After reading what a few people have to say about the idea of homework, I figured I would write about what I think about it! As university students our lives are basically homework because atleast for education classes, most assignments are not done in class. Therefore we are forced to do work outside of the classroom. However it is much different for elementary, middle school and high school kids. In elementary school in my experience not a ton of homework is given. Like Eric said I also had the math sheets or the spelling words to take home. I must say I also gave my students some math stuff to do at home in my PSI but it was only if they didn't get it finished in class. Thinking about it now this does seem like some sort of punishment. In my beliefs it should be a bit of a punishment for the students who were goofing off and not using their time wisely in class and you even say to them, "Would you rather do this at home on your own time" and they continue not to do their work. However some students simply need more time and aren't capable of doing their work in a short period of time.
I don't think homework is all that necessary in elementary school. Sometimes we do want our students to do bigger projects and the work ends up getting taken home. In which case a lot of parent work goes into the projects as well. It's a tough call with that because sometimes we don't want to give the kids tests but rather projects for them to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a certain area. However time just does not allow for this to happen in the classroom. What do we do about that? I'm not sure.
I think as kids get older especially in high school homework isn't a bad idea as it is something they will most definitely be doing once they reach college or university. I understand we also want kids to be able to have time to spend with their families and play sports and do other activities and school already takes up a large portion of their time. But I don't think it would hurt to give a bit of homework once and a while. I definitely don't think it should be a daily thing or a give students a big project over christmas break type of thing. However it helps them to extend their knowledge outside of the classroom. If we give them more meaningful homework assignments rather than do this worksheet maybe it wouldn't seem so much like homework. For example, science is all over the place, not just in the classroom. If studying weather have students watch the weather channel or put a bucket outside and see how many cm it rains on a rainy day. Have students do some reading every night no matter what the material is. Have students share something they learnt with their parents at the dinner table. It doesn't have to be complicating but we don't want students to only associate what they learn at school with school. It is important that they see value to this knowledge in their everyday lives!
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I think you raise a very important point that has been a pet peeve of mine for years. I hated (and still do) when teachers would assign a huge assignment just over Christmas break or holiday (or other instances). I hate that!!!! It is a break or holiday for a reason. Sometimes we need that break, I know that some Education teachers are definitely understanding of the concept of a break and how important it is to our mental stability.
ReplyDeleteI do think that in some cases worksheets are important, I know that I am basically going against everything that they teach us in education but sometimes you just need repetition. Math for instance, sometimes you just have to make the proper process or sequence in grained in your brain in order to be able to handle the tougher equations.
Homework does not need to be a daily thing, but there are times when it is helpful for both the teacher and the student so we shouldn't decide based on a few instances that we should get rid of it completely. Plus you raise a really valid point, university includes a lot of homework, there is no way to get around that.
Homework can't be avoided, but it needs to be considered how much we are giving our students.
Agreed!
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