A classroom teacher’s view on homework

Research can be a divisive subject in the education neighborhood, and we hope you can value this instructors point of view. We wish to hear your thoughts about research. What is your approach? How do you interact with households about research?

When thinking about research, instructors find it beneficial to interact their policy with the households of their trainees. After just recently finishing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a fourth grade teacher from Pennsylvania, reviewed her research philosophy that includes the purposeful roles instructors and families play.

I do see homework as having a role in the instructional procedure and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to believe research is worthless, or even worse, has a negative effect. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research study that shows homework to be advantageous, I did not see a convincing quantity of tough information to support doing away with all research.
Yes, the amount of homework should be based on the trainees age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it should be fairly easy to provide math homework one night, checking out or spelling one night, etc to avoid overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a dissentious subject in the education neighborhood, and we hope you can appreciate this instructors point of view.

LE: What is your position on the issue of research?
I answer as a teacher and as the parent of school age children when I address this concern. I do see research as having a function in the instructional procedure and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to believe homework is useless, or worse, has a negative impact. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research study that shows research to be beneficial, I did not see a convincing amount of difficult information to support eliminating all homework.
Yes, the quantity of homework must be based on the students age and grade level. As a lot of Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it needs to be fairly simple to offer math research one night, checking out or spelling one night, etc to prevent straining 5 to 8-year-olds. Students ought to not become disappointed or bored if teachers are innovative with projects and in communicating the purpose of the task. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade teacher. I see homework to extend knowing. Would I designate 30 mathematics problems to trainees who I understand would struggle with them, or to trainees who have demonstrated their understanding of the ability? No, in those cases, it is my task as the teacher to customize the tasks.
Our book mentions it can take 24 repetitions of a skill for a trainee to reach 80% proficiency. I think practicing skills is beneficial. Kohns comparison with tennis does not make sense to me. There are abilities in tennis you need to practice to improve. There are fundamental mathematics abilities children must practice to construct a solid foundation before carrying on to higher-level mathematics abilities. Kohn mentions how trainees may progress at remembering, however not thinking. I see this as 2 different things; we require students to remember specific truths and then carry on 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 issues or concerns, I reach out to the instructor. Once again, excellent instructors make it a point to know what some house scenarios may be like and to modify accordingly.

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