Think of it this way: the AVERAGE student will not learn anything without homework. Yes, I think that there are plenty of stupid meaningless homework assignments. Keep in mind that the point of school is to actually learn something, even though you are forced to go and at times it feels like there is no point to it. Whenever anyone goes to college, the homework will be much much more. I also really wish teachers would understand the fact that I have other classes to do homework for- not to mention work and after school activities.

Being an average student, I think that there are MAJOR problems with the way that teachers teach. Teachers and students are very very different people, and I don't think that teachers understand how students really learn.

 

I've heard many times "its only 1 hour of homework". Well if every teacher (4) gives you 1 hour of homework then you now have 4 hours of homework. I have to hand it to our math teacher though. He seems to understand this. If alot of the class doesnt finish somthing because everyone had finals, or we all didnt understand it, he will give us an extra day and help us out.

Problem is that everythings based on statistics. for example: So and so says- 85% of students learn visually, and 15% verbally, then the teachers are going to do visual things. Then they have to plan grad standards into their lessons and 6 trait writing assignments. I think if teachers taut how they thing one should be taut, and didnt listen to all of the statistical stuff, we would be alot better off.

 

i got lucky this year, i got out of the cp english class because my grades slipped,i had like 1 hour of reading and about 1 hour of work from that class, then math adn biology and it averaged to about 4 or 4.5 hours a night. This year, all i really have to do is math and sometimes chemistry. I dont believe in homework either.

 

I'm with the "You don't do extra work after work crowd". Now maybe some of you do do extra work after work but usually you still get paid for it, or are working toward something down the line(vacation, bonus, etc) When I did road work the boss didn't say "Ok load up the trucks and clock out, we're done here on East Ave, but for your homework, go pour West Ave and show it to me in the morning."

I hated the it's only 1 hour crap. 1 hour of homework X 6 classes =6 hours of HW. Do the math Calculus teacher. I don't think most teachers/professors(more so than others) actually see the real world outside of class.

Mike

 

Well I have been at this college thing for a little while. Like 10 weeks now. I am working on 16 credits. I have 5 classes and 7 hours of homework/studying per night.

I don't think that HW in college is much, keeps the drinking down.
HS was kinda BS with all the excess projects, but my senior year rocked, I barely studied at all and managed to improve my cumulative GPA.

I don't have a problem keeping up with 16 credits, but its pretty hard for most average students.

 

I dont have a problem doing homework as long as the Prof either went over the material, gave us notes, or gave us enough time to do it. I'll tip my hat off to my Differential Equations/Linear Algebra Prof though, the dude is insane. We get in class, and all we do from bell to bell is take notes and thats it. The best part is when he cant go fast enough to keep up with the homework he assigns us; then we dont have any idea of what is goin on... Ya, I'll agree all the dumb projects in HS were pointless, the only purpose the may have served is to prepare you for making reports and in my case "trying" to write papers. And right now, im gettin my **** kicked cuz I spend to much time on the puter and not enough on the books. But how much homework can one take without goin insane? I can only do about 1-2hr at a time, and then I lose concentration . And Im also with rebel_ford4x4 and 13hondacr250, workin and goin to college just sucks! Sometimes I almost wish I would drop out and become full time at my summer job.....almost....

 

you'll be glad that your high school teachers gave you three hours of homework when you get to college. It sets you up for nights like tuesday for me, i started homework at five in the afternoon, worked from 7-9 after which i headed back to homework and did it till 9 wednesday morning when i went to class, class 9 am till 5pm, took a nap till 7 when i got to go to work, at 9 when i got out of work i did more homework till 2am....Get used to it now.

 

I worked full time while working on my bs and masters degree. I probably spent 20 hours a week on home work. I remember trying to finish a term paper at midnight. I got mad and punched the typewriter. I got a key stuck and had to take it to a shop to get it fixed. Life sucks, it is worse if you are stupid.

 

I'm going to tech school for Firefighting so hopefully there is not a huge homework load. I mean what could they assign-Go home and set something on fire, then squirt a hose at it.

Mike

 

Just a few things here:

If people would spend half as much time DOING their homework as they do WHINING about it, then it would get done alot faster.

I think its GREAT that they assign homework. It goes a step further in teaching kids to do a job until its done, instead of that when the bell rings that you're done. (In the REAL world, work does not END at 5 o'clock. Even if you're not staying late, or taking it home, alot of times you're still thinking about it.)

Why is it that if you work hard, get good grades you are a "strait "A" goody goody butt kisser" (quoted from Peter94)? Why is it that those that DO what they're supposed to do and want to get far in life are made fun of? I contribute that to laziness, and that alot of people would rather have everything handed to them.

I worked very hard through high school (though a high school correspondence course), started working when I was fifteen, fulltime when I was a few weeks short of sixteen, and have been working fulltime ever since. I guess that makes me a goody goody two shoes, butt-kisser, etc. that I want to work for my pay and not sit back, on welfare watching Oprah.

Also, if you plan your time wisely you would have alot more free time (play time!?!?) Let me tell you, I LOVE the weekends. I work M-F 8-5 and by the time I get home, get dinner cooked, we eat, clean up, ITS TIME FOR BED.

Another thing, the teachers are there to do their job which is to TEACH you, not be understanding and let you off the hook because you have other things that need to be done. Just because I have other things to do doesn't mean my boss has to be understanding and let me off the hook. I have a job to do and I need to do it regardless of other obligations.

 

I guess I should give my two cents here since I am probably one of the only teacher's who posts here.

I teach middle school Science. I teach two Earth Science classes, one Environmental Science class, a biology class, and a physics class during the day. I think homework is a good thing depending on the subject. I require students to do on average 15 minutes of homework per night. I assign it because it reinforces the day's lesson and prepares them for the next day's lesson. I also think it frees up more time for me to present the lesson and students can work on it while I was there so they can ask me questions if they need to.

So, there ya go. Thats why you have homework. Deal with it. Do it. Get it over with. You wont have it forever, Unless you go into teaching, business, or, engineering.

 

im not lazy and im not a goodie goodie kid either. so you are wrong there. im a very hard worker, ive worked 3 different jobs in the last 2 years and ive never been 1 second late to any of them, never called in sick, and never missed a day for any other reason.

homework doesnt teach you anything new, its the same stuff you did in class.

trust me, i plan my time wisely but i dont have much free time. i go to school then to work. the last thing i need is a huge pile of homework to worry about. people have and need lives outside of school.

 

When I was fifteen, I started to work as well. During the summer I would jackhammer, pour concrete, and shovel asphalt out of dumptrucks. That was from 7am-1pm sometimes to 3pm M-F. Then I would get a shower and work from 4-10 or later at the restarant about 5 days a week (varied). Labor laws you say? Never complained about it so the boss didn't bring it up. Breaks? Nope. Worked straight through, busting my butt. I'm 20 in 5 days so this only happened like 5 years ago. Now I work 6 days a week Thurs-Tues, have fire drill on Tues night, go to school M-F before work and make my points at the firehouse for runs. I don't have time for a buttload of HW. Period. I can't not work, need to pay the bills, and I can't not make fire runs or drill as this is training and points. And I'm not going to miss school because I paid for it.

Mike

 

Homework is PART of school. Get used to it. If you don't like it, tough! Just like changing diapers and getting up in the middle of the night is PART of having babies. If you don't want to change diapers and get up all night with a kid, then DON"T HAVE THEM. Likewise, if you don't want to do homework, study, turn in projects, then DON"T GO to school. I never had ANY plans of going to college (I did very well in high school, EVEN THOUGH I hated it) so I found a boss that would rather train someone for the job then hire someone with experience (experience usually also means bad habits....) I have no desire to be a millioniare someday so I'm perfectly happy with the money I make, love my job and didn't have to go to college. THere are things I don't like to do, but in every job there will be some crap work. And you still have to do it. JUST LIKE HOMEWORK!!!

 

As a teacher, I can tell you quickly what you should be getting in homework per day. It is stated that you should get 15 mins. For every hour, you are in a class, but you can mitigate this by completing it in class or at lunch, as others have stated. I am not a big proponent for homework, because I teach block biology classes (90 mins. long) I tell my students to complete it in class and they will not have homework and some listen. Those that do not only play around in class once, because they hate doing homework at home.

I hated homework when I was in school and would rarely complete that work.

As far as the US educational system vs. the Asian and European systems it is not as bad and many people think. I am not saying that out system is the best in the world, by far it is not. In all other nations that have tracking in which people are placed into streams for future occupation based on test scores in the 4th, 6th, and 8th grade. Here there is too much emphasis placed on the fact the “everyone” should go to college. No, there are people that are not suited for college that would be helped by a matriculation agreement with industry. This would allow future employers to train the students to what they want and need.

Also, take into consideration that it is mandated by law that ALL children be educated. This included children with mild and profound mental defects as well as students that do not speak English. These students are included in all testing data when the nations are compared. When they compare the American students to the Japanese students, they are only comparing the top 15% of the Japanese population to all American students. If you did a side-by-side comparison, these would be the AP and Honors students, between equal populations, you would see that the American students are equal if not a little better than the others are. One other item that is stressed in the United States that is not in the Asian countries is the idea of independent thought. This is just some thing to think of when you are talking about education.

No child left behind………… Um GWB should see some of the students out there that WANT to be left behind.