A classroom teacher’s view on homework

Research can be a dissentious topic in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this instructors point of view. How do you communicate with households about research?

When considering homework, teachers discover it useful to interact their policy with the families of their trainees. After recently finishing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a 4th grade teacher from Pennsylvania, reflected on her research approach that includes the purposeful roles teachers and households play.

LE: What is your position on the problem of research?
I respond to as a teacher and as the parent of school age children when I address this question. I do see research as having a role in the instructional process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to believe homework is worthless, or worse, has a negative effect. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research that proves research to be beneficial, I did not see a persuading quantity of tough data to support getting rid of all homework.
Yes, the amount of research need to be based on the students age and grade level. As a lot of Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it ought to be fairly basic to offer mathematics research one night, reading or spelling one night, and so on to avoid overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. If teachers are innovative with tasks and in communicating the purpose of the assignment, students must not end up being disappointed or bored. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade teacher. I see research to extend knowing. Would I assign 30 math problems to trainees who I know would have problem with them, or to students who have demonstrated their understanding of the skill? No, in those cases, it is my job as the instructor to modify the projects.
Our textbook mentions it can take 24 repeatings of a skill for a trainee to reach 80% proficiency. I believe practicing skills is beneficial. Kohns contrast with tennis does not make sense to me. There are skills in tennis you need to practice to improve. There are fundamental math skills kids need to practice to construct a solid foundation prior to proceeding to higher-level math abilities. Kohn points out how trainees may end up being better at keeping in mind, but not believing. I see this as 2 different things; we need trainees to bear in mind specific truths and after that proceed to utilizing those skills as thinkers and problem solvers.
As a moms and dad, it can be difficult to squeeze in research some nights! We do the best we can, and if we have concerns or issues, I reach out to the instructor. Once again, excellent instructors make it a point to understand what some house scenarios might be like and to customize accordingly.

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I do see homework as having a function in the instructional process and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to think homework is useless, or worse, has a negative effect. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research that proves homework to be useful, I did not see a persuading amount of hard data to support doing away with all homework.
Yes, the amount of homework should be based on the trainees age and grade level. As most Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it should be fairly simple to give mathematics research one night, spelling or reading one night, etc to prevent straining 5 to 8-year-olds. Research can be a divisive subject in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this instructors point of view.

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