Homework for students: Yay or Nay?

[jarofthoughts]

No doubt you enjoyed chasing the mindless repeat of what you did in class that day.

I for one, happen to be gifted...lucky me.
I could do what little homework I needed to do...and then on my way.

Actually, I, like you, happened to be gifted, and like you, I spent little time on homework. But as I said earlier in the thread, the nature of homework has changed a lot (in Norway at least) since I, and I assume you, went to school.
Learning by rote, for instance, is cut to the bone, and a lot more emphasis is put on understanding the various topics than it was, say, 15 years ago.

Looking back, I can say with complete arrogance...
Some teachers should have chosen some other line of work.

You'll get no argument from me there.

Sending students home with 'busy' work is not learning.

Again, we agree on this.
If you take the time to read post #6 in this tread you will see what I think homework should and shouldn't be.

 

[Sunstone]

I think homework is a good idea under some circumstances -- such as when the lesson must be acquired by repetition and rote learning.

 

[Johnathan]

Currently there is a debate going on in Norway about whether students and pupils should be given homework or not.
As a teacher I have my own opinions about this subject, but before I weigh in I thought I should get some comments.

Do you think that elementary school students should be given homework/assignments that have to be done at home?
Why/why not?

There should be some homework that re-inforces basic thoughts and ideas acquired in class, but not homework that is so excessive.

I believe personally that creativity is far more of an asset than repetitive assignments and rote memory. You cannot teach this in homework, but rather it depends on proper socialization which cannot be gained in written assignments.

 

[Kathryn]

The problem seems to be that when a child has four or five teachers, who assigns what homework? If every teacher gives even fifteen minutes of homework a night, the child is burdened down.

I prefer research projects when possible - or homework assignments that are due in several days rather than the next morning - to give students the flexibility to prioritize and manage several projects or assignments at a time, rather than having the perfect homework storm hit unexpectedly a couple of times a week, resulting in hours of homework during what should be private family time.

 

[jarofthoughts]

The problem seems to be that when a child has four or five teachers, who assigns what homework? If every teacher gives even fifteen minutes of homework a night, the child is burdened down.

At the school where I work we make a point of planning what homework needs to be done ahead of time, as in, the pupils get all their homework a week in advance. This is done cooperatively by all the teachers who teach that class, meaning that not only can we adjust the amount properly, but the pupils can plan their assignments better.

I prefer research projects when possible - or homework assignments that are due in several days rather than the next morning - to give students the flexibility to prioritize and manage several projects or assignments at a time, rather than having the perfect homework storm hit unexpectedly a couple of times a week, resulting in hours of homework during what should be private family time.

Agree and see above.

 

[Erebus]

I'll always fondly remember the run up to GCSEs when each teacher provided homework and a recommended study time every day. Now I was in the top set for each subject that was actually divided into sets (English, Mathematics, Science and Languages) so I naturally had more work than some others. This meant that including the time spent actually in school the average amount of time studying I was told to do came to approximately 26 hours a day

In short, homework and revision is fine, provided it's a. pertinent to what's being taught and not an exercise in time wasting and b. a reasonable amount is set.

 

[blackout]

If I have to chose strictly from a nay or a yay,
I'm going with nay.

 

[dawny0826]

Currently there is a debate going on in Norway about whether students and pupils should be given homework or not.
As a teacher I have my own opinions about this subject, but before I weigh in I thought I should get some comments.

Do you think that elementary school students should be given homework/assignments that have to be done at home?
Why/why not?

I think it's important for children to review lessons learned at home and some homework is good for review and allows parents to keep a pulse on what their children are learning in school.

But, some teachers can be over the top with it. And when homework lessons are excessive and overtly stressful for both child and parent on a continuous basis, I do take issue with that.

 

[Alceste]

Looking back, there were types of homework that fit nicely with my need for creatove play time when I was a kid. Preparing for science fairs and creative writing projects, for example. I hated the stuff that involved more sitting at a desk with a textbook and absorbing or reviewing dry information.

At any rate, it's important to be aware that a lot of kids are in sports, music, martial arts or some other extra-curricular activity. Some of those require daily practice (for music, half an hour per instrument per day), so it's worth budgeting for that when you're planning the workload.

 

[Kathryn]

More of this:

And less of this:

 

[Thief]

Coincidently, I spent yesterday afternoon with relatives eating dinner.
One of them has a job evaluating tests scores.

The scores are never returned to the student.
The scores are intended to evaluate the teacher.
The evaluation is then sent to the teacher, with intent to improve performance...next year.

As the conversation unfolded, it was learned that almost half of the test evaluations indicate the teachers should have chosen some other line of work.

I'm sure the participants here can look back and remember some instructor whose technique was less than it should be.
I can.

Does homework help?....no.
Students cannot compensate at home for poor instruction at school.

The repetition techniques are fine for topics that need it.
Finger manipulation of a musical instrument.....fine.
Recital of a play....fine.

It may interest this thread....
The Chinese have a problem with creativity in their society.
It would seem they 'burn' the brains of their students, for the sake of a test.
As that test date approaches, the typical student will study 16hrs a day...
for a year!

The Chinese have no intellectual property laws.
Their industry rips off everything they can find.
They can't think outside of 'the box'.

 

[jarofthoughts]

I think it's important for children to review lessons learned at home and some homework is good for review and allows parents to keep a pulse on what their children are learning in school.

But, some teachers can be over the top with it. And when homework lessons are excessive and overtly stressful for both child and parent on a continuous basis, I do take issue with that.

Agreed.
Also, I spend time coaching the parents in my class on how to best handle the whole homework situation, including effective techniques, timing and time-span and of course, encouragement.

 

[jarofthoughts]

Looking back, there were types of homework that fit nicely with my need for creatove play time when I was a kid. Preparing for science fairs and creative writing projects, for example. I hated the stuff that involved more sitting at a desk with a textbook and absorbing or reviewing dry information.

I agree that learning by rote should be kept to a minimum, but sometimes, that is what's required.
I have, however, come up with a few techniques to make it more fun, and I am proud to say that my pupils often beg me to let them rehearse the multiplication table.

At any rate, it's important to be aware that a lot of kids are in sports, music, martial arts or some other extra-curricular activity. Some of those require daily practice (for music, half an hour per instrument per day), so it's worth budgeting for that when you're planning the workload.

While we agree that homework should be limited, I have to point out that school comes first.
If football practice, karate lessons or whatever gets in the way of what the kids need to do for school, too bad for those extra-curricular activities.

 

[Panda]

More of this:

And less of this:

NNNOOOOOOOO!!!

I hated any project where I had to draw, paint, makes something (not out of lego) or *shudders* colour in. I hated colouring in with a vengeance. If I had a choice between colouring or differential equations I'll take the equations every time

 

[Kathryn]

Give me a good ol' baking soda volcano any day over a calculator!

 

[Falvlun]

Give me a good ol' baking soda volcano any day over a calculator!

Ah, but you are comparing apples to oranges. The volcano building is teaching many wonderful things, but it is not teaching algebra.

~~~~~
I agree with the general trend of this thread. Homework is useful, but it should not be excessive or without purpose.

I am a fan of the more creative "homework" endeavors, such as collecting various leaves for a science class. But seriously, it's not the worse thing for a kid to have to sit down and work on his spelling or math problems.

 

[Revoltingest]

Homework good.
School for explaining & troubleshooting.
Solve problems & write papers at home when no teacher needed.
That how me rite so well.

 

[Penumbra]

Homework seems important to me.

I think homework should be light in elementary school, and increase in difficulty and length with both age and with academic track (so students in higher grades get more homework, and students that are on more academically rigorous programs should get more homework).

It's a chance to test out knowledge learned in the classroom, such as learning a mathematics concept and then doing practice problems at home to make sure it's understood. And for doing independent projects, like writing reports or reading books.

 

[jarofthoughts]

Homework seems important to me.

I think homework should be light in elementary school, and increase in difficulty and length with both age and with academic track (so students in higher grades get more homework, and students that are on more academically rigorous programs should get more homework).

It's a chance to test out knowledge learned in the classroom, such as learning a mathematics concept and then doing practice problems at home to make sure it's understood. And for doing independent projects, like writing reports or reading books.

Indeed.
The academic run is actually modelled along those lines with light homework requiring little individual understanding and research in the lower elementary grades, increasing in the higher elementary grades with more individual understanding and research required, through high-school and college (Norwegian equivalents of course. I'm using these terms for ease of understanding since most people here are not Norwegians.) all the way to university levels in which you are left more or less to your own devices on whether to work outside of lectures (You should!) and how much.

 

[Penumbra]

Indeed.
The academic run is actually modelled along those lines with light homework requiring little individual understanding and research in the lower elementary grades, increasing in the higher elementary grades with more individual understanding and research required, through high-school and college (Norwegian equivalents of course. I'm using these terms for ease of understanding since most people here are not Norwegians.) all the way to university levels in which you are left more or less to your own devices on whether to work outside of lectures (You should!) and how much.

I had a pretty intense amount of graded weekly homework in university too. Probably 20 hours at least per week in addition to everything else. Some individual weekly homeworks took 12+ hours.

But without it, it would have been basically impossible to learn any of it.