A classroom teacher’s view on homework

When thinking about homework, teachers find it advantageous to interact their policy with the households of their students. After just recently completing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a fourth grade teacher from Pennsylvania, reviewed her homework viewpoint that includes the purposeful functions teachers and households play.

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

I do see homework as having a function in the academic procedure and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to think research is useless, or worse, has a negative effect. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research that shows research to be helpful, I did not see a convincing amount of tough data to support doing away with all homework.
Yes, the quantity of homework must be based on the students age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it needs to be relatively simple to give mathematics homework one night, checking out or spelling one night, etc to prevent overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. Research can be a divisive subject in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this teachers point of view.

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LE: What is your position on the issue of homework?
I answer as an educator and as the moms and dad of school age children when I address this concern. I do see homework as having a function in the academic procedure and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to think research is worthless, or even worse, has a negative effect. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research that shows research to be helpful, I did not see a persuading amount of hard data to support eliminating all research.
Yes, the quantity of research need to be based upon the students age and grade level. As most Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it must be fairly easy to provide math homework one night, reading or spelling one night, etc to avoid overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. If instructors are creative with projects and in interacting the purpose of the task, trainees ought to not become bored or disappointed. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade instructor. I see research to extend knowing. Would I appoint 30 mathematics issues to students who I understand would struggle with them, or to students who have shown their understanding of the skill? No, in those cases, it is my job as the instructor to modify the tasks.
Our textbook points out it can take 24 repetitions of an ability for a trainee to reach 80% proficiency. Kohn points out how students may end up being better at remembering, however not believing. I see this as 2 different things; we need students to keep in mind certain truths and then move on to using those skills as thinkers and problem solvers.
As a parent, it can be challenging to squeeze in homework some nights! My own kids have actually brought house assignments I thought inappropriate or too lengthy for one night. We do the very best we can, and if we have concerns or problems, I connect to the teacher. Knowing some trainees have little or no assistance in the house need to be recognized by teachers. Again, great teachers make it a point to understand what some house scenarios might resemble and to customize appropriately. When possible, coworkers can collaborate, as described in 2 supplemental course posts, by developing a learning laboratory or incorporating “Drop-In” times throughout the school day
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