A classroom teacher’s view on homework

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

When thinking about homework, teachers find it advantageous to communicate their policy with the households of their trainees. After recently finishing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a 4th grade instructor from Pennsylvania, assessed her research approach that includes the purposeful roles instructors and families play.

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I do see homework as having a function in the instructional process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to believe homework is useless, or worse, has an unfavorable impact. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research study that shows research to be beneficial, I did not see a persuading amount of difficult data to support doing away with all homework.
Yes, the quantity of research ought to be based on the trainees age and grade level. As the majority of Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it should be relatively easy to provide mathematics homework one night, spelling or reading one night, and so on to avoid straining 5 to 8-year-olds. Research can be a dissentious topic in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this instructors point of view.

LE: What is your position on the issue of homework?
I answer as a teacher and as the parent of school age children when I address this concern. I do see homework as having a function in the educational process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to believe research is worthless, or worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research study that proves homework to be helpful, I did not see a convincing quantity of difficult information to support getting rid of all research.
Yes, the amount of research should be based upon the students age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it should be relatively easy to give mathematics homework one night, checking out or spelling one night, etc to prevent overloading 5 to 8-year-olds. If instructors are creative with tasks and in interacting the function of the task, trainees must not end up being disappointed or bored. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade teacher. I see homework to extend knowing. Would I designate 30 math issues to trainees who I understand would battle with them, or to students who have shown their understanding of the skill? No, in those cases, it is my job as the teacher to customize the projects.
Our textbook mentions it can take 24 repetitions of a skill for a student to reach 80% proficiency. I think practicing abilities is beneficial. Kohns comparison with tennis does not make good sense to me. There are abilities in tennis you must practice to enhance. There are fundamental mathematics abilities kids need to practice to construct a strong structure prior to moving on to higher-level math abilities. Kohn explains how students may progress at remembering, but not believing. I see this as 2 various things; we require students to keep in mind specific truths and then move on to utilizing those skills as thinkers and issue solvers.
As a moms and dad, it can be difficult to squeeze in research some nights! We do the finest we can, and if we have concerns or issues, I reach out to the instructor. Again, great instructors make it a point to understand what some house scenarios may be like and to modify accordingly.

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