne)

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Making classmates feel uncomfortable does not cultivate an inclusive classroom culture and shows gross disrespect to your peers and the teacher.

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3.	Create an environment that is teacher centered.  (Arne)

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3.	Create an environment that is teacher centered.  (Arne)

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This temptation is perhaps greater in the online environment where the teacher might dread awkward silences, however learners should consider themselves as resources for one another and assist in the learning of new concepts, even online.

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Keep a record of what happens in class should any documentation be necessary in future. Students should also be informed that the lesson is being recorded. This, together with the knowledge that there will be consequences for misbehaving will give them some extrinsic motivation to behave well. Not the ideal type of motivation, but every bit helps.

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Give more homework to students. (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Give more homework to students. (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Homework is one of the most important aspects of our education because homework is a necessary learning tool if used correctly. Assignments need to prioritize quality over quantity so we can learn from them rather than just doing our assignments to turn them in.

Quality education is extremely important because it is the basis of how we think and function in our everyday lives. It is also the foundation of how we decide what we could possibly do in the future and that decides how we live our lives.

Focusing on quantity over quality in education can be effective but stress is a huge problem with it.  Stress can lead to many health concerns concerning one’s mental health so, bombarding kids with a huge workload can push them too far.

While there are some students that thrive and push past their limits, not everyone has that ability and may be forced to adjust too quickly to assignments they can’t handle.

When teachers assign too many assignments with little to no learning value, students feel restricted to a certain schedule of pumping out finished assignments without effectively learning the content in them. Students lose out on necessary critical thinking skills because they aren’t able to thoroughly think their assignments through.

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Homework is one of the most important aspects of our education because homework is a necessary learning tool if used correctly. Assignments need to prioritize quality over quantity so we can learn from them rather than just doing our assignments to turn them in.

Quality education is extremely important because it is the basis of how we think and function in our everyday lives. It is also the foundation of how we decide what we could possibly do in the future and that decides how we live our lives.

Focusing on quantity over quality in education can be effective but stress is a huge problem with it. Stress can lead to many health concerns concerning one's mental health so, bombarding kids with a huge workload can push them too far.

While there are some students that thrive and push past their limits, not everyone has that ability and may be forced to adjust too quickly to assignments they can't handle.

When teachers assign too many assignments with little to no learning value, students feel restricted to a certain schedule of pumping out finished assignments without effectively learning the content in them. Students lose out on necessary critical thinking skills because they aren't able to thoroughly think their assignments through.

Spending more time doing quality work rather than mindlessly completing numerous assignments can help you learn better. Photo by Andrew Hsieh.

It's true that homework is necessary to practice and refine our skills. However, there are cases when if a teacher assigns an excessive amount of homework, it doesn't help refine our skills and instead shows gaps in their own teaching.

During the pandemic, some teachers often assign more homework to make up for the staggered time in class but that doesn't make up for us using critical thinking and learning life skills. In my experience, the classes I've learned the most valuable information from were the ones I received little to no homework in because I focused more on learning rather than dealing with the stress of too much homework.

It's understandable why teachers give us homework every day, but it becomes an issue when the work feels like busy work and isn't fulfilling for our education. Although some teachers limit the amount of homework they give each day, there are many teachers that assign multiple assignments that range from an hour to three hours to complete.

Having too much homework stresses students out because it takes more time to complete compared to assignments that allow us to critically think, while only ranging from 20 to 30 minutes, and don't stress kids out because it's easier to manage.

Like many students, I've had personal experience with this problem. I actually enjoy homework when I'm learning valuable information from it or enjoying the material I'm learning.

On the contrary, some of the homework I've done is filled with extra and unnecessary work that feels useless and doesn't benefit my learning. Most of the time when students are doing homework they're doing it just to complete it for class and not learning from it because some assignments are overwhelming and unfulfilling.

Homework should be something we can learn from. It should teach us life lessons and how to think calmly and precisely. We shouldn't have to focus on stressing about our long list of overwhelming assignments and instead focus on learning from our teachers in class.
The quantity of our homework helps with memorization
Although quality is an important part when doing homework, by doing more of a certain task, it becomes better ingrained in our minds. The main factor is finding the perfect amount of homework to give students as too much homework leads to stress.

Repetition, especially for subjects like math, helps students take in the information for a long period of time. Most students store information for a short amount of time as most only study for their chapter test and soon forget afterward. Repetition allows students to create long-term memories about the information at hand.

An example of a long-term memory I have from school is: "The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell."

This phrase is one that most students know due to the fact that it is repeated multiple times in class, either through teachers or other students. This simple phrase is stored in my long-term memory simply due to the fact that I, and other students, repeatedly joked about it.

Following this example, vocabulary is usually studied through repetition as well. Most of the students I know use Quizlet, flashcards or any attempt to use the words as much as possible. They repetitively use these words or study them to store them in their long-term memory.

Homework requires students to study and use the material taught to them. By giving a fair amount of homework for students to work on, teachers focus on ingraining the information in the students' memories for future reference.

Quantity of homework helps students learn the material by using repetition to store the information in their memory. Although some classes require understanding, the quantity of homework plays an important role in classes that require memorization of material.

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Comparing the quality and quantity of homework

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Homework is one of the most important aspects of our education because homework is a necessary learning tool if used correctly. Assignments need to prioritize quality over quantity so we can learn from them rather than just doing our assignments to turn them in.

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Why doesn't homework help students learn as we expected? (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang) 

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Why doesn't homework help students learn as we expected? (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang) 

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why doesn’t homework boost academic achievement? The research cited by educators just doesn’t seem to make sense. If a child wants to learn to play the violin, it’s obvious she needs to practice at home between lessons (at least, it’s obvious to an adult). And psychologists have identified a range of strategies that help students learn, many of which seem ideally suited for homework assignments.

For example, there’s something called “retrieval practice,” which means trying to recall information you’ve already learned. The optimal time to engage in retrieval practice is not immediately after you’ve acquired information but after you’ve forgotten it a bit—like, perhaps, after school. A homework assignment could require students to answer questions about what was covered in class that day without consulting their notes. Research has found that retrieval practice and similar learning strategies are far more powerful than simply rereading or reviewing material.

One possible explanation for the general lack of a boost from homework is that few teachers know about this research. And most have gotten little training in how and why to assign homework. These are things that schools of education and teacher-prep programs typically don’t teach. So it’s quite possible that much of the homework teachers assign just isn’t particularly effective for many students.

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Some schools are eliminating homework, citing research showing it doesn't do much to boost achievement. But maybe teachers just need to assign a different kind of homework.

In 2016, a second-grade teacher in Texas delighted her students-and at least some of their parents-by announcing she would no longer assign homework. "Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance," she explained.

The following year, the superintendent of a Florida school district serving 42,000 students eliminated homework for all elementary students and replaced it with twenty minutes of nightly reading, saying she was basing her decision on "solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students."

Many other elementary schools seem to have quietly adopted similar policies. Critics have objected that even if homework doesn't increase grades or test scores, it has other benefits, like fostering good study habits and providing parents with a window into what kids are doing in school.

Those arguments have merit, but why doesn't homework boost academic achievement? The research cited by educators just doesn't seem to make sense. If a child wants to learn to play the violin, it's obvious she needs to practice at home between lessons (at least, it's obvious to an adult). And psychologists have identified a range of strategies that help students learn, many of which seem ideally suited for homework assignments.

For example, there's something called " retrieval practice," which means trying to recall information you've already learned. The optimal time to engage in retrieval practice is not immediately after you've acquired information but after you've forgotten it a bit-like, perhaps, after school. A homework assignment could require students to answer questions about what was covered in class that day without consulting their notes. Research has found that retrieval practice and similar learning strategies are far more powerful than simply rereading or reviewing material.

One possible explanation for the general lack of a boost from homework is that few teachers know about this research. And most have gotten little training in how and why to assign homework. These are things that schools of education and teacher-prep programs typically don't teach. So it's quite possible that much of the homework teachers assign just isn't particularly effective for many students.

Even if teachers do manage to assign effective homework, it may not show up on the measures of achievement used by researchers-for example, standardized reading test scores. Those tests are designed to measure general reading comprehension skills, not to assess how much students have learned in specific classes. Good homework assignments might have helped a student learn a lot about, say, Ancient Egypt. But if the reading passages on a test cover topics like life in the Arctic or the habits of the dormouse, that student's test score may well not reflect what she's learned.

The research relied on by those who oppose homework has actually found it has a modest positive effect at the middle and high school levels-just not in elementary school. But for the most part, the studies haven't looked at whether it matters what kind of homework is assigned or whether there are different effects for different demographic student groups. Focusing on those distinctions could be illuminating.

A study that looked specifically at math homework, for example, found it boosted achievement more in elementary school than in middle school-just the opposite of the findings on homework in general. And while one study found that parental help with homework generally doesn't boost students' achievement-and can even have a negative effect- another concluded that economically disadvantaged students whose parents help with homework improve their performance significantly.

That seems to run counter to another frequent objection to homework, which is that it privileges kids who are already advantaged. Well-educated parents are better able to provide help, the argument goes, and it's easier for affluent parents to provide a quiet space for kids to work in-along with a computer and internet access. While those things may be true, not assigning homework-or assigning ineffective homework-can end up privileging advantaged students even more.

Students from less educated families are most in need of the boost that effective homework can provide, because they're less likely to acquire academic knowledge and vocabulary at home. And homework can provide a way for lower-income parents-who often don't have time to volunteer in class or participate in parents' organizations-to forge connections to their children's schools. Rather than giving up on homework because of social inequities, schools could help parents support homework in ways that don't depend on their own knowledge-for example, by recruiting others to help, as some low-income demographic groups have been able to do. Schools could also provide quiet study areas at the end of the day, and teachers could assign homework that doesn't rely on technology.

Another argument against homework is that it causes students to feel overburdened and stressed. While that may be true at schools serving affluent populations, students at low-performing ones often don't get much homework at all-even in high school. One study found that lower-income ninth-graders "consistently described receiving minimal homework-perhaps one or two worksheets or textbook pages, the occasional project, and 30 minutes of reading per night." And if they didn't complete assignments, there were few consequences. I discovered this myself when trying to tutor students in writing at a high-poverty high school. After I expressed surprise that none of the kids I was working with had completed a brief writing assignment, a teacher told me, "Oh yeah-I should have told you. Our students don't really do homework."

If and when disadvantaged students get to college, their relative lack of study skills and good homework habits can present a serious handicap. After noticing that black and Hispanic students were failing her course in disproportionate numbers, a professor at the University of North Carolina decided to make some changes, including giving homework assignments that required students to quiz themselves without consulting their notes. Performance improved across the board, but especially for students of color and the disadvantaged. The gap between black and white students was cut in half, and the gaps between Hispanic and white students-along with that between first-generation college students and others-closed completely.

There's no reason this kind of support should wait until students get to college. To be most effective-both in terms of instilling good study habits and building students' knowledge-homework assignments that boost learning should start in elementary school.

Some argue that young children just need time to chill after a long day at school. But the "ten-minute rule"-recommended by homework researchers-would have first graders doing ten minutes of homework, second graders twenty minutes, and so on. That leaves plenty of time for chilling, and even brief assignments could have a significant impact if they were well-designed.

But a fundamental problem with homework at the elementary level has to do with the curriculum, which-partly because of standardized testing- has narrowed to reading and math. Social studies and science have been marginalized or eliminated, especially in schools where test scores are low. Students spend hours every week practicing supposed reading comprehension skills like "making inferences" or identifying "author's purpose"-the kinds of skills that the tests try to measure-with little or no attention paid to content.

But as research has established, the most important component in reading comprehension is knowledge of the topic you're reading about. Classroom time-or homework time-spent on illusory comprehension "skills" would be far better spent building knowledge of the very subjects schools have eliminated. Even if teachers try to take advantage of retrieval practice-say, by asking students to recall what they've learned that day about "making comparisons" or "sequence of events"-it won't have much impact.

If we want to harness the potential power of homework-particularly for disadvantaged students-we'll need to educate teachers about what kind of assignments actually work. But first, we'll need to start teaching kids something substantive about the world, beginning as early as possible.

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Why Homework Doesn't Seem To Boost Learning--And How It Could

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Some schools are eliminating homework, citing research showing it doesn't do much to boost achievement. But maybe teachers just need to assign a different kind of homework. In 2016, a second-grade teacher in Texas delighted her students-and at least some of their parents-by announcing she would no longer assign homework.

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Homework quality over quantity (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Homework quality over quantity (Shawn - Xueliang Zhang)

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Students frequently cite the amount of assigned homework as a primary driver of their stress. In fact, of the 50,000 high school students from predominantly middle to upper middle class communities that we surveyed since 2018, 67% reported homework as a primary source of stress, with 57% of students stating they had too much homework (Challenge Success, 2020). But it’s not just the amount of homework that may provoke student stress; it’s also the type of homework assigned. When students perceive homework to be tedious or boring, for example, or they find it too advanced or confusing, they are likely to be more stressed and less engaged, regardless of how long the assignment takes. Conversely, as some studies suggest, when students find their work purposeful, meaningful, or interesting, they may derive more benefits from completing it.

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Homework is not useless but its quality is far more important than quantity and schools should think very carefully about why they are setting it, an education expert at the University of South Australia says.

Academics agree that too much homework can harm learning

Good homework is 'purposeful, specific, and reinforces learning'

Time spent with family after school can be more important than more study

Over the past week an anti-homework note sent to parents by a teacher in Forth Worth, Texas, has spread around the world after being posted to Facebook by a parent.

"After much research this summer, I am trying something new," the note from Mrs Brandy Young, which has been shared more than 70,000 times, says.

"Homework will only consist of work that your student did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year."

The note goes on to say that research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance.

Instead, Mrs Young urges parents to spend their evenings doing things like reading together, playing outside, and getting their children to bed early, which "are proven to correlate with student success."

Not surprisingly, the note was posted to Facebook with the comment "Brooke is loving her new teacher already!"

Good homework is 'purposeful, specific, and reinforces learning'

However, "she's not quite right," says Brendan Bentley, a PhD candidate and lecturer in the Education Department of the University of South Australia.

In 2006, a review of American research conducted between 1987 and 2003 found that "there was generally consistent evidence for a positive influence of homework on achievement."

The review, led by Dr Harris Cooper of Duke University, found that evidence was stronger for students in grades seven to 12 than for kindergarten to grade six, and for when students, rather than parents, reported how much time they spent doing homework.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.

Reforming Homework: Australian academics argue for a rethink(Rachel Carbonell)

On the other hand, in 2013, Australian academics Richard Walker and Mike Horsley published Reforming Homework, in which they reviewed international research and found that for young primary school children, homework is of little or no value and students are regularly given too much.

The issue is that although if you do something more often you get better at it, you have to be doing the right thing in the first place.

"Homework has to be purposeful, specific, and reinforce learning. If it's just to finish work, that may not help the student at all," Mr Bentley said.

In fact, too much homework can be worse than useless: It can be detrimental.

"For students in grades three or four, more than 20 minutes of homework can exhaust them. They go into cognitive load, and their ability to learn goes into a decline," Mr Bentley said.

"They can develop a negative attitude towards learning. It's about getting the balance right."

Cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental effort being used: a heavy cognitive load creates errors or interference.

That 20 minutes is not a guideline for each day: "There needs to be a good argument for having homework every single night," Mr Bentley said.

"Schools have to understand why they are giving homework. Without a good purpose and a rationale: Reconsider it."

He says that homework can be ramped up as students get older, but even in grade 10, research shows that, "if it's more than an hour, it's a waste of time."

Designing effective homework also depends upon how much the student is able to learn.

"Adults can learn about seven things at a time. For young children, that's maybe two or three," Mr Bentley said. "You only need 20 minutes to reinforce that."

However, he says the benefits of homework are not just about reinforcing learning, and that if it does not turn students off, it can teach important study habits.

He agrees that family time and relaxation can be more important than homework.

"Developing good habits and attitudes through interaction with parents can be good - every time you interact with your children, you are teaching assumptions," he said.

On the other hand, too much homework can lead to conflicts with parents.

"Parents are keen for their children to be the best, so they may ask about homework, and may do it for their children, which defeats the purpose," Mr Bentley said.

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Homework quality more important than quantity, expert says

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Homework is not useless but its quality is far more important than quantity and schools should think very carefully about why they are setting it, an education expert at the University of South Australia says.

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Start online discussion. (Shawn-Xueliang Zhang)

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Start online discussion. (Shawn-Xueliang Zhang)

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Discussion is a powerful tool for online learning. It can help foster a sense of community and encourage peer to peer interaction and improve learner engagement. Discussion can take the form of debate or reflective sharing, giving learners the opportunity to expand upon and clarify their understanding of key ideas. It moves beyond more passive learning forms of reading, listening, and watching and allows the learner to actively engage with their peers and teacher.

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Discussion is a powerful tool for online learning. It can help foster a sense of community and encourage peer to peer interaction and improve learner engagement. Discussion can take the form of debate or reflective sharing, giving learners the opportunity to expand upon and clarify their understanding of key ideas. It moves beyond more passive learning forms of reading, listening, and watching and allows the learner to actively engage with their peers and teacher.
Why should you use discussion in your online learning?
Online teaching by its nature involves students and teachers interacting at a spatial, and often temporal, distance. Without the benefits of being in the same physical space at the same time, online learning might feel a poor alternative to in-person teaching. Not to mention that space and time are not the only distances that online educators must contend with. At any one time, psychological, communicational, emotional, political and social distances may be present in addition to spatial and temporal ¹.

Transactional distance (Moore 1997) can be used describe the psychological and communicational distance that may arise in any instructional context and include the above types of distance ². Despite its presence, transactional distance does not mean online learning cannot be a rich, engaging, and meaningful learning experience. It does mean, however, that careful consideration must be given to the design of online learning.

When used with other learning types, discussion forums can help mitigate transactional distance. When interacting with students in discussion forums, teachers can imbue their course with teacher presence. This helps to reassure students that someone is present and gives value to the discussion forums. Discussions also lessen the transactional distance between student and teacher.

When interacting in the discussion forums, you can utilise many different methods to create teacher presence:

* Introductory messages that set up expectations for the course
* Individual responses to learner comments and/or posts (depending on cohort size)
* General feedback based on common themes and ideas present in learner responses (ideal for larger cohorts - can be pinned to top of forum)
* Audio, video or text response that address common questions presented by cohort

How should you manage discussion forums?

It is important to have a plan and set expectations for learners from the start. You don't have to be available every hour of everyday, but it is important to let students know how often you will be engaging with discussion forums. This will also help you to manage moderation alongside your other teaching responsibilities.

Be clear about what discussion board etiquette looks like. Consider the following:

* Be concise.
* Advance the conversation.
* Respond with points raised in their posts.
* Reference course concepts in your posts.
* Be considerate, respectful, and encouraging
* Use appropriate language.
* Consider the aim of each discussion forum.

Remember, you don't have to respond to every individual post if that is not appropriate to the aim of the individual discussion forum. Clear, concise and general feedback can be as informative for learners as individual feedback.
Where can you learn more?
You can access the Top Ten Tips for Using Learn Discussion Boards on the University's Information Services webpage. Learn is the biggest Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at the University, supporting more than 5000 courses annually. It is used to support face to face teaching, blended learning, and fully online courses.

Additionally, you can also access guidance materials and a comprehensive technical support document for moderating discussion forums in Learn. These can be found in the 'Course materials' section on the Moderating Discussion Forums page.
References
1. Moore, M. (2013).  The theory of transactional distance. M.G. Moore (Ed.), Handbook of distance education (3rd ed.), Routledge, New York, pp. 66-85
2. 'The Edinburgh Model for Online Teaching' on Learn.

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The importance of discussion forums for online learning

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Discussion is a powerful tool for online learning. It can help foster a sense of community and encourage peer to peer interaction and improve learner engagement. Discussion can take the form of debate or reflective sharing, giving learners the opportunity to expand upon and clarify their understanding of key ideas.

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why online discussion works? (Shawn-Xueliang Zhang)

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why online discussion works? (Shawn-Xueliang Zhang)

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Bringing what students have learned to online discussion can help student present their own understanding and knowledge. It will also give the students an opportunity to speak if they are uncomfortable to speak in public or in person. The students who are not native speakers can also organize their sentences and present with others' help.

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Disengage students in online teaching. (Shawn-Xueliang Zhang)

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Disengage students in online teaching. (Shawn-Xueliang Zhang)

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It can be challenging for teachers to engage students online; to know whether students are engaged or not. Online engagement can be perceived differently than in-class engagement. Research has shown that teacher perceptions of student engagement affect how they interact with students as well as students' grades. It is critical to understand how teachers perceive engagement, not least in an online setting, to inform practices and research. This study explores Swedish teachers' understanding of student online engagement and disengagement. A Mixed Method Grounded Theory study was designed as an intervention with an interview-diary-interview format. Twenty interviews with teachers (n = 10) who regularly teach hybrid, remote or distance classes in K-12 education were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. The results show that teachers express understanding at the macro and micro level of engagement and would report different combinations of engagement and disengagement at different levels of engagement. The results informed an engagement model with a complex construct without inherent boundaries; teachers rated student engagement both below and above the suggested scale. The contribution to theory with included models is discussed.