A classroom teacher’s view on homework

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

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LE: What is your position on the problem of research?
I respond to as an educator and as the parent of school age kids when I address this concern. I do see research as having a role in the instructional process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see article), who appears to think research is useless, or worse, has a negative effect. While Kohn asserts there is practically no research that shows homework to be beneficial, I did not see a persuading amount of difficult information to support getting rid of all homework.
Yes, the quantity of homework need to be based upon the students age and grade level. As many Kindergarten-3rd grade instructors are self-contained, it should be relatively simple to offer mathematics homework one night, reading or spelling one night, and so on to prevent overwhelming 5 to 8-year-olds. If instructors are innovative with assignments and in communicating the purpose of the task, students need to not become bored or disappointed. Those are my objectives as a fourth-grade teacher. I see homework to extend knowing. Would I appoint 30 math issues to trainees who I know would deal with them, or to students who have shown their understanding of the ability? No, in those cases, it is my task as the teacher to modify the tasks.
Our book points out it can take 24 repetitions of an ability for a trainee to reach 80% proficiency. Kohn points out how trainees may end up being better at remembering, however not thinking. I see this as 2 various things; we require trainees to keep in mind particular truths and then move on to utilizing those abilities as thinkers and issue solvers.
As a parent, it can be hard to squeeze in homework some nights! My own children have brought house assignments I believed improper or too lengthy for one night. We do the best we can, and if we have problems or issues, I reach out to the instructor. Knowing some trainees have little or no support in your home need to be recognized by teachers. Again, great instructors make it an indicate know what some home scenarios might resemble and to customize appropriately. When possible, associates can collaborate, as explained in 2 supplemental course posts, by establishing a learning laboratory or incorporating “Drop-In” times during the school day
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I do see homework as having a role in the educational process and I do not agree with Alfie Kohn (see post), who appears to think research is useless, or worse, has a negative impact. While Kohn asserts there is nearly no research study that proves research to be helpful, I did not see a convincing amount of hard information to support doing away with all research.
Yes, the quantity of research need to be based on the students age and grade level. As a lot of Kindergarten-3rd grade teachers are self-contained, it should be relatively simple to offer math research one night, spelling or checking out one night, and so on to avoid straining 5 to 8-year-olds. Homework can be a dissentious topic in the education neighborhood, and we hope you can value this instructors point of view.

When considering research, teachers find it advantageous to communicate their policy with the households of their trainees. After just recently completing a Learners Edge course, Jennifer Lindsey, a 4th grade instructor from Pennsylvania, reviewed her research viewpoint that includes the purposeful functions instructors and households play.

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