A classroom teacher’s view on homework

Homework can be a divisive topic in the education community, and we hope you can value this teachers point of view. We would like to hear your thoughts about research. What is your philosophy? How do you interact with families about homework?

When thinking of research, teachers discover it helpful to interact their policy with the households of their students. After just recently finishing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a fourth grade teacher from Pennsylvania, reflected on her research philosophy that includes the purposeful functions teachers and households play.

LE: What is your position on the issue of research?
I address as a teacher and as the parent of school age kids when I answer this concern. I do see research as having a function in the educational process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to think research is useless, or worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research that proves research to be beneficial, I did not see a persuading quantity of hard information to support getting rid of all research.
Yes, the amount of homework should be based on the trainees age and grade level. As the majority of Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it must be fairly basic to provide math homework one night, spelling or reading one night, etc to prevent overloading 5 to 8-year-olds. If teachers are innovative with tasks and in communicating the purpose of the assignment, students should not become frustrated or bored. Those are my objectives as a fourth-grade teacher. I see homework to extend learning. Would I appoint 30 mathematics problems to students who I know would fight with them, or to students who have demonstrated their understanding of the ability? No, in those cases, it is my job as the teacher to modify the projects.
Our book explains it can take 24 repeatings of an ability for a student to reach 80% proficiency. I believe practicing skills is beneficial. Kohns comparison with tennis does not make good sense to me. There are skills in tennis you need to practice to improve. There are fundamental mathematics abilities children should practice to develop a solid foundation prior to carrying on to higher-level math abilities. Kohn points out how students might progress at remembering, but not believing. I see this as 2 various things; we require trainees to bear in mind particular truths and then carry on to using those skills as thinkers and issue solvers.
As a parent, it can be hard to squeeze in homework some nights! My own kids have brought home assignments I believed too lengthy or inappropriate for one night. We do the very best we can, and if we have concerns or problems, I reach out to the instructor. Understanding some students have little or no assistance at home should be acknowledged by educators. Once again, excellent instructors make it a point to understand what some house circumstances may be like and to modify appropriately. When possible, associates can interact, as described in two supplemental course short articles, by developing a discovering lab or including “Drop-In” times during the school day
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I do see research as having a role in the instructional procedure and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to think research is worthless, or even worse, has an unfavorable impact. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research that shows homework to be beneficial, I did not see a persuading quantity of difficult information to support doing away with all research.
Yes, the amount 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 needs to be relatively simple to offer math research one night, spelling or checking out one night, etc to avoid overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. Research can be a dissentious subject in the education neighborhood, and we hope you can value this teachers point of view.

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