A classroom teacher’s view on homework

When thinking of research, instructors discover it beneficial to interact their policy with the households of their trainees. After recently completing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a 4th grade instructor from Pennsylvania, reflected on her research philosophy which consists of the purposeful functions instructors and households play.

LE: What is your position on the problem of homework?
When I answer this question, I address as an educator and as the parent of school age children. I do see homework as having a function in the educational process and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see short article), who appears to believe research is worthless, or worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research study that proves research to be helpful, I did not see a persuading amount of difficult data to support getting rid of all homework.
Yes, the amount of homework should be based on the trainees age and grade level. As most Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it must be fairly simple to give math research one night, checking out or spelling one night, etc to prevent overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. If teachers are imaginative with projects and in interacting the function of the project, trainees should not end up being bored or annoyed. Those are my goals as a fourth-grade instructor. I see research to extend learning. Would I designate 30 mathematics problems to students who I understand would deal with them, or to trainees who have shown their understanding of the skill? No, in those cases, it is my job as the instructor to customize the projects.
Our textbook points out it can take 24 repeatings of a skill for a student to reach 80% proficiency. Kohn points out how students might become much better at remembering, but not thinking. I see this as two different things; we need trainees to remember particular facts 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 finest we can, and if we have issues or problems, I reach out to the instructor. Once again, excellent teachers make it a point to know what some house scenarios may be like and to customize accordingly.

Homework can be a divisive topic in the education community, and we hope you can value this teachers perspective. We wish to hear your thoughts about homework. What is your philosophy? How do you interact with households about research?

I do see homework as having a function in the academic procedure and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to think research is worthless, or even worse, has a negative effect. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research that proves research to be beneficial, I did not see a persuading amount of difficult information to support doing away with all research.
Yes, the quantity of research need to be based on the trainees age and grade level. As a lot of Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it needs to be reasonably easy to give mathematics research one night, spelling or checking out one night, and so on to prevent overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a divisive topic in the education neighborhood, and we hope you can appreciate this instructors point of view.

.

You may also like...