A classroom teacher’s view on homework

When thinking about research, teachers discover it useful to interact their policy with the households of their trainees. After just recently finishing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a 4th grade instructor from Pennsylvania, assessed her homework viewpoint that includes the purposeful functions teachers and families play.

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LE: What is your position on the problem of homework?
I address as a teacher and as the moms and dad of school age children when I address this question. I do see research as having a function in the instructional process and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to believe research is worthless, or even worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research study that shows homework to be useful, I did not see a persuading quantity of hard data to support eliminating all research.
Yes, the quantity of homework must be based on the trainees age and grade level. As a lot of Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it should be relatively simple to give mathematics homework one night, checking out or spelling one night, and so on to prevent straining 5 to 8-year-olds. Students ought to not become frustrated or bored if instructors are innovative with tasks and in interacting the purpose of the task. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade instructor. I see research to extend knowing. Would I assign 30 math problems to trainees who I understand would have a hard time with them, or to trainees who have demonstrated their understanding of the skill? No, in those cases, it is my task as the instructor to modify the projects.
Our book mentions it can take 24 repetitions of a skill for a trainee to reach 80% competency. I think practicing abilities is rewarding. Kohns comparison with tennis does not make good sense to me. There are abilities in tennis you need to practice to improve. There are basic mathematics abilities children need to practice to develop a strong structure before proceeding to higher-level mathematics skills. Kohn mentions how trainees might progress at remembering, but not thinking. I see this as 2 various things; we need students to keep in mind specific truths and then carry on to using those skills as thinkers and issue solvers.
As a parent, it can be hard to squeeze in research some nights! We do the finest we can, and if we have issues or issues, I reach out to the instructor. Once again, good instructors make it a point to understand what some home circumstances may be like and to modify accordingly.

Homework can be a divisive topic in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this teachers perspective. We want to hear your thoughts about research. What is your philosophy? How do you communicate with families about research?

I do see homework as having a function in the educational process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to believe research is useless, or even worse, has an unfavorable impact. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research that shows homework to be helpful, I did not see a convincing quantity of tough information to support doing away with all research.
Yes, the amount of research should be based on the students age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it should be reasonably easy to give mathematics research one night, checking out or spelling one night, etc to avoid overloading 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a divisive topic in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this teachers point of view.

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