"Serial Killfiler" <alXXhuriyeh@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:2uvu32hv3bm8cuu0t9rds6dso9lnkptvg0@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On 13 Apr 2006 04:36:52 -0700, "KenG" <kennethgoldberg@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> wrote:
>
>>I don't know if compulsary education is slavery, but I'm certain that
>>for some kids and their families, homework policy amounts to
>>imprisonment. Although the child is required to spend 6 1/2 or 7 hours
>>each day in school, he's also required to complete assignments at home
>>that are critical to his success. For some, those assignments come
>>with ease. For others, they're hard but tolerable. For a substantial
>>few, they are impossible. Those kids are then trapped in a system that
>>relentlessly feeds them negativity through zeros and essentially turns
>>their home lives into a non-stop battle over what they are expected to
>>do. They can't just go to school and comply without the pressure
>>spilling over into their home lives.
How odd that education is seen as enslavement. How odd that spending time
learning is seen as a type of prison, rather than a means of freedom. How
odd that the time spent at school is seen as a requirement to be born
rather
than an op****tunity for enrichment.
This business about homework is really strange. While I acknowledge that
some teachers overburden students with homework, most of us use homework
as
a means of providing practice to what students have already learned or
preparing them for the next lesson. Homework, in that sense, is critical
to
a student's success. I've had complaints about my homework assignments
and
so I had them do a homework assignment in class. Without distractions, my
students were able to complete a homework assignment in 30 minutes. For
the
most part, those who had difficulty were kids with learning disabilities
and
I made allowances for them. I didn't feed them negativity and neither do
my
colleagues.
>>
>>Dr. Jay Kuder or Rowan University and I have written a book called The
>>Homework Trap which we expect to release by the end of the year. For
>>more discussion on this topic, please visit our website and blog. Go
>>to www.thehomeworkdoctor.com.
So, is there a bias in your posting? I'll admit that I have a bias about
homework. Can you?
Ah yes. The hapless children are the victims of cold-hearted,
> slave-driving teachers. How dare we ask them to learn what the
> citizens say they want the kids to learn? How dare we interfere with
> their videogame playing, T-ball and part-time minimum wage job time?
>
LOL. Yes, this is the message I get from some of my students about
homework. We are, in fact, told what students should learn about a
specific
subject. We have these "fantasy standards". Teachers are told to teach
the
standards. Students are tested, in very high stakes tests, to measure
what
they have learned. Is it possible to meet those standards without giving
homework? I think not. Or, at least, I haven't been able to teach to
standards without assigning homework. The standards are high, almost
impossibly so. If my students haven't practiced what they have learned or
are prepared for the next lesson, there is no way we will meet the
standards
created by the California Department of Education and the California State
Legislature. My students engage in extra curricular activities, they are
on
s****t teams, they work. Those activities seem to be on equal or greater
im****tance than their cl*****. Who is to blame for that?
> This particular version of the (left-leaning) theory that asking for
> less means you get more is only slightly more foolish than the idea
> that kids should pick all their lessons. Sure, the theory works...
> but only in university lecture halls or in professors' books.
Left leaning theory? No. I'm a left leaning person and asking for less
is
not one of our theories.
> Kids who can't or won't do homework will not develop as much
> responsibility or hack it in college. You do not exit the womb
> knowing how to manage time, meet deadlines or take responsibility.
> You cannot read texts and write papers during class periods.
You're right. Kids who can't or won't do homework will not develop
responsibility and they won't be able to be successful in college. I see
these kids and their parents who refuse to place responsiblity on
themselves. Many of these kids go to the local community college,
expecting
that they will be successful, despite the fact that they are
underprepared.
They are placed in remedial English and Math cl***** and drop out because
they can't do the work expected of them by the community college teachers.
>
> These "experts" may want to bless the parents and kids for their
> laziness while the nation's ability to complete drains down the toilet
> of apathy and sloth. That's fine. I'll keep on giving the homework,
> knowing that they need it.
I'm giving homework and have explained to my students that if they don't
do
it, they won't pass my class. It seems to work, for the most part.
~Cate
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