A classroom teacher’s view on homework

LE: What is your position on the issue of homework?
When I address this question, I address as a teacher and as the moms and dad of school age kids. I do see homework as having a role in the instructional process and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to believe research is worthless, or even worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research that shows homework to be advantageous, I did not see a convincing amount of difficult information to support eliminating all homework.
Yes, the quantity of homework need to be based upon the trainees age and grade level. As a lot of Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it should be fairly simple to give mathematics research one night, spelling or reading one night, etc to avoid straining 5 to 8-year-olds. If teachers are innovative with assignments and in interacting the purpose of the project, students must not become frustrated or bored. Those are my objectives as a fourth-grade instructor. I see research to extend learning. Would I designate 30 math problems to trainees who I understand would struggle 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 customize the projects.
Our textbook explains it can take 24 repetitions of an ability for a trainee to reach 80% competency. I believe practicing skills is beneficial. Kohns comparison with tennis does not make good sense to me. There are skills in tennis you must practice to enhance. There are basic mathematics skills children should practice to develop a solid structure before carrying on to higher-level math skills. Kohn explains how trainees might progress at keeping in mind, but not believing. I see this as 2 different things; we need students to remember certain truths and then move on to utilizing those skills as thinkers and problem solvers.
As a parent, it can be tough to squeeze in research some nights! My own children have brought house tasks I believed too lengthy or improper for one night. We do the finest we can, and if we have concerns or issues, I reach out to the teacher. Understanding some trainees have little or no assistance in the house must be recognized by teachers. Again, good instructors make it a point to understand what some home scenarios might resemble and to modify accordingly. When possible, colleagues can collaborate, as explained in 2 extra course articles, by developing a learning laboratory or including “Drop-In” times during the school day
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I do see research as having a function in the educational process and I do not concur with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to think research is useless, or worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research study that shows homework to be helpful, I did not see a convincing amount of tough information to support doing away with all homework.
Yes, the amount of homework ought to be based on the students age and grade level. As most Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it needs to be relatively simple to offer math research one night, reading or spelling one night, and so on to prevent overloading 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a divisive topic in the education neighborhood, and we hope you can value this teachers point of view.

Homework can be a dissentious subject in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this teachers point of view. How do you interact with households about homework?

When believing about research, instructors find it useful to communicate their policy with the households of their trainees. After just recently completing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a fourth grade teacher from Pennsylvania, reflected on her homework approach that includes the purposeful functions instructors and families play.

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