Why does my teacher give me so much homework?!! Arrggghhh!!!
Homework is such a controversial topic. Many students think it should be canceled, and others think it’s not that bad. Teachers also think about it in different ways; some think the bigger the homework load, the better. Others think that less homework is way better.
Which one is it?
Students should NOT be give massive amouts of homework that causes sleep deprivation and even mental health concerns. HOWEVER, I shy away from canceling homework all together especially when we do homeowork for all other important activities (let me explain). Who knows…you might just see things differently.
Here’s an Unpopular Opinion About Homework
If I told you that homework shares something similar to basketball, baseball, or soccer practice, would you believe me?
Well, here’s the logic.
When you get home from a full practice day at the court, practicing an entire session again won’t make sense, so you do the easy part. You practice free throws, alley-oops, or just dribble. Suppose you have a big basketball game coming up tomorrow. In that case, it would not make any sense to practice all night because you would be too tired for the actual game.
Now, let’s connect the dots to homework.
When you get home from a full day at school, you shouldn’t practice a full school day’s worth of homework. The homeowork should literally be easy, like doing pushups to get better at a sport; your homework should be easier practice for what was taught in school. Even better, it should be tailored to your level of understanding and make the hard work you do in school EASIER not harder.
More Quality Homework, not More Quantity of Homework
We should focus on giving the kind of homework that’s actually effective for students. The size and time spent on homework do not always equal the quality of the impact. In 2017, homework was banned in elementary schools in Marion County, Florida, and replaced with reading at night. Research has also found that reading to a child daily is more beneficial than homework.
Elementary and high schools can benefit from this change in perspective about quality over quantity in homework. Tiring students out the day before with homework makes teaching much more difficult. On the flip side, not giving them the appropriate homework or home activity to sustain their interest in what goes on in class does not work either.
So… It’s a continuous process to improve the balance between schoolwork and homework while keeping an eye on the quality of homework.
I hope this helps!
Desmond utilizes his knowledge of education policy from his undergrad, his Masters of Education from Johns Hopkins, and a variety of advanced certifications such as CHPC and LWT to construct prime academic intervention programs and homework/executive functioning support for all his students.
