Is Homework Really A Teachers Best Friend?

Homework. Teachers love it, students hate it. That’s the stereotype, right? Well, I asked some teachers at MHS how they really feel about homework, and whether or not they think these stereotypes are fair and represent all teachers’ opinions.

Pre-calculus and Calculus teacher Mr. Urban said, “For me, the reason why I give homework is to provide practice problems so we can master the desired material. I believe that every subject is different, and therefore requires a different amount of practice time. The amount of homework that I assign is based on how many problems I think are needed to reach mastery. I am also pretty lenient with my homework.”

Mr. Craigie, Algebra ll teacher, agreed and said, “I do believe homework is necessary. The teacher’s job, in math, is to get you to understand the steps it takes to get an answer. Homework helps you figure out how to use those steps in getting the correct answer. I try to keep my homework to a minimum. I don’t believe a student needs to do 20 problems to figure things out if 5 problems will work just as well. As for the difficulty of the subject, the state dictates what we teach by the Indiana State Standards. ISTEP also has a say in what, and how we teach the material. But neither of these dictates how much homework is to be given. I believe doing homework is important. The students who do poorly for me usually are those students who have a lot of missing homework. It is a difficult question of how much homework to give students. Not enough and they don’t get it, too much and they stay up too late trying to finish all of it.”

Having a different twist on the subject, English and creative writing teacher Dr. Peterson said, “Homework can be beneficial, but it should not just be busy work for the sake of giving homework. I feel that sufficient time in class should be allotted for most assignments. If a student doesn’t use his or her time effectively, or he or she wants to work on it further, then it will become homework. Students have a lot of demands after school, so I try to limit the amount of homework I assign. I’m also lenient when it comes to missing assignments because if a student puts in the effort, he or she should still receive credit for it.”

While some teachers might enjoy giving homework, it seems to be a popular opinion that more does not always mean better…