Plotting an escape from the homework trap
I am always surprised when parents tell me their kids have three to four hours of homework a night given the lack of evidence that homework enhances student achievement
Here is a piece about homework from Kenneth Goldberg, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Homework Trap: How to Save the Sanity of Parents, Students and Teachers.”
By Kenneth Goldberg
As the world engages in a global homework debate, there are many parents whose major concern is not public policy, but what will happen at home tonight. They are not Tiger Moms, but ordinary parents who simply want the best for their children. These parents start out with the full intention of supporting the teachers and their children’s schools. Yet, something goes wrong along the way as they and their children fall into a homework trap.
The problem starts in elementary school. The notes come home, and the parents get “the call.” They meet with the teacher and make plans to make sure everyone is on the same page. Before long, the cast of characters grows. By middle school, there are several teachers, the disciplinarian and the nurse, all fretting over what these children do not do. Their parents feel pressured to oversee their work, as they also feel criticized as if they’ve done something wrong. These parents would do anything to help their children, yet nothing they do reaps results. Soon, they realize that the efforts they are making are actually doing more harm than good.
The key misconception about homework-trapped children is what I call the “myth of motivation.” These children are viewed as lazy and unmotivated, as if they are different from the other children who would rather play than do their homework. There are reasons why these children don’t do their work, and it’s not because they lack motivation. Rather, they have “under the radar” learning problems. Minor differences in learning capabilities can have major implications on the work that’s sent home, much more than it has on the work done in class. The most important issue is the child’s work pace. No one would question that a slow running child truly wants to win the race, yet we somehow believe that homework-trapped children lack the desire to get their work done.
We know that people don’t spend large amounts of time engaging in tasks they don’t do well. Yet, homework-trapped children are made to struggle for hours on end to get everything done. These children would be far better off if they were asked to work for a fixed amount of time (perhaps ten minutes per night per grade), than to fall into an abyss of working all night to get every worksheet done. The child, who is forced to keep on working without boundaries, will predictably learn how to avoid. Excessive homework pressures teach children to lie, forget, argue, and procrastinate. This eventually brings in the child study team, not to deal with learning problems, but because the child’s behavior has been bad. With that, the child may get sent to a different class or an alternative school where, voila, homework is no longer required. It’s an odd turn of events that these homework-trapped children, who could have succeeded with some homework relief, only get that relief after they’ve acted out.
Because of this, I offer three very simple adjustments that are crucial for homework-trapped children, and which, frankly, I think should be policy for all. They are:
•Time bound homework. Just like school starts and stops by the clock, define homework as a fixed period of time. See what the child can do in a reasonable amount of time and work with that child on using the time well.
•Reduced penalties. Zeros factored in twenty-five percent of the grade is too harsh of a penalty to alter behavior. Lesser consequences will prove more effective in both mobilizing the child and allowing the parent to approach the issue calmly.
•Respect lines of authority. Teachers are in charge of their classrooms. Parents should tread lightly on telling them what to do. Parents are the people in charge of their homes. Teachers should not tell parents how to organize their homes. In the end, when decisions are to be made about behaviors in the home (i.e. homework), the parent needs to be the one with the final say.
I am aware of the controversy abounding around the world regarding how much homework children should get. It’s an important debate but not the one I’m concerned with today. I’ll leave that to teachers, the experts in education, to figure out what makes the most sense. But in developing their models, it is critical for teachers to understand that homework assignments are using borrowed ground. Homework requires the tacit permission of the parents to allow it in their homes. While most parents will support the school in what it asks, they also need the power to withdraw that permission, if needed, without consequence to their child’s education.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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65 comments Add your comment
Peter Smagorinsky
May 10th, 2012
5:33 am
All homework assignments are not the same. There’s a big difference between having students do homework for the sake of doing homework (outline the chapter, fill in the blanks, etc.) and doing something that makes class time more productive (read chapters that provide the basis for the next day’s discussion, draft a paper that can be critiqued in class). It’s hard to get anywhere in a student’s engagement with a discipline if class is the only time during the day when disciplinary work is undertaken.
Colonel Jack
May 10th, 2012
5:40 am
I find two things in this article that engage my thoughts, in differing directions.
First, the comment is made about reducing penalties: “Zeros factored in twenty-five percent of the grade is too harsh of a penalty to alter behavior. Lesser consequences will prove more effective in both mobilizing the child and allowing the parent to approach the issue calmly.” I’d be interested in what “lesser penalties” the author would suggest; in the real world, if you don’t do something required of you in your employment, you don’t get paid for it. So what should a teacher do in the case of the students who don’t do homework?
Second, I like this part: “I am aware of the controversy abounding around the world regarding how much homework children should get. It’s an important debate but not the one I’m concerned with today. I’ll leave that to teachers, the experts in education, to figure out what makes the most sense.” Notice, please, that the author said he would leave it to the TEACHERS. Not the administrators or the politicians … the teachers. At last … someone out there is willing to let US have a say in something.
veritasvincit
May 10th, 2012
6:08 am
Enter your comments here
veritasvincit
May 10th, 2012
6:12 am
This is another voice ending the idea of real consequences in the classroom. Some students mathematically figure how they can get by on the minimum and this helps them in their way of getting a little something for nothing.
catlady
May 10th, 2012
7:12 am
I don’t agree with most of this at all. In our system, K-8, kids are allowed no more than 30 minutes TOTAL homework at night.
One of our fine teachers has a rule: If you didn’t do your homework, your parents have to write a note explaining why. He keeps the excuse notes. (We are not allowed to lower a grade due to no homework, either.) At grading time, if there is any question why a child’s grades (classroom and test) are so low, out come those notes.
Surprisingly, after the first few weeks, most of the (very limited) homework gets done. Parents would rather not write the excuse notes, time after time.
God Bless the Teacher!
May 10th, 2012
7:16 am
I know I want to change what I do based on some clinical psychologists opinion. This year I stopped grading homework altogether (also I give no completion or participation grades to fluff up a student’s average). Students have been told way too many times that homework is for practicing skills learned in class. If you don’t think you need to improve your skills, then don’t do your homework. When I take time to go over questions students may have about homework (which I do just about every time I assign homework, which is most days), there are usually only a handful of students in each class who have attempted it. So, do I take instructional time for just the handful while about half of the others furiously try to copy down answers to look busy? Or do I not take time to go over homework at all? When I have taken up homework to grade for accuracy (usually over something we’ve been discussing for a few days, so students should be able to do the homework for accuracy), I’m lucky to have half the class turn in something. Do I give zeros for “did not submits?” You bet I do. Colonel Jack said it above: “in the real world, if you don’t do something required of you in your employment, you don’t get paid for it. So what should a teacher do in the case of the students who don’t do homework?” Doing homework is about a secondary skill being developed: time management. Students in high school have four years to develop that skill so their real world bosses won’t have to waste their time trying to motivate those who never make the transition. Students going to college are going to have considerably more work outside of class to complete if they are to be successful in classes. Homework is not a prescribed standard in any course, but without it a student loses out.
TheOtherDrucker
May 10th, 2012
7:16 am
Some teacherss mathematically figure how they can get by on the minimum and this helps them in their way of getting a little something for nothing. Unmotivated students get below average grades… unmotivated teachers get the same job security and below average salary as their successful counterparts.
Howard Finkelstein
May 10th, 2012
7:23 am
Another wonderful article full of excuse making, random conclusions and ultimately, pontificaton about nothing.
Dr. Craig Spinks/ Georgians for Educational Excellence
May 10th, 2012
7:54 am
Under the “student as worker” model, more homeWORK is better.
However, under the “student as learner” model, the amount and type of homework is dependent upon the difficulty and the importance of the material being studied, among other factors.
Ronin
May 10th, 2012
7:54 am
Mr. Goldberg, in my opinion , utilizes common sense in addressing the issue. The question is:
If you teach the information during the class, why does it require constant repetitive drills to “learn” the material? Are the students that stupid or the teaching method extremely ineffective?
Catlady, sorry, the 30 minute rule maximum per teacher rule for homework won’t fly. If you have six classes, that’s another three hours of schoolwork that cuts into family time. As far as writing notes each time for to “excuse” homework not being completed, that’s utterly silly. Again, there should be NO homework, other than supplemental reading a student wants to do. If disruptions in the class are the core issue in effective delivery, deal with the unruly students, oops, can’t do that as it might be viewed as profiling a financially disadvantaged moocher.
Government created the problems that you are experiencing in public/government schools but it will be constant pressure on state representatives by involved parents that actually change how schools operate and why the topic of homework should become irrelevant. We are seeing the evidence of that in the amendment on the ballet this November.
A final note, while I originally was not a fan of Nathan Deal, I’ve changed my view of the Governor. I’ll say this, the man gets things done and is not afraid to address an issue, education being one of them.
teacher&mom
May 10th, 2012
8:20 am
I firmly believe homework assignments for elementary school students should be limited to reading….and should include silent/idependent reading & parent/child read alouds.
Cultivate a reader and you’ll cultivate a learner.
I teach high school science. I limit homework. I’d rather my students work in my classroom where I can monitor their learning, catch misconceptions early, and prevent cheating. Homework for my classes includes creating graphic organizers as personal study guides and research. My goal is to help them learn how to “make sense” of the subject and learn ways to improve independent study. A skill many leave high school without mastering.
teacher&mom
May 10th, 2012
8:25 am
@Dr. Craig: Agreed.
Unfortunately, many teachers view the student as worker model and student as learner model as being one in the same.
They aren’t.
Once I made the paradigm shift, my teaching improved by leaps and bounds.
still trying
May 10th, 2012
8:40 am
We are not allowed to penalize students for not doing homework so few teachers even bother giving it anymore because the kids were not going to do it anyway.
Forced to be Anon >:(
May 10th, 2012
8:41 am
For high school essays? Can we allow the them to write essays at home or is that also too much to ask of them?
mathmom
May 10th, 2012
8:50 am
As a math teacher, I know that many students do need a lot of repetition, and many do not. Most students do not have anyone at home to help them when they get stuck, and for these students, homework is of limited benefit. My lower level students have few homework assignments.
In reading this article, my question is more about other teachers and their assignments. If the English class is going to use class time to discuss literary works, when are the kids going to read the literary works? Some can get it done in class, at lunch, on the bus, etc., but many will need to be reading at home. The same goes for the History and Science classes. A good many of these students will, probably, retain very little of what they have read, but they might remember enough to benefit from, and maybe participate in, the class discussions. That can only happen when they have read the material.
I think some of the readers of this blog forget that a lot of our high school students have quite low IQs – in the past, they would not have been expected to do the level of work that is required nowadays. We have dumbed it down about as much as we can, at the expense of the higher end students, but at some point, we have to accept the fact that some students have to work a lot harder to achieve the same results as other students. Our question should be: is it really necessary for a child with limited abilities to achieve the same results as a child who is blessed with an abundance of intellectual ability? Clearly, the answer is no, but schools are forced to put these children together, and as long as that is the case, the lower functioning child will be caught in not only a homework trap but also a cycle of failure. What those children learn throughout their academic careers is not really what we intended.
Tad Jackson
May 10th, 2012
9:03 am
Exactly … get as much done in class while while the teacher is in the room. It’s like a big ol’ tutoring session.
http://www.adixiediary.com
usually lurking
May 10th, 2012
9:05 am
@ Forced to be anon- as long as the student writes the essay at home, and not the parent.
Georgia Teacher
May 10th, 2012
9:07 am
Here we are trapped. We face an ever expanding curriculum with mandated testing and fewer and fewer days to complete the curriculum, coupled with federal mandates that test scores will go up.
My district is expecting eight furlough days next year. Now that has not been set in stone, but that is the prediction.
You can either get us the resources (in other words: time in the form of money) or you can loosen the mandates for performance.
But if you are not going to do either, don’t tell us how to do our jobs.
I don’t generally assign homework. If I do, there is plenty of classtime to accomplish the task. If you cut the amount of time I have with students by that much because you can’t fund us, don’t be surprised when I start assigning more and more homework so I can get through the mandated curriculum and the kids can pass the mandated tests.
The best part of being in a represenative democracy is the people are ultimately responsible for the actions of government. That means YOU are responsible for the actions of the state legislature and Congress. If you really didn’t like what was going on in your name, you would change it.
cris
May 10th, 2012
9:09 am
as a non-academic teacher, I am not required or expected to give homework and I don’t have an issure with that – I do encourage the students who want to improve their skills in my area to practice – it will truly improve their skills if that’s what they want. The good part of this comes when students who don’t take it upon themselves to work on their own time realize how much more improved the ones who do take the time become over a period of time – it sells itself to them and is much more effective than me harping on them. I realize all subject areas and levels can’t take this approach, but it works great for me!
cris
May 10th, 2012
9:09 am
*issue
Ashley
May 10th, 2012
9:13 am
I sometimes wonder how we the over 50 crowd ever graduated from high-school. With all the demands place on us, the endless hours of homework, the pop-quizzes, the time spent in the library and media centers, clubs and extra-curriculum activities. Of course we didn’t have the distraction kids today have, cell-phones, internet, and facebook. All the things that supposedly enrich a child mind(lol), weren’t available to us when I was in school, yet the echos of “Pomp and Circumstances were endlessly played back in the day. Make-up assignments and re-dos seem to rule the day, making classroom homework and other expectations of students as easy as possible , lets not ruffle little Johnny or Suzy feathers by requiring them to do something that might interfer with their social calendar. Schools have gotten rid of the circled red “F”( esteem problems might result), the letter grade “D” is being abolished, school discipline is laxed, doing “C” work is applauded and to much homework causes undo stress. Damn I with to school in the wrong decade.
EduPunk
May 10th, 2012
9:14 am
School is tme for school work…..home is time for the family. If there is not enough time to complete everything in school, then get rid of some of those useless subject in the curriculum that students never utilize as applied knowledge in life. The reason people hate school is because of the design…start a subject and then 50 minutes later switch to the next even if you were deep into something. What year did World War I begin? Not gonna help you get your jobs on Hamburger Row. Doesn’t matter. Why are 5th graders smarter than their parents….because their parents were hopefully smarter enough to forget all the bull crap the school tried to deposit into their minds.
Schools are in place for one reason and that is to mind condition and create a habit the is becomes almost your nature to get up every morning and go somewhere. This habit continues to your jobs. Education is free. I educate myself everyday. I go to the library and read at least three books a week. I search for knowledge online. I go to B&N and read their books. There are acres of diamonds and free education. What costs is running the bureacracy, purchasing textbooks, pens, pencils, glue, desks, electricity, buildings, you get the picture.
No one have to teach anyone anything or assign homework. My son in K5 saw a sign the had a phone number 333-452-1100. He asked, daddy what number is 1100. He know 3 digits, but the forth he did not, so he asked. Homework is stupid and continue the Dumbing Down of Children.
EduPunk
May 10th, 2012
9:16 am
And oh yeah, the most expensive thing is the credentials. We always hear, you have to get a degree to get a good job. The degree creditial is whats important, no matter if you slept thru every class. I will stop now.
AlreadySheared
May 10th, 2012
9:28 am
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Confucius
Ain’t no magic math dust to sprinkle in the classroom. Do your homework to reinforce your learning & build your skills, or suffer the consequences.
How many kids can learn to play a musical instrument by watching someone else do it and talk about it? This whole conversation is a manifestation of the weird idea that students can learn and grow without expending any effort to do so – if the teaching that is done TO them is good enough, they will learn.
“Miyagi: Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don’t forget to breathe, very important. ”
The Karate Kid
former teacher and mom
May 10th, 2012
9:30 am
My 9 year old daughter has regularly brought home 2 hours of homework a night this year. She is an A student and a hard worker. But many evenings she has been reduced to tears over the stress that this is putting on her. Just last week she brought 76 math problems home in one day. That was just math. Ridiculous either way. If you know the skill, 76 problems is a waste of time and if you don’t know the skill there is no way you can get that done. I have found my self encouraging her to a poor job on assignments because her grade is not that affected by the homework. Homework should not drive a child to tears. Not to mention that in our country where childhood obesity is an epidemic we need to make sure every child has time to play outside. Kids need homework but it needs to reinforce a skill they are familiar with and the number of problems need to be limited. 15 math problems instead of 76.
Shar
May 10th, 2012
9:32 am
I find the most compelling sentence in Mr. Goldberg’s essay to be, “Excessive homework pressures teach children to lie, forget, argue, and procrastinate.” I have seen the academic careers of two bright students who fit Goldberg’s paradigm of mildly learning disabled twisted and ultimately cut short because of exactly this problem. Students who cannot complete assignments in a short amount of time are not helped by multiple repetition of the same skills nor by being told that they “should” be able to do the assigned work faster. They feel overwhelmed, stupid and that they are failures. They face daily fights with parents who are increasingly frustrated by the confrontational relationship with their child (and in middle and high school particularly, an open relationship with parents is far more valuable to a child than skill drills.) The students naturally seek to ‘fix’ the situation, and if they cannot do it through homework completion, they’ll do it through lies and manipulation, all the while becoming convinced that they are incapable of learning.
These are neither the attitudes that can carry them safely through the shoals of adolescence or the life skills that will serve them well.
Teacher&mom, I salute you for crafting homework assignments that actually help your students learn to do work effectively. I, too, think that reading at the elementary level should supercede all else, and that it is even better if parents can be involved. I volunteered to read aloud in all of my children’s classrooms and even in 5th grade the students were still eager to listen to a good story.
The point about students as workers rather than learners is also valid, in my opinion. Homework “passes” are one of the most effective means of motivating students, and rewarding classroom learning with freedom from homework is a strong motivation. Perhaps “bundling” assignments due over a week, with half dropped for high scores on an assessment, would both encourage organization and study while giving the student some feeling of control. Or allowing students to choose types of assignments, whether worksheets or an essay or a project or a home experiment.
Mr. Goldberg is spot on in calling some students – probably most students – “homework trapped.” The kinds of behaviors he observes as students try to get free are antithetical to the development of learners or indeed of strong adults. Homework is just not worth that.
Library Lady
May 10th, 2012
9:33 am
I admit that I am anti-homework for young children. As a parent I hate it when my child has hours of homework to complete after spending the day at school. I want her to spend her free time playing outside, taking music lessons, participating in an organized sport, or just spending time with her father and I. She’ll have plenty of time to work 24 hours a day as an adult. Why can’t she just enjoy being a kid? I would like formal learning and schoolwork to be a part of the school day. Perhaps if teachers did not have to spend so much time on discipline, then class time would be more productive. Completing tons of worksheets in the evening is of no help unless a child needs additional tutoring.
LClarke
May 10th, 2012
9:39 am
Maureen you are out of touch. Children need to go home and practice to reenforce skills learned during the day. I don’t care what your studies have shown. Anybody can come up with a study to support their line of thinking. I give my second graders the minimal amount of homework for practice and so that their parents can see what they are doing. Parents who choose to not allow homework in their homes are as lazy as their students. So I guess students in high school are not supposed to study for tests? Working on a paper is out of the question. These students are so ill prepared for the real world it is pathetic. And everyone wants to tack on the label of learning disability to make it all better. I am getting out of teaching.
Shar
May 10th, 2012
9:46 am
Off topic, but congratulations to the Grady High School Debate Team. Second in the nation! What an accomplishment.
Someone figured out how to motivate those students to do a lot of homework.
Reform Education Now!
May 10th, 2012
10:05 am
We were in the fortunate position of being financially able to opt-out of public school for our ADD-ADHD son when he was in the 5th grade, and he’ll graduate from private high school with honors next year.
The homework load in public school was a nightmare! Most of it was ‘busywork’…homework for the sake of homework. The amount of standardized testing was ridiculous…I felt sorry for teachers forced to ‘teach to the tests.’
His private school was designed for kids just like him, and i think there’s a LOT of kids like him, trying to miserably endure their way through public school. His private school uses true ‘block scheduling.’ 90-minute classes which meet 2-3 times a week. The students have time in class to do individual and group work. Teachers have time to go in-depth. ‘Homework’ is reasonable and not onerous. Why more public schools don’t use this approach is a mystery to me!
teacher&mom
May 10th, 2012
10:17 am
@Shar: Thanks.
I agree with several points in your post.
I start the year by telling my students I will not assign endless, mind numbing homework…IF they promise to work hard and stay on task for the entire 90 minute block. Almost every student buys into this “bargain”. The results of this bargain are huge….fewer discipline referrals, fewer zeroes, and more student engagement.
I start out each new unit with a set of tiered assignments and set a deadline for completion. Students can pick and chose which assignments they will complete for 100 points. The more difficult assignments are worth more points. Choice is a powerful motivator. I am consistently blown away by the effort students will put into an assignment when I offer them a choice. My brighter students will consistently choose the harder assignments and will implement technology in some pretty cool ways. Their responses are way beyond my original expectations. My struggling students tend to stick with the lower level questions that are designed for remediation and reinforcement. When given a choice, students will differentiate their learning on their own.
btw: I have a 95-97% completion rate on these assignments. It works.
what's best for kids???
May 10th, 2012
10:49 am
I like the ten minute per grade level rule that Alfie Kohn discribes.
I also like the idea that homework should be given and graded; however, we don’t need to make it count…at all. Put it in the gradebook but don’t count it. If a child is flying through tests and quizzes, why does he or she need to do homework? If the child is having difficulty with tests and quizzes, then he/she should be doing some homework practice. But homework simply because everyone always did it seems a bit pointless.
Back in the day before the Cold War, homework was thought to be child labor. The National Parent Teacher Association was relentless in its anti-homework campaign. Then the Russians went into space, and the “race was on”. Just saying.
Keri
May 10th, 2012
11:10 am
Some times it isn’t even that the child has a learning disability, or is a slow reader, sometimes it is the amount of homework that is given. You have 5 core subjects; math, reading, writing, science, and social studies. Even if you only have 10 to 15 minutes of homework per subject every night that is 50 to 75 minutes of homework. Then if you add in an elective or two that can add another 20 to 30 more minutes. That means the average kid can be doing homework for up to 2 hours every day after school. Get in to the higher grades and that can go up to 30 to 60 minutes of homework per subject, per day. Sometimes you can zip through a subject, but some days it can take a long time. That is a lot to ask from an adult, forget about a kid whose primary job should be playing and having fun. Add in a kid that struggles in one or more subject and then you have a huge problem. That 2 hours can easily become 4 or 5.
The middle school where I live isn’t assigning any homework. They don’t even allow the kids to take the books home. That may be a great idea for the average to above average student, but for the kid that struggles, they fall behind because they can’t go over the material at home. That extra time at home could be the difference between understanding it and failing. Parents are having to fight to get the books to help their child. In years past they did a block system here. They would have 6 subjects total; 3 on B days and the other 3 on B days. They would have each course for 90 minutes along with a study period. They would do everything in class and very rarely had homework. This year they went to having all classes in one day. While this is more normal to me, it isn’t giving the extra time to students to do the course work.
da bear
May 10th, 2012
11:16 am
I teach three low level classes where there is NO homework assigned, except study for the tests. I get several parents complaining about the hours and hours of homework I assign.
I have no idea what work the student is doing, but it isn’t mine.
Howard Finkelstein
May 10th, 2012
11:19 am
Pushing for no homework is just the continued dumbing down of society pushed by the Dregs of Society.
Solutions
May 10th, 2012
11:52 am
You cannot learn math if you do not do a lot of math problems, it is that simple. The same goes for physics, chemistry, and other so called “hard” sciences. In the soft “sciences” and the arts, you can BS your way through without much effort. The BSer’s all think they can just hire a science guy to do the hard work, but there are fewer and fewer American science guys being trained in America, our grad schools are full of foreign students. The high school diploma and the college degree have both been degraded to an almost useless indicator of knowledge and learning, as though a mere credential will guarantee a good life. Wrong! It is the hard work that goes into earning those degrees that indicate a good work ethic and an ability to learn. Giving away degrees and awards is counter productive.
mountain man
May 10th, 2012
12:10 pm
“If you teach the information during the class, why does it require constant repetitive drills to “learn” the material? Are the students that stupid or the teaching method extremely ineffective?”
How are you going to teach the multiplication tables without homework and “repetitive drills”?
Beverly Fraud
May 10th, 2012
12:39 pm
How are we going to teach children to be undervalued, overstressed and miserable if we don’t give them excessive amounts of work to take home from the “office?”
Fayette Teacher
May 10th, 2012
1:12 pm
No more middle school writing assignments for homework for me. Tired of grading parents’ bad writing. The students write in class where I can conference with them.
homework is no fun
May 10th, 2012
1:25 pm
IF THERE IS NO HOMEWORK TODAY…
we could ride our bikes to the frozen yogurt store
we could go to playground
we could visit our neighbor who is bedridden
we could play some tennis
we could make a surprise cake for dad
we could take our dog to the dog park
we could shoot some hoops in the driveway
we could work out in the yard
we could invite some friends over and have a cookout
we could go to the library and find some new books to read
we could go out and kick the soccer ball around
BUT… there will be homework.
TEACHERS SHOULD TEACH AT SCHOOL AND LET PARENTS PARENT AT HOME.
Teacher, Too
May 10th, 2012
1:27 pm
What’s going to happen when these students who have not had to learn to study or complete homework go to college, where all essays, math practice, etc… are completed as “homework”?
Sorry, but in middle and high school, homework is not only necessary, but needed. Students have to learn how to study and complete work independently.
In elementary school, I agree that the only homework should be math (memorizing mult tables, practicing addition and subtraction…) and reading. Reading is a skill that must be practiced every day…and please, in middle school, can we move beyond Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Unfortunate Series of Events stories? These are very elementary, and middle school students need to read more challenging material– Common Core will demand it.
another comment
May 10th, 2012
1:31 pm
I grew up in another state, that has always been in the top 10 states. I went to school in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I did not even go to Kindergarten, but direct to 1st grade when I was 5. My first grade class had 40 students, but the teachers were nuns. After 6th grade, I went to Public School.
Let me say, I was completely stunned when my oldest daughter was given homework in Kindergarten in Georgia, in Public School. Why? Why do we need homework in Kindergarten? My child could read within the first three weeks of kindergarten, she could count to 100, knew her shapes, colors, could write. She was just upset that they weren’t going to have nap time. That was her big question at open house.
Both my girls have ADHD and ADD, but test above the 90% on the IOWA tests. They have been in both Catholic and Public Schools. I really which I could afford Catholic School. The homework that was given in Catholic School made much more sense.
I really believe we would be better off with no homework though elementary and middle school. With the exception of an occasional book report in middle school. None of these stupid cereal box or shoe box projects.
My 12 year old 6th grader is absolutly made herself sick over all the work these last couple of weeks. The nurse is her favorite place, stomach aches, head aches.
Great article!!!
AlreadySheared
May 10th, 2012
1:44 pm
@Fayette Teacher,
“The students write in class where I can conference with them.”
Where I come from, ‘conference’ is a noun. Perhaps the verb you seek is ‘confer’? I know it’s just a blog, and I wouldn’t pick this nit if you had not discussed teaching composition.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conference
AlreadySheared
May 10th, 2012
2:01 pm
Although there is this from ‘Calvin and Hobbes’:
Calvin: I like to verb words.
Hobbes: What?
Calvin: I take nouns and adjectives and use them as verbs. Remember when “access” was a thing? Now, it’s something you do. It got verbed.
Verbing weirds language.
Hobbes: Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding.
Howard Finkelstein
May 10th, 2012
2:08 pm
AlreadySheared
May 10th, 2012
1:44 pm
Kinda like the evolution of the word “conversate”.
Fayette Teacher
May 10th, 2012
2:15 pm
@ Already Sheared:
Yes, “conference” is a noun, and this is indeed a blog. Jargon is permissible here.
Concerned DeKalb Mom
May 10th, 2012
2:45 pm
I think the conversation about homework differs tremendously depending on the age of the child. In talking with elementary school teachers, many agree that the majority of students in those years benefit from simply reading at home–for pleasure, with or without a parent–and minimal mathematics review.
High school is an entirely different ballgame. Yes, teachers are preparing some (not all) of those students for college-level coursework which will require substantial effort outside the classroom. Yes, the amount of content some courses are required to cover–think history classes, in particular, where year after year content is added (time does go by…) but nothing is removed–necessitates assignments outside the school day.
However, I think it is fair to say that, whether it be high school, middle school, or elementary school, there are homework assignments that are irrelevant and time consuming. Those assignments suck the joy out of learning for both the motivated AND the unmotivated child. We’ve all seen those assignments. Teachers need to have real conversations about the merits of assignments given, both inside and outside of class. And if the conclusion is no homework…well, then they’ve had the discussions to back up the argument when Type A parents demand work home for their child.
AlreadySheared
May 10th, 2012
3:00 pm
@Teacher, Too,
You hit the nail on the head with respect to higher education.
A couple of years ago, I had a conversation with young man in his freshman year at Ga Tech. He told me, in effect, that the quizzes and tests they were giving giving him didn’t match his learning style or really allow him to show his knowledge. Essentially, the assessments that he was getting were not suitably authentic!
I almost injured myself internally whilst restraining gales of derisive laughter – he’s a good kid, and was being completely sincere. This was the claptrap he had grown up with his whole educational life. I did tell him that if that’s what he was looking for, he was in the wrong school (to his credit, he managed to pull it together and get with the program).
TimeOut
May 10th, 2012
3:17 pm
When assigning homework for my advanced world languages courses, I make use of quite a bit of M learning. Students can collaborate with each other, with students in other schools, countries, etc. I can manage more listening/speaking practice via the technological advances of the past few years. The ‘rule’ that my system once applied for high school instructors, that each of us should assign a minimum of two hours of homework per week, may well have lead to unnecessarily repetitive and useless homework assignments. These days, it’s so much easier to differentiate for the struggling, advanced, and average students. Homework can extend or reinforce. However, for the K-3 students, homework should be minimal. Even high school students need time for family, friends, and extra-curricular activities. I don’t want to see us incorporate the mind-bending levels of homework that some other nations consider to be an acceptable ‘norm.’
AlreadySheared
May 10th, 2012
3:20 pm
And by ‘jargon’, you mean..? Please don’t tell me that it’s the teaching profession’s practice to confuse verbs and nouns.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/jargon
Definition of JARGON
1: the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity, group, profession, or field of study
2: unintelligible, meaningless, or incoherent speech (as that associated with Wernicke’s aphasia or some forms of schizophrenia)