The definition of homework is different in each and every classroom.....here are my feelings about homework!
Growing up, I never enjoyed doing homework. I can remember being in grade school and feeling the sense of freedom when I ran off the bus and immediately started running around the neighborhood with my friends. After being locked up in school all day, this was the one opportunity I had to be active and socialize with my friends. Always being studious, after 10-15 minutes of playing, I felt an overwhelming feeling of guilt because I knew I needed to complete my homework.
My feelings about homework haven’t changed from when I was a student in grade school. I still feel that students should get a chance to be a kid, and not have to worry about doing hours upon hours of homework. With the being said, I do think it is fair to give students homework that reviews concepts that are being covered in class. Since the objective of assigning homework is to provide review and practice of concepts that have already been taught, the assignments should not take an excessive amount of time to complete. If students are having a difficult time with the material, I would be fine with parents writing in a note that stated that it was too difficult for their child to complete at home. This would give me an understanding of what I needed to practice more with that child in my classroom. When parents push their children to spend an excessive amount of time on homework, this tends to discourage the student and then it makes the situation worse. Homework should not be a punishment for students; instead it should be assigned for extra practice.
Mrs. Young, my mentor teacher, mentioned to me that it is important to take into consideration the diverse needs in the classroom. If students have disabilities or need extra accommodations (or modifications) teachers and parents also need to take that into consideration when assigning or helping with homework. She also stated in our discussion that she believes that homework should not be graded; instead it is more beneficial for the students to have homework graded on completeness for each individual child. This way each student is assessed by his or her own individual needs/goals, and the teacher can use the homework as a way to strengthen the students’ abilities in class. Not only does this system help with assessing individual student understanding, but it also helps to encourage students to work hard and not worry about getting the right/wrong answers. 
No comments:
Post a Comment