A classroom teacher’s view on homework

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Research can be a divisive subject in the education community, and we hope you can value this teachers point of view. How do you interact with families about homework?

I do see homework as having a function in the academic process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to believe homework is worthless, or worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research 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 quantity of homework need to be based on the students age and grade level. As most Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it ought to be reasonably basic to offer math research one night, reading or spelling one night, etc to avoid straining 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a dissentious subject in the education community, and we hope you can value this instructors point of view.

LE: What is your position on the problem of research?
When I address this concern, I address as a teacher and as the moms and dad of school age children. I do see homework as having a function in the academic process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to think homework is worthless, or worse, has an unfavorable impact. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research that shows research to be helpful, I did not see a persuading quantity of tough information to support eliminating all research.
Yes, the quantity of research need to be based on the students age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it needs to be fairly simple to give math research one night, reading or spelling one night, and so on to avoid straining 5 to 8-year-olds. Students ought to not end up being bored or disappointed if instructors are innovative with tasks and in communicating the purpose of the task. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade teacher. I see research to extend learning. Would I assign 30 math problems to students who I understand would fight with them, or to students who have demonstrated their understanding of the ability? No, in those cases, it is my task as the teacher to modify the projects.
Our book points out it can take 24 repetitions of an ability for a trainee to reach 80% proficiency. Kohn points out how trainees might end up being much better at keeping in mind, but not believing. I see this as 2 different things; we require students to remember certain truths and then move on to utilizing those abilities as thinkers and problem solvers.
As a moms and dad, it can be tough to squeeze in homework some nights! We do the best we can, and if we have issues or concerns, I reach out to the teacher. Again, good instructors make it a point to know what some home situations may be like and to modify accordingly.

When believing about homework, instructors find it useful to communicate their policy with the families of their students. After recently completing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a fourth grade instructor from Pennsylvania, showed on her homework philosophy that includes the purposeful functions teachers and families play.

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