Homework. There, I said it. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. In fact, I’m confident that I can and will say it a few more times before our rendezvous at the Upper Grades Exchange is over. Why? Because our topic today is “Homework: How Much Is Enough?”
I never got comfortable with how much homework to assign when I taught. Some days, it just didn’t feel like homework was necessary for some of my classes. Other days, with class time in short supply and the amount to be learned in no danger of a shortage, I could be seen piling it on like mashed potatoes on a Thanksgiving Day plate! But like a typical Thanksgiving meal, the hangover of checking and correcting my overindulgence in homework never left me with much more than a bloated feeling of self-disgust.
Today, much of what I hear about homework corresponds to the ten-minute rule: ten minutes of homework for first grade and an additional ten minutes for each succeeding grade. So, for the mathematically challenged (like myself), that means 30 minutes per night for third graders, right on up to 120 minutes for a senior in high school.
A teacher’s practical implementation of how much homework is assigned (if any at all) often has little to do with one’s personal opinion. Often, it is dictated by districts, parents, and educational philosophy.
But this is the Exchange—a forum where you personal opinion counts. Share your thoughts on homework here. That’s your assignment for today.
I try not to give any homework beyond the basic reading the story every night. I have a Spelling TicTacToe sheet I give and students do it if they want. If they do, it’s worth at least 3 points. If not, no big deal, they are strong in Spelling anyway. Today’s student has too many extra activities and usually both parents work. I want to know what my students can do, not their parents. I only assign homework when the work doesn’t get finished in class and then we go over it the next day in class.
Except for a little math practice and a LOT of free choice reading, I don’t see much value in homework. I think if students would just free read for an hour a day we would have a much smarter society. Reading can take us anywhere and everywhere. I teach fifth grade and I don’t like to give more than about 10 to 15 minutes worth of homework so that kids have plenty of time to play with their friends, hang out with their family, and still get a chance to read. I don’t really think of reading as homework as much as I think of it as enriching ourselves.
If I could get every single one of my students to read for an hour every day, I would be happy to never assign homework again.
I dislike homework…as a parent I abhor it, as a teacher I dislike tracking it and grading it. Typically, if I issue homework, I use it as a “responsibility” lesson rather than a concept lesson and grade accordingly based on completeness and direction following rather than accuracy. One of the teachers on my team only gives homework to students who made less than a 70% on the classwork-that I can deal with. Otherwise, I frankly want the kids to PLAY, have family time, or do extracurricular activities after school.
I have taught for 28 years and Im still confused about homework!
Confusion comes from not having a district or school policy about whether we should or should not give homework so…some teachers do and some teachers don’t. So the teachers that do not give are more popular with the kids and parents. Parents do not have the time nor do they want to sit and help the kids do their homework. I guess they feel the need to make sure every answer is filled in even when they’ve been communicated with about the need to let the kids work independently and they should finish what they can answer without spending more than 1 hour on homework. BUT…spending the time working on the work or goofing off and listening to their ipod are not easily identifiable to the parents so they call and say their child has spent 5 hours on homework and they are sick of it.
Ridiculous!
Homework is preparation, preparation is readiness and readiness is life! It all comes down to effort.
I think the problem with homework is twofold:
1)Homework must be meaningful, an extension or practice of what has been studiend in class, NOT homework for the sake of homework. That being said, the grading/credit for homework is another sticking point as one never knows whose work is really being turned in –the students, the parents, etc.
2)In upper grades as students change classes and see multiple teachers who may or may not have common time to coordinate, the amount of homework assigned can become overwhelming. As Cheryl said, kids today are involved in so many activies beyond school, that schoolwork outside of the school day becomes an issue.
There’s no great answer, b/c certainly the habit/ability of doing work outside of class needs to be learned and practiced since it’s an expectation in higher education. Interested in reading other comments.
As a 3rd grade teacher I assign homework. I have a packet that consists of Reading with 5W’s, Math Minute, Grammar, and Spelling choice (3x each, ABC order, etc). The packet goes home on Monday and is due on Friday. I explain to my parents, and students, that if they have any questions about what is in their homework packet to ask me. I do not expct my students to know everything that they see in their packet, but to get them thinking about it. I do grade home work, but it is only worth 5% because I know that some students will have their parents, older siblings, etc give them the answer. I have not had any problems with the majority of my students doing and turning in the homework. For those few who don’t do it or turn it in the 5% of their grade does not hurt their over all grade that much.
As a parent I think too many teachers give “busy work” for homework and its not meaningful. As a teacher I and not so thrilled with homework either. I give it because I am required but I don’t really like to. I teach 4th grade and if I had a choice I would require parents to sit down with their child and do the homework together. I wouldn’t mind if the child did the homework and then the parent check over it but what good is homework when the student brings it back and it’s quickly done with 1/2 the answers wrong or even worse it is all correct but completed in the parents writing. I do not give a numeric grade on homework I just give a responsibility grade.