A classroom teacher’s view on homework

LE: What is your position on the issue of homework?
When I answer this question, I answer as a teacher and as the parent of school age children. I do see homework as having a role in the academic procedure and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to think research is worthless, or even worse, has an unfavorable impact. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research that proves homework to be useful, I did not see a convincing amount of hard data to support getting rid of all homework.
Yes, the quantity of homework ought to be based on the trainees age and grade level. As a lot of Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it ought to be relatively basic to provide mathematics homework one night, spelling or reading one night, etc to avoid straining 5 to 8-year-olds. If teachers are innovative with tasks and in interacting the purpose of the task, students ought to not become frustrated or bored. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade instructor. I see homework to extend learning. Would I designate 30 mathematics issues to trainees who I know would have problem 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 book explains it can take 24 repeatings of a skill for a student to reach 80% proficiency. I think practicing skills is worthwhile. Kohns comparison with tennis does not make good sense to me. There are abilities in tennis you should practice to improve. There are standard mathematics skills children need to practice to construct a strong structure before moving on to higher-level mathematics skills. Kohn explains how students might progress at keeping in mind, however not thinking. I see this as two various things; we need trainees to keep in mind particular realities and after that proceed to utilizing those abilities as thinkers and issue solvers.
As a parent, it can be tough to squeeze in homework some nights! We do the finest we can, and if we have problems or issues, I reach out to the teacher. Again, excellent instructors make it a point to know what some house scenarios may be like and to customize appropriately.

Homework can be a divisive topic in the education neighborhood, and we hope you can appreciate this teachers point of view. How do you communicate with households about homework?

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When considering homework, instructors find it advantageous to interact their policy with the households of their students. After recently finishing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a fourth grade instructor from Pennsylvania, assessed her homework philosophy which consists of the purposeful roles teachers and families play.

I do see research as having a function in the instructional process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to believe homework is worthless, or even worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is almost no research that proves research to be helpful, I did not see a convincing amount of difficult information to support doing away with all research.
Yes, the amount of homework need to be based on the students age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it needs to be fairly basic to give mathematics research one night, reading 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 value this instructors point of view.

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