A classroom teacher’s view on homework

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Homework can be a dissentious subject in the education community, and we hope you can value this instructors point of view. We wish to hear your ideas about research. What is your approach? How do you communicate with households about homework?

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

I do see homework as having a function in the instructional process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to think homework is worthless, or even worse, has an unfavorable impact. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research study that shows homework to be beneficial, I did not see a convincing quantity of tough data to support doing away with all research.
Yes, the quantity of research need to be based on the trainees age and grade level. As the majority of Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it ought to be relatively basic to offer mathematics homework one night, spelling or reading one night, etc to avoid overloading 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a dissentious topic in the education community, and we hope you can value this teachers point of view.

LE: What is your position on the concern of research?
When I address this question, I respond to as a teacher and as the moms and dad of school age children. I do see research as having a function in the educational procedure and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to believe homework is worthless, or even worse, has an unfavorable impact. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research that proves homework to be useful, I did not see a persuading quantity of difficult information to support getting rid of all research.
Yes, the amount of research ought to be based upon the students age and grade level. As the majority of Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it needs to be reasonably basic to provide math research one night, checking out or spelling one night, and so on to avoid overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. Trainees need to not become bored or frustrated if instructors are imaginative with projects and in communicating the purpose of the task. Those are my objectives as a fourth-grade teacher. I see homework to extend learning. Would I appoint 30 mathematics issues to trainees who I understand would deal 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 assignments.
Our book points out it can take 24 repeatings of a skill for a trainee to reach 80% proficiency. Kohn points out how trainees may end up being much better at remembering, but not thinking. I see this as 2 different things; we need trainees to remember certain truths and then move on to utilizing those skills as thinkers and issue solvers.
As a parent, it can be difficult to squeeze in homework some nights! We do the best we can, and if we have problems or concerns, I reach out to the instructor. Again, great instructors make it a point to understand what some home scenarios may be like and to modify appropriately.

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