Rethink English Lessons

It’s approaching midnight, the room is scattered with papers, and the only audible sound is the clicking of your pencil on the paper. You’ve been up for hours trying to finish your homework, which all seems so repetitive. You question how beneficial completing this homework actually is. A routine you all know too well. Homework has been a highly discussed topic for years. Everyone questions the benefits and reward. People should be informed about homework and the effects it actually has. Homework just causes stress, doesn't always help us learn the material, and doesn't prove to be helpful in standardized testing.

The dreaded topic of homework is discussed in this article. Students in EDU 360/560 will use ERIC online to access the following document for this reflection assignment and post using the template below. Gill, B.P., & Schlossman, S. L. (2004). Villian or Savior? The American Discourse on Homework, 1850 - 2003. Theory Into Practice, 43(3), 174 - 181.

This article interviews Dr. Harrison Cooper, author and professor at Duke, about the current homework controversy. Media, along with many other outlets, discuss the homework controversy: is it unecessary or valuable practice? Cooper says that people's’ views on homework has changed very little and it has proven to be somewhat of a cycle. For example, throughout the 20th century people’s views have continued to flip back and forth for various reasons. Some of the reasons listed in the article is that homework puts too much stress on the child, they need to practice and exercise their brain, and needing to keep up with the Japanese (Walker). However, the actual amount of homework that students get has changed very little. For example, elementary

On average, American high school teachers assign approximately 3.5 hours of homework each week, meaning that teens with multiple classes spend around 17.5 hours a week working on these assignments. In only 13 years, the percentage of teens that claim they spend an hour on homework each day has increased to 45%, from the 39% in 1994 (Bidwell). Parents and students across the country are beginning to spot the flaws in these homework methods, however, claiming that academics are merely being memorized instead of thoroughly taught. Is homework truly helping America’s students? To the majority of high schoolers, the answer is clear: homework is unnecessary for academic development.

“Students and Homework.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, Detroit, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com.catalog.stisd.net:2048/apps/doc/PC3010999189/OVIC?u=j031916004&xid=53e92f9e. Accessed

Homework can become more closely monitored to assure that the work being assigned to students is useful and engaging. Parents and students are unhappy with homework assigned as busy work which offers little depth and instead just consumes the student’s time (Melvin). If the High School could keep a closer eye on what teachers are assigning students, this would help to alleviate students who are stuck performing monotonous tasks night after night that do not contribute to their overall educational experience. To elaborate on this, different forms of homework impact certain students differently and good teachers will be able to deliver educational value through different types of work. (Terada). Teachers who always assign only a single type of homework will inevitably be unable to engage their entire class. In order to fully get everyone to become involved and engaged in the work allotted, the school system should make sure that the homework teachers assign to students is constantly

In any classroom, a teacher is perhaps the most important aspect. S/he does all the planning, assessing, and facilitating of discussions. However, a teacher’s biggest mission is to ensure that students understand the mathematical concepts, but not assisting so much that the students feel they are not allowed to create their own methods (Hiebert, 1997). To do this, the teacher must select her tasks with a goal in mind. Often teachers are taught to blindly follow the state curriculum and scripted lessons. However, it is important that these lessons are placed in a sequence that is consistent with what the teacher wants the students to learn (Hiebert, 1997). When teachers select their tasks, they must be familiar with their students’ funds of knowledge and choose lessons and ideas that are consistent with their students’ level of thinking. Selecting lessons in this manner allows teachers to better anticipate the way students may answer the problems. It is also a teacher’s job to share relevant information with the class. This includes mathematical conventions (such as symbols, numbers, operations, and special vocabulary needed to solve problems) as well as alternative methods (Hiebert, 1997). However, it is important to remember that while students may benefit from learning different methods, they should not be forced to change their methods to better align with the standard way of solving the problem. Essentially, sharing relevant information includes supporting students as thinkers and problem solvers and helping them learn important mathematics (Hiebert, 1997). Teachers must also establish a classroom culture. This includes focusing on methods as well as adopting an appropriate position of authority. Students should share, analyze, and improve their ways of thinking and teachers need to know when to step back and let the students struggle with the problem – especially when it comes to telling students

The purpose for assigning homework in my classroom is to reinforce material learned in class, for further practice, and to develop self-management skills. Homework also serves a purpose in connecting the classroom to the student’s parents. Homework will allow students to share with their parents what they are learning in class and allow the parents to be involved.

Homework is given frequently in many of the core classes in order to help students practice and retain the information that is taught. It is typically divided throughout a ‘chapter.’ The concept of homework in itself is excellent, however, there needs to be a clear boundary acquired in how much is too much. Furthermore, students are often given daily homework assignments from at least one class, some of which may not be as extensive as others. Sometimes, students truly comprehend the classroom material beforehand and simply do not need the extra practice, yet are still forced to do it for the ‘grade.’ On the contrary, there are those who feel as if homework should continue to be assigned at the current rate, if not an even greater amount in order to increase the challenge set upon the students. However, this idea presents conflict and many students disapprove on account of already feeling pressured enough with the current portion of work assigned.

After reading chapters 6 & 13 in James Crawford’s book Educating English Learners, two political events that affected the education of English language learners stood out: Proposition 227 also known as the English for the Children Initiative and The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) also known as The Elementary and Secondary Education Act. In 1997, Ron Unz organized the creation of Proposition 227 with the help of prominent Latinos. The main objective of the Proposition was to meet conflicting political and policy goals. Unz sought to outlaw a program that many parents wanted without appearing to restrict parental choice; to tie the hands of the school boards that favored bilingual education without seeming to usurp their authority; and to eliminate

In order for homework to be meaningful, it should have a purpose and be personalized and inviting to students doing the homework. A important thing to have with homework is students being able to freely talk and communicate with their teachers if they struggle. It should have unlimited opportunities and possibilities for different student learning. Homework should be helping encourage students about doing their homework with personal interests, their skills, and engage in something new.

Think back to elementary school, when dividing in math class was hard. Staring at the numbers at the paper and forgetting the order of steps in the dividing process. Even when trying their best, many young students still struggle with not understanding the material. The struggle was normally noticed and, as a result, the teacher would send out extra homework and insist “practice makes perfect.” The thought was that giving students homework would give them the additional practice to learn the material. This theory has been the current trend for the past few years. However, it might be time to reconsider this method of learning. Perhaps it is time to leave the worksheets behind and keep the students from wearing out. Homework in elementary schools should be reduced to meaningful work. By comparing and contrasting previous homework methods and the current ban on homework in elementary schools, many school districts will be analysed in their current decision to reduce the typical amount of homework until fourth grade.

Think back to elementary school when dividing in math class was hard. Staring at the numbers at the paper and forgetting the order of steps in the dividing process. Even when trying their best, many young students still struggle with not understanding the material. The struggle was normally noticed and, as a result, the teacher would send out extra homework and insist “practice makes perfect.” The thought was that giving students homework would give them the additional practice to learn the material. This theory has been the common practice for the past few years. However, it might be time to reconsider this method of learning. Perhaps it is time to leave the worksheets behind and keep the students from wearing out. Homework in elementary schools should be reduced to meaningful work. By comparing and contrasting previous homework methods and the current ban on homework in elementary schools, many school districts will be analyzed in their current decision to reduce the typical amount of homework until fourth grade.

Many teachers assign large amounts of homework to students. Unfortunately this causes a lot of stress, loss of time, or decrease in homework quality and effectiveness. Too much homework is not worth the extra effort put out by teachers and students, and teachers should take consideration to the well-being of the students by encouraging them to learn and get the schoolwork done effectively and correctly. Student’s careers and lives often depend on what they learn in school, and what is taught can make a huge impression on their opinions and attitudes, so it is imperative that they are taught in a manner that is effective and understandable. Large amounts of homework are not the most effective ways to teach.

Approaches and methods are the main methodology in the practice of English teaching. An approach refers to theories of the language, whereas a method includes the techniques and procedures in how it is used (Harmer, n.d.). Language teaching and its approaches have a very long history emerging from the early twentieth century. Throughout this time applied linguistics, teachers and others, thrived to develop teaching methods in order to meet the characteristics of change and improve efficiency. The main incentive for change corresponds to the increase demand in speakers who wish to acquire a second language together with globalization, encouraging an ongoing need of reassessing language-teaching practices (Richards and Rodgers, 1989). Due to the ongoing changes of language teaching, it is clear that this has resulted in a variety of approaches and methods that exist, ranging from the twentieth century to current time today. This leads to the clarification in which the method of discussion will be: the audiolingual method, a major trend in the twentieth century for language teaching. Firstly, an in depth description of what the approach consists of will be discussed. Then, the different theories corresponding to this method such as the behaviorism and language theories will be illustrated. Teacher roles in comparison to student roles will then henceforth, alongside a critical evaluation of the method.