A classroom teacher’s view on homework

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Research can be a divisive topic in the education community, and we hope you can appreciate this instructors point of view. How do you interact with households about research?

When considering research, teachers discover it beneficial to communicate their policy with the households of their students. After just recently completing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a fourth grade instructor from Pennsylvania, assessed her research approach that includes the purposeful functions instructors and families play.

LE: What is your position on the concern of research?
I respond to as a teacher and as the parent of school age kids when I address this question. I do see research as having a role in the educational process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to believe research is useless, or worse, has an unfavorable effect. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research that proves research to be advantageous, I did not see a convincing amount of hard data to support getting rid of all research.
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 needs to be relatively simple to provide math homework one night, reading or spelling one night, etc to prevent overloading 5 to 8-year-olds. Students should not become bored or disappointed if teachers are creative with tasks and in interacting the function of the project. Those are my objectives as a fourth-grade teacher. I see homework to extend learning. Would I appoint 30 math issues to students who I understand would battle with them, or to students who have demonstrated their understanding of the skill? No, in those cases, it is my job as the teacher to modify the projects.
Our textbook points out it can take 24 repetitions of an ability for a student to reach 80% proficiency. I think practicing skills is worthwhile. Kohns contrast with tennis does not make good sense to me. There are skills in tennis you must practice to enhance. There are basic mathematics abilities children need to practice to construct a strong foundation prior to proceeding to higher-level mathematics abilities. Kohn mentions how trainees might progress at remembering, however not thinking. I see this as two different things; we need trainees to remember certain truths and after that carry on to using those abilities as thinkers and problem solvers.
As a parent, it can be tough to squeeze in homework some nights! My own kids have actually brought home projects I thought inappropriate or too lengthy for one night. We do the finest we can, and if we have problems or issues, I reach out to the teacher. Understanding some trainees have little or no support at home must be recognized by teachers. Once again, excellent teachers make it an indicate know what some house situations may resemble and to customize appropriately. When possible, colleagues can interact, as described in 2 additional course short articles, by developing a discovering lab or integrating “Drop-In” times during the school day
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I do see homework as having a role in the instructional procedure and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to believe homework is worthless, or worse, has a negative impact. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research study that shows homework to be helpful, I did not see a convincing quantity of difficult information to support doing away with all research.
Yes, the quantity of homework ought to be based on the trainees age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it should be fairly simple to offer mathematics homework one night, spelling or reading one night, and so on to avoid overloading 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a divisive subject in the education community, and we hope you can value this teachers point of view.

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