Monday, December 12, 2011

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Homework

Saw a great article on CNN about homework.  Check out the article and follow some of the links and then respond to the question here.

146 comments:

Gabby P said...

i believe that this no homework for a month idea in Massachusetts is a really good idea. i think this a good idea because kids need at least 1 day when they don't have a bunch of homework.

u don't know me said...

In response to what Karen Hollowell said, I think that is just wrong. Hollowell says that homework provides students with an oppurtunity for family interaction. Yeah, I really get to interact with my family with my head in textbook. And I think that I'd get alot more "family interaction" if I didn't have homework I mean, my day is so crammed with homework, on a normal day I only get to really talk with them at dinner. This is why I think that Karen Hollowell's views on homework are fundementally wrong.

Sweet said...

I think that all we should get for homework is a 2 or 3 papers and to read because the teachers would still be happy about giving homework and the kids would be happy because they could only waste 20-30 minutes doing it. Also we could have 2 no homework days a week, why not!?!

:D said...

I do not agree with Gabby P because I homework free day isn't enough! Ya, one day is better than none but it's only one! Why not 5 or 6!

u don't know me said...

@Gabby p
I disagree with you. You say that the no homework every month is a good idea, but what difference will it make if we have 10 days off of homework out of 10 months of homework? Therefore, I think that the one day off of homework policy is innefective.

Nosferatu said...

I think that this no home work idea is a great idea. kids should have some time at nights for something fun to do, a lot of kids do stuff around the house at night. if they have too much homework then they can’t do anything fun. I think they should have a month, March or December, to get off all of the homework they do every night. I think that March or December because in March there is CMT's and kids are all stressed out for them. In December because there is Christmas, and kids are getting ready for new years and Christmas. Both are great months to do this No-homework month thing because both months are stressful.

Emma B said...

I think that homework is a good unless teacher over does it because , homework is extra practice from things that you learned in school. But, some teacher may over load it where kids start to feel it is boring.I feel that home work can be a postive thing and a problem.

Emma B said...

I think that homework is a good unless teacher over does it because , homework is extra practice from things that you learned in school. But, some teacher may over load it where kids start to feel it is boring.I feel that home work can be a postive thing and a problem.

Emma B said...

Sweet said...
"That it would be ok if we got 2-3 pages of homework that would be equel to 20-30 minutes." I agree with her this is good amount of homework. If we got this amount of homework them we would have time for other activities.

alcatrazjail said...

I think that no homework is a good thing because teachers sometimes assign to much homework for kids to get done. Kids most times have something to do after school and the activity usually lasts pretty late and the kid won't have time to get their homework done.

alcatrazjail said...

@Sweet I agree with what you said. We should only have 20-30 minutes. I agree because that way we will still be able to do after school activities without wasting too much time on homework.

Kevin O said...

@sweet I agree with what you said. 20-30 min should be a maximum time for homework. You could do after school activities instead of homework. You could have some great activities after school but you could be late for them. That is why you should only have 20-30 minutes a night.

KirillR98 said...

I think that the one night of homework a month isn't a good idea because some kids have lots of things to do after school that don't include homework. A No HW pass should be given out to students who do all their work on for 2 weeks. This would help over-stressed kids who are overly loaded with all the things that they need to do in life. So, I think that more no HW nights would be a great idea because it would help relieve overstressed kids.

KirillR98 said...

I think that all teachers should ease off on all the HW that they are giving out. I think this because some teachers say that they are only giving out 30 minutes of homework but if you have 10 teachers throughout the day, thats up to 5 or 6 hours of HW each day. This may just be because some students are lazy but truthfully most of the teachers just spend most of the period explaining what the classwork is, then they give you 10 or 5 minutes to do the actual assignment. So, teachers should ease off the HW because they are giving 30 minutes of that homework per period, throughout 10 periods a day.

AVgleek17 said...

I believe homework is necessary, but there most definitely should be a limit as to how much we get from each class. Homework absolutely helps children, but there comes a time when I want to rip my hair out, and I'm speaking for many students here at STEM as well. I think there should be a limited 2 and a half hour homework time for kids each night. That way our brains won't be fired up, but we still have gotten something out of it. I mean, after a while and cramming in all of your homework, it just doesn't click anymore and then you end up getting more confused or forgetting things. Therefore I believe there should be a limited amount of time kids should have to spend on homework.

AVgleek17 said...

@Nosferaut,
I have to disagree with you when you talked about no homework months, I think that would bring a big disadvantage to us. Homework, as nerdy as this sounds, really helps us understand the lesson plan the teacher wanted us to understand, and it keeps things fresh in our minds. Yes, there should be a limit on homework, but banning it fro a month is not a very smart idea at all. Because homework helps us understand things and keeps us up to date in our assignments, I believe that you are wrong when you think no homework for a month is a good idea.

Kayleigh said...

I think no homework is a bad idea because homework allows you to practice what you learn in school.It also allows kids to remember something they forgot in school that if they see on a worksheet with the same problem they might remember what they forgot. THis is why homework once a month is bad.

Kayleigh said...

@Gabby P. I disagree with you because kids need to practice the things they learn in school.Also its not just one day were they don't have homework it's a whole month.Also my father told me that America is getting dumber so I don't think that a whole month without homework would make us smarter. Also in school teachers would give us harder work and that would just tire ourselves out.Teachers would have to teach us more advanced things then we are learning now.

chocoholicdancer13 said...

I believe that homework is good, but not in such large portions. Even though Karen Hollowell says that homework provides family interaction, I am usually too focused on my homework that I can't take a minute to talk to my family. Although homework is supposed to reinforce learning and promote responsibility, it can have an adverse affect because both students and teachers can get burned out from the overwhelming amount. So, I think all schools should have one or two nights of no homework at all during the school week and none during the weekends. This is because we go to school five days a week, six hours a day and we deserve a two day break of no homework. It is called a weekend for a reason. This is all why I think homework is okay in small portions.

chocoholicdancer13 said...

@Nosferatu, I disagree with you. Having no homework months would put all students at a disadvantage especially for CMT homework or study guides. Homework is very stressful but having none of it can be very bad for the student body. This is because we won't get the extra time to rethink certain problems and study, which in turn will make us even more stressed out. That is why homework free nights are okay, not homework free months.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the no homework night is a great idea because it gives kids a time to relax and not have to worry about school when they get home. They get the chance to do some of their favorite activities, not just sit around and do homework for a couple hours. It would be one night to do whatever they wanted to do.

Anonymous said...

i agree with chocoholicdancer13 because homework can be good to give students but to much could be a waste of kids time. Sometimes you get home and all you do is go upstairs and do homework. you dont get time to interact with your family and do things you enjoy. Schools should deffinatly have one or two nights a month with no homework.

Anonymous said...

I think this would be a good idea because it gives a break from doing work everyday. If we were able to get a break from homework once a month, I would be very, very relieved of a lot of my stress. So thats why I think we should do this at STEM Academy.

Man on the Moon said...

I don't think we should have a day off each month. Firstly because many kids do there homework. Also they are to pampered they haven't worked hard or failed and had do it another way. Also most of the kids haven't tried doing there homework and other don't try their hardest. But they are staying up because they can't organize time properly and by seventh grade we should be able to organize time. Also they are very pampered and no how to do hard work. So clear;y this genertion doesn't deserve it.

Lauren said...

I think that homework should be given because its a good way to practice what your learned at school and to see if you really get it. As we start to get older the amount of time spent on homework should only increase by 20 minutes or so. To much is just a way to get stressed and forget get about something. Therefore, homework is good and it helps you learn more.

Lauren said...

@Sweet I disagree with you because everyone has a subject that they lack in and that homework would take longer. Also an hour homework isn't that much for middle school and it helps you to learn more. Therefore, homework at this age could be an hour.

Man on the Moon said...

u don't know me I don't agree with you because we don't get that much homework. Also even if you use the excuse " Oh I went to practice from 5:45 to 8:00 and then ate dinner from 8:00 to 9:00 and I stay up late," Then don't go to practice unless you really love the sport that you are willing to sacrifice that is why I stay up but, I don't complain. So I don't think we should get the break because we don't deserve it.

G-MAN said...

I believe the no homework night is a good idea because students need a break after constantly working. I end up having homework every single day which justs ends up being too much. I usually end up with three hours of homework which is too much. Teachers should only assign a total of two hours of homework a night. When working for prolonged time you end up not being able to think or function correctly so the homework becuase unbeneficial. Therefore, since students can get three hours of homework a night or more which can be extremel stressful schools should have a no homework day every month

MRAjGE said...

I would love if only certain subjects gave homework on certain nights because I think we get too much homework right now. For example if we got humanities and math homework on Tuesdays and Thursdays(one week and Mon., Wed., Fri., the next), and we got science and language arts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday(one week and Tues. and Thurs. the next), then that would create much less homework. Constantly I felt like I was getting projects and homework in all my subjects every night. Then I was overwhelmed because I barely had time to finish the work for the next day, let alone the day after that. I continuously felt that way and that every night was a new challenge to complete my homework. Since a lot of my friends receive hours of homework as well, I think having certain classes give homework on certain days is a great way to reduce the amount of homework.

Emerson34 said...

I don't think we should have any homework. I think this because we already have 6 and a half hours of work in school, so going home should be a break. Also, sometimes we get up to three hours of homework, which doesn't let us do some things we want to do, like play spports, which could be a factor in child obesity. Therefore, we shouldn't have any homework because we need a break and it could be making us fatter because we don't get to be active.

MRAjGE said...

@ Gman
I disagree with you because one night of no homework is not gonna make a lot of difference. For example, if you are getting crammed with homework each night, then one night a month will give you a break, but not long enough. I think one night a month is almost like teasing us because that one night you feel relieved, but then the next you are smacked with homework again. Plus, I feel like even if we don't have a lot of homework one night we could still be working on projects and things for classes we don't have everyday. Therefore, I think kids might find themselves still doing work on their night off, making the night off pretty much a waste.

Emerson34 said...

@alcatrazjail I agree with you that we shouldn't have any homework. This is because we get too much homework, like two to three hours a night. Sometimes if we get too much homework, we get confused on what we are learning! Homework also sometimes makes us stay up late because we have other after school activities, like sports. Therefore, we shouldn't have homework because we get too much, it can confuse us, and it interferes with after school activities.

alcatrazjail said...

To me this quote means no matter how much you learn are never done learning and when you think you are you will not know about the world around you.I think this because in Eric Hoffer's quote it says, "it is the learners who survive; the ‘learned’ find themselves fully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists"

Anonymous said...

@emerson34
I totally agree with you because we shouldn't have a 6 and a 1/2 hour day of work and then another 2 to 3 hours of homework at home. So after a full 6 and a half hours of work, we shouldn't have homework for at least one or two days a month. Or maybe just on Fridays but we shouldn't have homework for at least one day a month.

sethblog said...

My opinion of homework is that we do have too much of it. Homework is necessary, but we just have way too much. Teachers may start a new subject in one day and not have a lot of time to teach about it, then give us a few pages on the newly learned topic. I think that if teachers start a new topic, then that day only give a few questions about it to see if the students fully understand it. I think we should have a maximum of 35 questions total for one days homework.

sethblog said...

@Sweet
I agree with you 100%. Teachers are always happy to give out homework and come in the next day to see that we did it so papers and reading is an exceptional amount of homework because it would be very easy to complete,

steve1 said...

@ Sweet I agree with you because we have a reasonably amount of homework every night. Homework is very easy and not that hard to complete. It takes me about 15 min a night to get my homework done and then I can be with my family and do fun things. But I don't want homework over the weekend. I personally think that a weekend is for fun and games not for homework. I usually forget my homework over the weekend because I am usually busy doing other things.

THE BIG RU said...

I believe that the no homework night in Massachusetts is a bad idea because then you don't get to learn what you did in school today its basically like a recap. For, example if you have a test or quiz coming up homework is another great way to study for your upcoming exam. Also, the next day you get to school you can find out if you know the material or if you don't. I am not saying that 4 hours of homework a night is good I am just saying a reasonable of 1 hour and 30 minutes of homework can prepare you for an upcoming exam. Therefore, I believe that the no homework in Massachusetts is a bad idea because you can't prepare for the next day.

THE BIG RU said...

@lauren I agree with you because as you said its a good way to practice what you did at school that day. So what you said is true like if you have an exam coming up you have to see if you know the material well or not that much. Therefore, I agree that homework is a good way to practice what you did that day and also it prepares you for an exam or what you are going to talk about the next day.

Ali M. said...

I believe that we should have homework, but not to much of it. I also believe, that if you are just going to give kids busy work don't give them homework at all. Giving kids to much homework, stresses them out and when you have to go to bed late at night, they are tired in school and do not learn as much. The article says, there should be 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Although I know it will be difficult for the teachers to talk to each other to decide who will give homework that night, they can be conscious of big projects that are due the next day and not give homework in their subject. In 2nd through 6th grade we had spelling tests every week and had to do all sorts of book work. This was just busy work, and I never learned anything from it, because most of the time i wasn't paying attention. I think that kids should get homework if it is relevant to what they are learning, but not to much, that they will be up all night and tired the next day.

Ali M. said...

I agree with AVgleek17 when he said there should be a 2 and 1/2 hour limit on home work. When there is much more then that kids start to become frustrated and stressed, and their minds tend to shut down. They said, "I mean, after a while and cramming in all of your homework, it just doesn't click anymore and then you end up getting more confused or forgetting thing." This relates to me, because when it is late at night and I am still doing homework, my mind shuts of and I am not able to learn anything else. Only being in 8th grade I do not think that there should be any more homework for us more then 2 and 1/2 hours a night!

whencupcakesattack said...

I think that we should have homework, but only maybe 2 hours worth of it at the MOST. I think that homework is necessary because in school you might not understand what you were learning and homework gives you a chance to complete all your thoughts and explain more on what you are learning. Homework is very important because it also lets what you just learned "sink in" to your brain. You get more practice on new math problems or you learn more about history. It is very important and I think most kids would be "mentally lost" without the extra help of homework. BUT also I think that we should not be pushed to do lot of homework. If you get too much, then you might become intimidated and make yourself feel like you will never get it done. Then you feel like you need to rush through it and of course you end up doing a bad job on it and getting a bad grade. So I think that we should have homework, but 2 hours of it at the MAXIMUM!!!

whencupcakesattack said...

@Ali M, I agree with you. I also think that homework is very necessary and important, just too much of it can be really overwhelming sometimes. I also agree with you if you were to have a lot of homework you probably spend all night on it then go to bed late making you tired the next day in school. I think that is very bad because then you learn even less and struggle even MORE on your homework.

cheerextremelover11 said...

No I do not think homework is pointless because when we go home our minds erase everything that we did in school with junk food and video games and bad things but if we have homework it will some what keep our mind moving with important school work. I think that we should have just about 1 hour of work a night. not too much not too little.

Anonymous said...

I believe homework is necessary because it helps children go over the previous lessons that they learned from that day so they remember. I know this because in the article it states, "the usual defenses of homework – it promotes achievement, reinforces learning and promotes responsibility, among other things." This quote shows how having homework benefits the student but as you read on in the article it states that there is no proven research of these effects. Although there is no proven research of this, I do believe homework helps the child in his or her studies.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Kayleigh when she says, "It also allows kids to remember something they forgot in school that if they see on a worksheet with the same problem they might remember what they forgot." I agree with this because in the text of the article is states, "the usual defenses of homework – it promotes achievement, reinforces learning and promotes responsibility, among other things." This quote shows how having homework benefits the student just like Kayleigh said.

cheerextremelover11 said...

Gabby P said...I verry much disagree with you. If you think about it 2 or 3 days out of the 5 a week we dont have nearly " a bunch of homework" We have maybe a page or less. so technicly it is pretty pointeless.

Katelyn O said...

I do believe that homework is necessary, but not as much as we get at school.   I think that the Swampscott School District had a good idea of homework, once every month. This is a hood amount of homework because kids need time to have after school activities and it would be a good time to spend with friends and family. This shows homework once a month would be good because students wont be dragging in class because of staying late with homework, and they can actually have a life.

Katelyn O said...

@gabbypinsky I agree with you that we should have homework oncea month, but this also means we would have to work harder in school. Once a month would be a good amount of homework because if we worked 10 times harder we would remember everything, and not have any homework. This is a great idea because kids will start working even harder in classes.

JMM126 said...

I think having homework once a month is not a good idea because we wouldn't be reviewing what we are learning and school would be a lot harder. I think once a week would be better because school wouldnt be as hard and we would be keeping up with what we are learning.

Jess M said...

Homework is important to have, but not the amount we receive at stem. Homework to me is just a way to practice what was done in class or finish up work that has to be done to move on to other lessons. But when kids are overwhelmed with 3-4 hours of work, they will loose interest in the subject making them not want to learn, have to take time away from after school activities which is there only time to have fun and not have to worry about work, and I know i sometimes lose sleep because of homework. Sometimes I'm up until 10 at night just to finish all my assignments, then i still have to eat and everything. Then the next day of school I'm tired and don't want to pay attention. Even if teachers only give half and hour and think it isn't to bad, we have 7 classes a day and it adds up. So if we are given homework I think it should be limited. I don't agree with the Swampscott School District because they only have homework once a month. A more efficient way to give homework, I think would be only having homework in one class a week. That way the teachers would only have to grade homework once a week and kids would get no more then 30 mins a night.

RyanT. said...

I think that lots of homework is bad. But having only one homework a month! That is just stupid. I think that getting homework 5 or 6 times a month would be a lot better. I hate having lots of homework or even having homework in plain but you have to have a little bit of homework or else you forget what you did in class for the next day.

RyanT. said...

@ Jess M

I agree. This is because I am also up until ten doing homework and then I am tired the next day. But only 1 homework a month. As nice as that would be, it is just not enough. Having one homework in one class a week would be great.

!DANCE! said...

I believe that there should be no home work. I think this becasue it stresses out many children including myself. Bu, I do agree with the idea of having homework a couple days a month would not be a bad idea. I understand that homework can be a way of seeing if you understand what you are learning but, it is very stressful.

!DANCE! said...

@ alcatrazjail said...
I agree with you saying how there should be a limit to homework i think that a way that teachers could not overdue the amount of homework is by talking to eachother and deciding who is going to give out what homework. that is why i think that there should be a limit to homework.

Unknown said...

I think that homework is just a way for teachers to see how well kids understand the subject their teaching at school. But for the kids, it's just practice to help remember what was taught in class. So having some homework is good. But too much homework can have an effect on your body and grades. If you have too much homework, then you have to cram all that information into your brain and try to finish all that work. But since homework is supposed to be practice for you, you won't be able to remember everything for each subject. This may start to lower your grade. Also, this amount keeps you up at night. This reduces your time to sleep and sometimes you have to have your dinner late. All of this affects your body. Since sleep is a way to regain energy, without it, you won't be able to pay much attention in class. This will also start to lower your grades. If this keeps repeating, it'll slowly get worse. Teachers think that they are giving low amount of homework each night. But since you have 8 periods during the day, it can add up to strenuous amounts. That's why I think kids should have homework but low amounts each night. But what the Swampscott School District has decided to do will have no effect. I think this because one night per month will mean 10 nights off during a whole school year. Also, you always have projects due so some kids might work on those during their only few days off. So in conclusion, I think that we should have a liitle bit of homework each night and more days off per month for this new idea to have an effect.

ShyWolf32 said...

I think homework is nessary, but not too much of it. I think this because, we still need to be active in learning at home, but some teachers just don't teach us any thing and make it all for homework when it has nothing to do with what their supose to be learning! Homework should only have a learning purpose meaning, it has something to do with what your learning about, but it still should only be like one-to two.five pages. Some teachers assign so much pointless homework and alot of kids loss alot of sleep over it, but only because they had sports or clubs after school. We still need to be active and teachers are making us stay inside and do pointless stuff that has nothing to do with what their learning in school. Also i think that teachers think that their giving you a little homework and because were kids we have all the time in the world, buit its not true, we have other things going on after school. Homework should only have a learning purpose, not that you didn't finish it in class or the teacher is mad at you so gave you alot of homework.

Unknown said...

@Emerson34
I agree with you that we should have time to do other activities outside of school or just take a break from work. But how can we do this with so much homework? We can't, so we should get less. But I have to disagree on the part that we should have none. Homework is just practice to help you remember what you learned in school. Teachers don't want to make things harder for you. They think it will help. So without it, you might start paying less attention in school. Also, you might do worse on tests or quizzes because you won't have any practice. So I think that you are right about the part we shouldn't have homework so we can to activities outside of school but we should have some of it to help us remember what we learned in school.

ShyWolf32 said...

@!DANCE! I agree with you that homework stress kids out, but thats only because you are given a couple of things due on friday, on monday, and blew it off until thursday night. A know alot of kids due that, and you proabaly due too, just due it crunks. Two things tuesday, two things wednesday, and one thing on thrusday, but due them after you get home from school not at 8'o clock at night.

Cav98 said...

I think that homework is OK as long as its a little amount. I think it is OK because we do need more time to practice what were learning just like in a sport you don't just play and practice with your team you also do some individual practice to become better. But i think that too much is not OK because it makes learning a chore and makes school the main focus of our life. Practicing learning is important because then we don't need to do as much in class and having learning be less of a chore is important because kids would actually enjoy school.

Cav98 said...

I agree with JMM126. I agree because I also think having homework only once a mouth is not enough. I think this because if we don't finish something in class then we should finish it at home so we can do something new the next day. Also if we are learning a new concept we need to practice it at home. Finishing work and practicing new concepts will make school easier and more understandable.

TheOriginalFake said...

I have a ton of homework every night. For example, today I am missing going to my cousins important hockey game and spending time with my family that I don't see very often just to get my homework done. I spend 45 minutes to an hour per chapter in L.A. and I am doing three chapters and all my other homework combined takes 2 hours, that over 4 and a half hours of homework on a weekend! I don't have any time on the weekends due to being on 2 basketball teams and participating in the play. All of those big-shot officials can say what they want about how important homework is, but in reality people have other commitments to fulfill.

TheOriginalFake said...

@cheerextremelover11 I think some homework is necessary, but not because when we go home we erase all we learned in class with video games and junk food, but because people have other things to do. I have a 7 and a 1/2 hour school day and 2 1/2 hours of homework each night with basketball and play practice. Do you think I have time for homework! Having a 7 1/2 hour school day is more than enough school work.

Anonymous said...

I think one hour of homework a day would be fair because it is not too much homework and we shouldn’t have any homework at all. I think we shouldn’t have any homework at all, because if we go over something important in class, and need more practice on it, then doing it for homework is a good solution. For example, in math this year we learn new material every day. Our teacher gives us at least an hour a night. Sometimes it may be too much, but I think an hour would be fair. This helps me understand the material better and helps me get prepared for the upcoming quiz. However, I don’t think we should get more than one hour because when school is over it is time to relax or to exercise. For example, I have multiple sports after school every day. I can’t get a lot of homework or else I’ll miss one of my sports which could lead to consequences in not playing in the games or I won’t get much sleep which is unhealthy. Sometimes my mom even lets me miss first period of the day to sleep which isn’t good to get in a habit of. Therefore, I think getting one hour of homework a day is fair.

JMM126 said...

@KatelynO
I agree with you because homework does keep us going on our basic learning skills. Once a month would also mean working 2x as hard as we do now. Our basic skills would be slipping away. So maybe 2 to 3 times a week would be better. We get a social life, and we get our reviewing our school day work done also!

Anonymous said...

I disagree with you @!DANCE! because I think we should get at least some homework. You said that we shouldn’t because it stresses many children out, but don’t you think that when we don’t understand something in school, it stresses us out even more? I think what you mean by when it stresses you out is that the amount we get stresses us out. This is why I believe we should get about 1-2 hours a night. This actually can help relieve stress. This way we will understand more what we are learning in class. Therefore, I disagree with you and I think we should get at least some homework like 1-2 hours.

Peter P said...

I believe that a little homework is needed because most homework is for reviewing notes that had been gone over during class earlier that day. We should be getting about a half an hour to an hour total in homework so we have time to do other things like sports or spending time with family. For example, the article said that they would get one day off of homework each month. This wouldn't help anyone because one night can't change everything. Therefore, I believe that we should get a limited amount of homework each night because people have lives and other thigns things to do.

Peter P said...

@Cav98
I agree with you because we should only get a little bit of homework because kids do need time to practice other things like sports or an instrument or something. Kids also have social lives and like to hang out with their friends and family. Therefore, I agree with you because kids have other things to do besides school and schoolwork.

Pandanut12 said...

Although homework is tedious and boring, I think that it IS necessary because it gives kids a chance to practice responsibility. I know this because it takes responsibility to do your homework every night, to hand it in the next day, and to not lose it on the way. Doing that every night for a lng time is very good practice, which proves that homework helps kids practice responsibility.
Homework is also necessary because it gives you practice on whatever you learned in class that day. I know this because that is the sole purpose of teachers giving homework: so that their students will get more practice doing the information they will need for their test. They always say: "Practice makes perfect", and so if you practice learning the knowledge you will know all you need to in time for the test. This proves that teachers give their students homework so that they will be prepared for their test.

Pandanut12 said...

@Cav98
I disagree that once a month a day of no homework is not enough because that one afternoon could be spent doing things you wouldn't be able to do otherwise. For example, you could ride your bike, play with your sibling, read a book, watch a movie, text a friend, play video games, ot practice whatever sport you play. You might even be able to do them all! Homework takes up most, if not all, of your time to do these fun things, and if you could only do them once a month it would be one more time you did them. At least you could enjoy yourself once a month! This is why once a month a day of no homework is worth it.

Imagine11 said...

I believe that not having homework once a month is a useless and pointless idea because not only do I believe that homework is a good idea, as long as there is not an overwhelming amount, but also that this idea would not help the problem of kids intelligence. First of all, homework is actually a good learning tool. It is used to help children absorb and practice what they learned for the day instead of just listening to a teacher. Another example for why this idea is pointless is because while the article said that, "The film profiles the culture of achievement and stress on students that some believe is destroying students' love of learning and burning out both students and teachers," honestly, just one day of no homework each month is not going to help, because sometimes kids have thoughs kind of days anyway. Therefore, this shows that this idea is probably not going to work.

Imagine11 said...

@Pandanut12

I agree with your opinion on how, even though homework is boring, it is useful because of its responsibility and because it's a good way to practice what you learned at school. You said that, " I know this because it takes responsibility to do your homework every night, to hand it in the next day, and to not lose it on the way. Doing that every night for a lng time is very good practice, which proves that homework helps kids practice responsibility.
" You also said, "I know this because that is the sole purpose of teachers giving homework: so that their students will get more practice doing the information they will need for their test." Therefore, since I also said this in my comment, I agree with your post.

Sir Awesome said...

I think that this idea for no homework once a month is a good idea because it gives kids a chance to socialize. This is incredibly important because many kids spend no time catching up with their families and interacting. This is a huge problem because kids these days are forgetting how to talk to each other. Kids need to be able to get outside and interact with each other face to face. This is a vital skill that will be a huge issue for later in life when we'll have to actually communicate well. To learn this vital skill, kids need interaction and since kids have to have homework sometimes, it is a good idea to have a homework free day every so often. That is why we should have this day of no homework every month.

Sir Awesome said...

@whencupcakesattack
I completely agree with you that we do need homework, but only around 2 hours a night. This is because we really do not need to spend all of our time on our homework. We have to do a little bit of homework every night just so that we can review things we had done the previous day. We absolutely do need homework to let things "sink in". Without homework, we would be lost. However, teachers should not go overboard with homework. That is why I agree with whencupcakesattack that kids should only have roughly 2 hours of homework a night.

bieberlover10 said...

Homework is such a great thing to have, but to much is never good and can become very unhealthy. THis is because homework reviews stuff that was done in class, which helps us remember the things we previously learned. Also, you can review for upcoming tests or just for future reference. This can be a bad thing because too much homework really can mess up our lifestyle. This is because we have extra curricular activities such as pian, sports, dance, extra classes, appointments, etc. and we are not able to get homework done. Also, if we know homework or studying must be done, and we have extra curricular activities, we go to sleep very late and are tired the next day. Therefore, too much homework can be very unhealthy torwards us students.

bieberlover10 said...

@ Sir Awesome.....
I agree with you because the interaction level with families these days is rising. This is becasue, with my family, as we get older, our homework amount is getting higher and our interaction with each other is rising and whish leads to us all fighting. This is why I agree with you and that kids deserve a free night without homework or maybe once a week.

Kibble said...

I believe that homework is nessesary, mostly because it allows students to have a chance for extra examples, practise, and a chance to remember what they've done that day in class. Getting a chance to remember and practise specific techniques is very helpful to all students. But drilling these techniques into students minds, becomes obnoxious, as well as unhelpful. By drilling things into our minds some strudents become less and less enthused with the thought of thinking and writting down our thoughts and such, at school, while other students practically fry their brains, and destroy their health by staying up late, to fininish homework and projcts to get exceptional grades. Because of this, the amount of homework we should get should be about perhaps a worksheet in core classes, and maybe something very simple for other classes (that are not nessesities such as computers, and IR).This article even says that homework is " destroying students 'love of learning and burning out both students and teachers". These reasons leave me to believe that homework is nessesary and good, but to a limit.

spongebob said...

I think that this no home work idea is a good idea. kids should have some time at nights for something fun to do, we spend 6 hours a day, and 5 days a week in school, and then they send us home with an extra couple hours of homework. kids will have no time to hangout or do anything. I think a good month to have no homework would be June because its hot with no air condition, the kids barely pay attention, we are excited for summer and we are really lazy. So with no homework in June, it would save or grade. Because we probably don't do a lot of homework in June anyway.

Ryan35 said...

I think homework is good if it is less than 30 minutes a night. I think that because homework takes up a lot of time. I agree with Diane Ravitch that it is good if you need to finish tasks that can't be done in class, but homework can just cause stress and anxiety for some people. If homework isto work on stuff in class, those who struggle with it would be working on it anyway, and then for those that get it would be left with juggling unnecessary schoolwork and sports.

Ryan35 said...

@Kibble
I agree with you that homework is good in small amounts. I agree with you that homework makes people less enthusiastic about learning. It is good for catching up on things if you missed a day or don't get it, but when it is unnecesary, people are less interested in learning.

Kibble said...

@ TheOriginalFake,
I agree with your statement, on the fact of having pryer commitments to fufil. I don't see any comments that consider other comitments that students might have in the article. My mom has always said that I shouldn't make a comittment unless I really know that I will stick with what ever it may be. Many times this year I have gotten so much homework, I was un able to participate in the activity, that I said I would be able to do. This idea to have one night a month without homework would be very helpful, and extremely unseful to those that do other activities outside of school.

DR. Bubblesquash said...

I think that the homework rule for Massacusetts is a good idea. I think it's a good idea because if students work really hard they will be tired the next morning and therefore will not try their hardest.

Ghost said...

I believe that this could be good for Massachusetts because it gives kids something to look forward and work hard for. I think that this will let kids be a little more social and get some world-smart instead of booksmart

Ghost said...

@ Peter P I agree with you we do need to practice what we learned in school that day this will make us better students. I think this practice will allow us to get in to better colleges do better on CMT's and SAT's when we get there. Overall I think that we should totally x out the homework but to keep it so it can help us in our future

maia said...

i agree with the no homework once a month because it is very stressful to worry about getting homework done and do other things like chores and hang out with friends. not having homework would make students less stressed therefore making them do assignments better in class.

Anonymous said...

i also don't agree because if your going to give us a break it should be more than one day a month. i think this becaus epeople will get very tired of just one day off so you might as well just give us homework all the time for what it is worth.

Chris G said...

I think that having no homework is a bad idea because in school kids talk 50 percent of the schoolday. I think giving homework is good so kids do an hour or less straight work. I also think giving too much homework is bad because personly i do not like doing 3 hours of homework on a busy night.

Chris G said...

I agree with Katleyn O because she said that the one day a month of no homework is a good idea becuase then you can relax and decompress. This would not just be a little vacation for the students but for the teachers.

Logan S. said...

I think that there should be homework every other day because 1 day kids can hangout with friends or play out side or play sports and then the next they can do some work after school so they still have education out of school too. If kids talk in school and don't finish an assignment, then they will do the assignment for homework no matter what day it is. This will teach kids to pay attention in class and not talk as much if they have some days off of school. This ill let the kids do work or do what ever they want on the day off.

Logan S. said...

I disagree with you Chris G because if kids talk in school then whatever they do not finish will have to be for homework it is as simple as that. But i do agree with you on the last part of your opinion because I too sometimes have 3 or more hours of homework and I stay up late doing it and I don't get time to spend with my family.

Alex Z. said...

I believe that homework should be given to students, but not excessive amounts of it. Also, if you're going to give them homework at all, it should be a small amount to prove that they know the material, not just to give work that will take them hours to complete. Many teachers give homework just to give homework. I don't see the point in it. If a kid knows what they learned, then they don't need to reinforce it. That's the only reason homework should be given. For example, many math problems shouldn't be given for homework. Math is all about rules and if you know them and how to solve the problems, it doesn't take 25 problems a night to prove it. I believe that you should only receive 5 problems. Those problems would show that you know how to solve the problems. Too much homework is bad. You should only receive a reasonable amount to prove that you know the material.

Alex Z. said...

@Chris G I disagree with you. I think that having homework is a good idea because if students are constantly talking and not paying attention, then that's their fault. In this case, you can't complain about having a lot of homework if the teachers are giving you time in class to at least get started on the work. The problem there is time management. You wouldn't be utilizing your time efficiently or effectively. Giving homework is an okay idea.

StephanieZ said...

I found this article surprisingly interesting, and the way I look at it, it's ironic! Reading and doing this blog comments is my homework, and I actually seem to find out many new things about the world and things around us. I think that homework is a pretty good idea. It inspires us to be more responsible and grow up to be proud adults. Without homework, we wouldn't be learning as much because most of the students would probably just go home and start playing video games. Although, I have to say that this year we are getting a lot of homework. In my math class, we are required to get at least 1 hour of homework a day for that one subject. All our other subjects take AT LEAST 20 minutes each, so that gives you over 2 1/2 hours of homework. I think that this article is worth discussing and brings up a few good points.

Devon S. said...

@Chris G. I disagree with you because it is better for students to have one night free of homework then to have less homework. It is better because you said that students should be doing homework, but if teachers were to give less homework then students would get less work then if they only got one day off of it. So, it's good to give one day off because kids are able to re;ax without worry, but with less homework they still have to do work and it may not be enough.

Avacado said...

There should be no homework, period. Homework causes stress, loss of sleep, and many other problems. According to Alfie Kohn, all beliefs about homework helping kids are not supported by research. This means that even though there is no evidence, homework is still thought to be a good thing, even though many people think its a bad thing. In addition, I personally know that homework causes sleep loss, because I am up until midnight doing mine, and only get 6 hours of sleep a night. Thanks to this, I don't get enough sleep, and sometimes almost doze off in class. Therefore, since homework has no good evidence supporting it and causes sleep loss, we should not have homework!

Avacado said...

@ KirillR98,
I agree with you that we should have homework passes to get out of homework for 2 weeks at a time. This is an excellent idea so that we can get to our other after school activites on time, and have time to do other things. According to Schools of Thought, homework creates problems because it collides with other activities. A no homework pass would prevent this from happening and give students a break from homework every now and then. In addition, a no homework pass allows students to skip out on a piece of homework they may be struggling with, and stressing about. If they have a pass to help them, they don't need to stress about getting it done. Therefore, since a homework pass would relieve stress and give students a break, students should be allowed homework passes.

monster beat said...

I think we should have homework one day of the week because homework gives a lot of stress plus lots of kids have things they have to do after school and it runs
late so they have to pull an all nighter.

monster beat said...

@Avacado
I agree with you because I have things that run late after school so when I get home it is already late and i spend the night doing homework instead of sleeping.

edemace said...

I think that we should have only homework one day of the week because if you want to hang out with a friend or have afterschool activities. It's alot of work to do all in one nigh because most of the time people do spend the whole night doing homework.
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edemace said...

@monster beat
i agree with you alot because yeah i do know some kids who do pull allnighter to do homework. Even if they don't pull allnighters people still stay up late. THis wouldn't cause as much stress as of we had homework only one night a week.

MeMaN said...

@monster beat
I agree with you because kids will stay up all night to do their homework. When kids don't they might stay up to about 11:30 at night just to finish homework. This could be stopped if students get homework on one day of the week, not every day.

Grace S. said...

In my opinion, the "no homework for a month" is not a very good idea. I mean, sure, we do get a lot of homework per night, and maybe too much of it, but homework is allowing you to practice what you're learning in school, and it's also a good review. Personally, I believe that the amount of homework students get per night should definitely be reduced because of how late they stay up and loss of sleep, but no homework for one whole month wouldn't be very helpful.

Grace S. said...

@Alex Z,
I completely agree with your opinion. We should definitely have a reasonable amount of homework each night to show that we know the material, but not too much that we are staying up until 11:30 or later just to get it all done. The teachers probably don't realize how many subjects we take per day and that all of our other teachers might give us a lot of homework too, so we might end up with hours of it to do after school. Therefore, like you said, too much homework is not good for students and we should only be given small amounts of it each night.

DR. Bubblesquash said...

u don't know me said that he disagreed with Karen Hallowell when she said that you get more family time when you have homework. I disagree with this also, because when i'm doing my homework I have to tell everyone to leave the room

CandyS. said...

@Kevin O
I disagree with you that the maximum amount of homework should be 20-30 min. THis is because students who are in Honors classes have to have at least 1 hour of homework. If a student had 4 or more honors classes, that would be at least 4 hours of homework. Honors classes are advanced classes so the students in those classes should get the necessary amount of homework, which does not equal to 20-30 minutes of homework.

CandyS. said...

I think that having homework is a good idea because it helps students remember and practice the material that was gone over in class. For example, if we learned about parallel and perpendicular lines in math, that is what the homework would be that night, to help us better understand the new topic.Therefore, homework is good, because it lets us practice new skills we have learned.

hi said...

I think homework is necessary but for a limited amount of time. I do think we need homework but we shouldn't get a lot of it. I don't agree with the superintendent of Swampscott School District because nixing homework once night a month won't make much of a difference at all. I think certain ages of kids should get a certain amount of homework assigned but enough homework to handle and not giving too much. In the article it says,"Some school districts aim to follow the guidelines of the National PTA – 10 minutes per grade level, maxing out at two hours per night for a senior high school student. Some districts do not have specific guidelines for time spent on homework." This is saying that we should have have certain time limits for homework.

hi said...

Alex Z. I agree with you because if we already know what we are learning, then we shouldn't have to keep doing it. We would be wasting valuable time that could be used for other topics to learn about. This is why a little homework should be given and not stuff we already know.

abc123comewithme said...

i think that the massachusetts idea of one night of homework is a good start to a fair balanced life for kids. I think the best solution is to get rid of the CMTs and then they can do more work in school. I think they should do this because it will lower stress and let kids learn to love school. i know that this will help kids learn to love school because in the article at says that her little girl was coming home with 4 hours of homework and that the stress was making her hate school. this proves my point because if this little girl was fine with 1 hour of homework, then if we reduce her home work, she loves school. however this situation is similar for school kids throughout the USA. so if we apply this to all of them, the situation will be solved.

Izzy's Blog said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
abc123comewithme said...

@ candyS.:
i agree that homework is good because it helps you memorize material gone over in class. however, all over the U.S there is so much homework being given out that it is stressing us kids out. i know this because in our school the amount of homework stresses us out and the website (http://www.parenting.com/article/the-less-homework-revolution (which i forgot to put in my last comment.) said that her daughter was stressed in her school. this girl isn't in our school so that proves that kids all across america are stressed about homework because she could be from anywhere.

marktex5025 said...

I agree with Diane Ravitch because homework like finishing work from class. Here in the town of Monroe, we are given about 6 hours of school. In Jockey Hollow and STEM, we have 8 periods a day, and lunch is one of them. We don't have much time for each class, and if we don't get everything done that we needed in order for the next day to be productive and succesful, it wouldn't be a bad idea to finish it for homework. Therefore, Ravitch's idea was a good one, and that is the only homework we should get.

marktex5025 said...

@monster beat
I think the idea of having homework one night a week is a good idea because homework does put a lot of stress on kids. Sometimes when I don't understand something and get homework on it, I get so fustrated with my homework. I would ask for help, but my parents don't get home until 5:45. This causes me a lot of stress, and when my parents get home, I take my anger out on them by yelling at them, and putting stress on them! Therefore, homework should be given one night a week so that stress isn't created as often as it normally is.

maia said...

I think this is a good idea because it will remove the stress of homework on students for one night which will help them to concentrate on their normal schoolwork instead of trying to remember if they did their homework.

singdancelive said...

i think that we should have 1 subject a night that we dont get homework. the homework should be limited to 30 minutes a night and the subjects that dont give homework should rotate. the reason it should be limited to 30 minutes a night is because most people have an after school life and a social life and don't have that much time to do all of the hours of homework that they are given. i also think that times a month, all of the teacher should give two days to do the homework and not give more homework on the second day. this will help to limit the stress and pressure on students and it will help thenm not dislike school as much as most of them do.

maia said...

I think the best idea would be to have no homework unless work is uncompleted in class so students will learn the consequence of not completeing their work and will also learn to manage their time better. Also this would be easier for the teachers because they would not have to plan and grade omework for hundreds of students each day.

TheOriginalFake said...

@maia I disagree with you. We will be taught to manage our time better with more work not less. Homework is necessary because it reenforces what was learned in the school day, and helps us not forget what we have learned. Of course, too much homework can be given and that definitely isn't good

singdancelive said...

@maia i agree with you. this would be a much better idea. this small consequence could eventually result in bigger and bigger ones eventually. this could also help get kids ready for bigger and even more important things and consequences.

singdancelive said...

i think that instead of once a month with no homework, it should be once a week. this can help relieve stress and maybe the students could pick their night to have no homework.

Ryan said...

Get this, the homework we have now is a good amount (not that I wont homework) DO NOT GIVE US ANY MORE HOMEWORK!!!! this is manageable but much more will make me tired in class thus making my grade's go down and putting me in summer school.

The1 said...

My personality tends to side with the people who beleive 3 hours is a good amount for a senior in highschool. We are in7 and 8th grade and i get the same amount. all that it does is make me stay up late working, and come in to school half asleep. This is why I think there should be less homework.

JVG412 said...

I think this is a very good idea to make one homework free night per month. It's good, because we as kids should be able to get out and play outside, instead of doing homework inside all the time and not getting the proper exercise. The only way schools could give lots of homework and still keep kids fit is to have gym class every day opposed to once maybe twice a week. So that's not very practical, but homework free nights are.

Muffin Man 101 said...

I think that the amount of homework kids get or if they even get homework should be determined by the teacher. Most of the time homework is a reflection on what we learn. In some classes if you miss a homework you are about five steps behind everyone else. If the teacher feels that everyone understands then they should be able to decide to give little homework. On the other hand, if more needs to be learned then they should be able to give more homework then usual. It should fall upon the teachers to make the decision for each individual class not anyone else.

BH said...

I think that like Massachusetts, we should have a month of no homework because every night, we get piles of homework. We stay up until ten or eleven PM, and we're not getting enough sleep.

BH said...

@Sweet
I agree with you, but I still think that ther should be a homework free month for a break. Since we have had homework for every night, I think an ajustment should be slower.

Kurtisery Chicken said...

I think having home-work once a month is a GREAT IDEA becuase it allows us to learn more social skills and be more lively in school.

Anonymous said...

Yeah having a free month of HW is amazing cause we get piles of homework and we don't get any time to relax from the work we did in school. This is importent cause we have way to much HW.

Anonymous said...

JVG412 i agree with cause we should be able to go outside and relax from what we just did in school. And also we have life's to so why should we have to do homework.

hockeymat79 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ABACUS said...

@BH, I agree with you that kids get exhausted from large amounts of homework because we stay up late, and that causes stress to build up, and that causes us to be tired in school, and our learning potential is halved. Also, sleep is an important factor in the growth and development of teens and pre-teens.

spongebob said...

@Bh, I agree with you too because kids can easily get exhausted from a lot of homework. Staying up late isn't good because you'll be over tired the next day and sleep is very important especially for teens.

spongebob said...

@Bh, I agree with you too because kids can easily get exhausted from a lot of homework. Staying up late isn't good because you'll be over tired the next day and sleep is very important especially for teens.

Isabelle G. said...

I think homework has a more negative effect in kids than positive. I think this because homework provides a large stress on kids. As it says in the article kids love for learning is being burnt out by the amount of homework that they are being given. This is actually happening to me personally. In the summer read at least two books a month because of my love to read and all the spare time I have in the summer. But this school year I have not read any books besides the classic books that are required by language arts. This is because I have no time. I like many other students my age are engaged in various after school activities and it is sometimes difficult to finish all of my homework after all these activities and still achieve a decent sleep. As you can see homework just stifles a students drive to want to read, instead of making a student grow.

Isabelle G. said...

@G-Man
I have to agree with you. I too end up with at least three hours of homework a night. This is very stressful. With the no homework day this stress is relieved for at least a day. The only problem is that if I had this no homework day I would probably just end up using it to study or do long term projects. Therefore redering the purpose of the no homework day useless. In my opinion homework should just be limited everyday overall.

Anonymous said...

I hate home work it is a waste of students time kids spend 7-8 hours of school a day and that we need time for our other activities I do a lot of clubs and I do dance I might have to quit because of homework it takes up too much of my time and then I can't pursue my dreams.

Anonymous said...

I disagree with Gabby because kids shouldn't get homework because of other activities I mean think about it do you want homework after learning for 8 hours?

Hayley M said...

I think that getting rid of homework for one night a month is a really good idea because it would take away some stress on kids. Most nights I have to do math, or study for a science test, or go over my spanish, or write a persuasive essay and it gets very stressful. I'm a middle school student in a high school math class and have to mantain a minimal B- average to stay in the class, keeping my grades up in an adnvanced while keeping up my grades in any other class is very stressful. And it's not just school work that gets kids stressed out. They have to worry about how they look, how they act, who they say what in front of, keeping stuff from people to spare their feelings, and overall, it's pretty stressful and just plain difficult. So by taking away homework for at least one night a month it might help kids release some of that stres and relax a little.

Hayley M said...

@u don't know me, I agree, we don't really get to spend time with out famailies and friends if we're stuck doins do anything homework all day. Parents don't let until our homeowkr is 100% done, therefore, we cannot spend time with them and do stuff. All we'd get to do is read a textbook and try and solve math problems that are too hard.

StephanieZ said...

@Anonymous

I do not agree with you at all. Homework is a very important part of hour 6.75 hour school day. Most of the learning and studying that gives us good grades in school comes from homework, and maybe instead of cutting it completely, they could just give us less homework.

Devon S. said...

I think that giving students one night free from homework is a wonderful idea! It gives kids one night to relax and not have to worry about what they need to turn in the next day. Although homework is very important kids also need time to relax and play outside with their friends. Plus, teachers won't have to worry about grading papers that night or the next day! If kids get one night of homework off then they will be happier and healthier.
(This is actually a re-post because the first one did not show up although I had it in google docs.)

singdancelive said...

@Devon S i agree with you. this also benifits teachers. when kids do their homework and turn it in, teachers get the homework of grading the papers. if there wasn't any homework for a night students AND teachers would get a day off.

panthers502 said...

i think that home work can be good. but if it's more than 45 minutes, then not so much. teachers need to realize that kids don't need all of this homw work. we spend about 7 hours in school learning about it. we get our work done in school. so lets leave the HOMW WORK IN SCHOOL! we don't need all of it. a little homw work can be benifical only because it's a little review to see if we learned the concepts in school. and that's ok. as long as were not loaded down!

simeong said...

I think this is a good idea because i woul dreally enjoy living in massachussetts witout having to worry about doing homework evey day for at least 3 hours! dont you.

Anonymous said...

I think home work is necessary, but we get too much of it. Especially in STEM we get more home work than we should. The National PTA says we should have about 70 min of hw per day. Sometimes we have about 2 hours of hw! That is the amount Sr highers are supposed to get. So if the teachers collaborated on when they would give hw, then we might not have as much time spent per night.

Anonymous said...

@panthers502
I agree with you. I think home work is good, but not in the quantity we get it in. It is just a review, so why do we need so much? As for the being loaded down part, the other day I had home work in FOUR subjects, and my friend had it in FIVE!!! So what you said is exactly what I think.

No. said...

I think that homework is completely unnecessary. I strongly disagree with anybody who says it may be okay in some cases. I think this becuase it can keep you up which makes you tired the next day. When your tired you don't absorb any information, that makes you learn less. Than by the end of the year you look back at a class that you've been sleeping away at.