Oak Grove teachers provide homework help

When teachers at Oak Grove Elementary School started noticing that their students were turning in either incomplete homework or none at all, they decided to take a proactive approach to remedy the situation.

Teachers at the school got together and formed a group called TIPS (teachers in place for homework help).

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, teachers volunteer their time after school to help students who attend Oak Grove's own after-school program and the after-school program at the Harmony Village Apartments in Peachtree City.

Teachers selected Tuesday and Thursday afternoons as the best time to offer assistance because it would enable teachers to help students with all of their homework assignments for the week. About 90 students from Oak Grove participate in Harmony Village's after-school program.

Not only does TIPS help students with their homework, but the organization has also donated dictionaries and paper for the students to use.

"We had surplus dictionaries that no one else in the school system wanted. When we formed TIPS I got permission to take them to Harmony Village as well as some older boxes of paper that we had in storage," says Debbie Wheat, principal of Oak Grove.

Since implementing TIPS, teachers at the school have noticed a marked improvement in homework assignments. The two goals of the program were to improve the quality and completeness of homework.

"Students were either doing just part of their assignments or were not completing them as well as they had the potential to," explains Wheat. "Now the kids love to get homework and it's complete and of the quality we want."

The program has been a tremendous success for everyone involved.

According to Wheat, the students are not the only ones who have benefited; so have the teachers and staff at Harmony Village.

When TIPS was just an idea, Wheat approached the staff at Harmony Village about the possibility of having teachers from Oak Grove work with the students. Wheat says the staff immediately embraced the idea.

"The people who run the program have told me that they have learned a lot from the teachers about how to assist students with their academic needs. After we started coming over, they realized that sometimes they had been reinforcing the wrong things," says Wheat.

In all, about 200 students from different grade levels attend Harmony Village's after school program and receive homework help from the teachers at Oak Grove. Wheat says one of the things her teachers like best about TIPS is that they get to help students of all levels.

"I had one teacher tell me that this is the best time she has ever spent," adds Wheat.

Parents at Oak Grove have also expressed their appreciation for the extra time the teachers are giving to help their students.

"I think this has been one of the best decisions we have made. It shows that we are willing to do whatever is necessary to adapt to our children and their needs," says Wheat.

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