I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Come closer. Listen up. Here it is: Teachers can tell when you haven’t done your homework.
It’s no secret that the most people despise homework, especially performance-based homework. Over the years, both in Wisconsin and Oregon, I’ve known those (and have occasionally been that person myself) that dislikes doing homework. To some, the homework feels like a waste of time, it doesn’t appear applicable to real life, or if the time does not exist within a routine or schedule, the homework just doesn’t happen!
Lucid gets it. Life gets busy. The age-old adage still holds true: Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow?
Here’s the thing with teaching, training, and reinforcing doggie behaviors: We get back what we put in. If people choose to ignore teaching their pets about right from wrong and “the way” of their household, animals will choose what they do and when they do it. Does Rover know what he’s supposed to do when the doorbell rings? Have you taught him or her? Has it been reinforced with practice?
As a former middle school teacher, I always tried to assign homework that could be balanced with real life, but for the average procrastinator, this just wasn’t possible UNTIL TIME WAS COMMITTED TO THE TASK. For example, on Wednesday nights, homework wouldn’t be given because most of the students had extracurriculars plus religious obligations. Teachers knew that, so they wouldn’t assign a large amount of homework for that night. Teachers took real-life circumstances, acknowledged them, and made a plan around it.
The homework gauntlet has been thrown down. Pick what needs fixin’, acknowledge that you’re human, and START! Ready, set, go! Let’s go, Lake O. You and Rover can start to reap the benefits from your commitment.