Homework Debate: Too much, too little, or busy work?

A lot of people have strong opinions on homework. It is definitely a touchy subject. Ask a student and chances are they will have negative thoughts and feelings towards the homework load they are given each night. Ask a parent, and you might get some mixed reviews. A lot of the time when children get home from school all they want to do is kick back and relax, or go outside and get some fresh air, or even just want time to spend with their family. But in reality, they have no time to do anything but eat dinner and continue their studies for the day. Teachers these days seem to be giving huge loads of homework and it is really affecting children and their families. Some children are getting so stressed out it is affecting other aspects of their life, and some parents are stating they feel like drill sergeants instead of parents. There needs to be a balance created between how much school work teachers assign and how much free time it will allow them at home. It is important that children get exercise when they go home in the afternoon. Going to the park, shooting some hoops and running around will help them to let out all of the energy they haven't been able to use while sitting in school for six hours. Spending time with families is extremely important, and with big homework demands, children don't get to do that. I know for me, personally, my favorite thing to do was get home from school and spend time with my sister, parents, and dog. It was relaxing and a rewarding thing to do considering both my parents work and have busy schedules. Finding time for important things like these examples is important to do as children. Although schoolwork is important as well, too much can get in the way of life. Upon my research about homework I found a lot of interesting quotes in support of homework and in hatred of homework. 

"Many in the education field today are looking for evidence to support the case for homework, but are coming up empty-handed. “Homework is all pain and no gain,” says author Alfie Kohn. In his book The Homework Myth, Kohn points out that no study has ever found a correlation between homework and academic achievement in elementary school, and there is little reason to believe that homework is necessary in high school. In fact, it may even diminish interest in learning, says Kohn."

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/The_Homework_Debate/


I chose to share this quote because I completely support it and agree with it. As a child, the more homework I got, the more unmotivated I was to do it. I never really got anything out of the homework because I spent more energy thinking about getting it done and rushing through it more than I cared about retaining any information that was coming from it. I believe that as a future educator I will find a good balance for my students. I want to give them a little reminder of what they are learning in school to take home, but I strongly believe that family time, exercise, and relaxation at home will help them come to school more willing to learn. 

Technology Experience

I was first introduced to technology in school in Elementary School. We had a "Computer Squad" that children were able to qualify for according to their grades and behavior in school. Fortunately, I qualified and was able to become a part of the computer squad. Amongst the students it was thought of as the "cool" and "lucky" thing to do. We were pulled from a portion of class once a week, and the computer teach of the school taught us how to operate computers, did typing drills, and even some games with us. At such a young age, I didn't realize how fortunate I was to be introduced to the technology so early on, and how greatly it would benefit me. From there, I moved onto middle school where computer class was a regular occurrence. It was taken very seriously and we were actually graded in the class. There I was introduced to typing drills, Microsoft word, graphing, power points, and much much more. We were tested on all of these aspects of computer life, and we were even assigned projects that we would have to present. During the time, all of us students didn't understand why we were being graded in a computer class, but looking back now, I am so extremely grateful to have been a part of it. I now have accumulated years of knowledge on the computer and I'm still learning. I feel pretty confident in my computer skills at my age now. In high school, my teachers mostly expected that I knew how to do the basic operations of a computer and we had computers in our library that we were able to use for in school projects. We had excellent wifi, but our teachers hated when we used our phones. I was taught less things in high school than I was taught in middle and elementary school. I have been kind of teaching myself how to do things as I go. Overall, growing up I had a great amount of exposure to technology and it was used in the correct way. The use of it wasn't abused, or reflected as a reward, but almost a necessity. They made it seem imperative that we passed computer class and had a good grasp on how to handle computer situations. I am very grateful for my technology experience throughout my years at school.

Why SNHU

Coming to SNHU was an easy decision for me. While my sister was a senior at Nauset Regional High School, I was attending Cape Cod Community College and looking for a school to move on to. She was in the process of looking up schools to apply to for her Freshman year of college so I decided to take part in the search process with her. She found Southern New Hampshire University online, and was refereed to it by her advisor in school. She decided she wanted to take a tour and informed our family about it. We all decided that we wanted to join her and we scheduled an appointment. We arrived in New Hampshire on a cold winter morning and embarked on the tour. Throughout the tour I kept finding more and more things I liked about the campus. It was welcoming and felt like a place I could call home. My sister fell in love with it as well. I didn't mention until the end of the tour how much I liked it. I told her when we got home that I really wanted to apply and see if I got in. At first she was a bit hesitant to let me apply since she wanted to try college herself. But after some time and consideration, she let me know that she was comfortable having me here. A few weeks later, after we both applied, two acceptance letters arrived in the mail! We were so excited to start this journey together. SNHU has my major that I have been interested in since I was a little girl, and so far I am loving all of my classes and my experience here.