I cant really say i actually put much time into homework in highschool, other than the 10mins it takes to put anything down. The only reason i did this was because when i was given 50 math problems it just pissed me off. I know for a fact that I do better in class when i do my hw.
Good news for kids - No more homework
- Thread starter robwbright
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Shadowpillar
Member
- Oct 4, 2006
- 48
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You know how you reduce the homework load?
Make tougher standards for teachers.
Thanks to the unions, the standards for getting into teaching are much easier for those who want to teach to merely collect a paycheck. So on top of teachers who dont teach jack **** 90% of the time and offload tons of homework (every teacher I almost failed with were like this, tons of homework and tons of silent classwork and didnt allow you to ask questions and only knew what was in the book that told them how to teach)
I know this because I went through it, for one, Two, my mom was a teacher in the 1970's when Teachers' unions didnt exist or wrent that powerful yet, when all responsibility was put on you as a teacher, when you sent a student to the principal, there must be something wrong with the way you're teaching, or there's something really wrong with the kid. (Compared to nowadays where the teacher will send a kid to the principal over the littlest of things) and before, child psychology courses were mandatory to recieve teaching credentials of any kind in public education, nowadays, you just have to show up to class, not particularly knowing anything either.
The best teachers I ever had were the teachers who actually taught in class, and the only homework we got were projects. Most of them being my last two years in High School, with very VERY few before that. In elementary, it's pointless and counter productive to dump TONS of homework on kids, they dont remember it as well or have an incentive to remember it, other than they want to get it done and out of the way. Some parents end up guiding their kids through it. I remember I was packed down with 30 lbs of books every day in 4th grade, my back is slightly messed up as a result, and would be up almost every night until 10 pm from the time I got home working on homework, most of it I ended up forgetting.
Makes you wonder, why do you even bother sending your kdis to school when they end up having to do a day's worth of classwork at home? We also often sat around not doing much except marginal lessons on subjects so the teacher could go back to doing things she should be doing after the day is over, so she can go home at the bell. nevermind helping any kids after class.
In the end, the best way to reduce homework is to put more pressure on teachers and get rid of the ones who are willing to offput their job onto the parents and the kids themselves.
Unions can be good and bad, and in this case, it shows how they can be bad.
Make tougher standards for teachers.
Thanks to the unions, the standards for getting into teaching are much easier for those who want to teach to merely collect a paycheck. So on top of teachers who dont teach jack **** 90% of the time and offload tons of homework (every teacher I almost failed with were like this, tons of homework and tons of silent classwork and didnt allow you to ask questions and only knew what was in the book that told them how to teach)
I know this because I went through it, for one, Two, my mom was a teacher in the 1970's when Teachers' unions didnt exist or wrent that powerful yet, when all responsibility was put on you as a teacher, when you sent a student to the principal, there must be something wrong with the way you're teaching, or there's something really wrong with the kid. (Compared to nowadays where the teacher will send a kid to the principal over the littlest of things) and before, child psychology courses were mandatory to recieve teaching credentials of any kind in public education, nowadays, you just have to show up to class, not particularly knowing anything either.
The best teachers I ever had were the teachers who actually taught in class, and the only homework we got were projects. Most of them being my last two years in High School, with very VERY few before that. In elementary, it's pointless and counter productive to dump TONS of homework on kids, they dont remember it as well or have an incentive to remember it, other than they want to get it done and out of the way. Some parents end up guiding their kids through it. I remember I was packed down with 30 lbs of books every day in 4th grade, my back is slightly messed up as a result, and would be up almost every night until 10 pm from the time I got home working on homework, most of it I ended up forgetting.
Makes you wonder, why do you even bother sending your kdis to school when they end up having to do a day's worth of classwork at home? We also often sat around not doing much except marginal lessons on subjects so the teacher could go back to doing things she should be doing after the day is over, so she can go home at the bell. nevermind helping any kids after class.
In the end, the best way to reduce homework is to put more pressure on teachers and get rid of the ones who are willing to offput their job onto the parents and the kids themselves.
Unions can be good and bad, and in this case, it shows how they can be bad.
Shadowpillar
Member
- Oct 4, 2006
- 48
- 0
Troyboykx125 said:
What's worse is that the teachers will put aside what little teaching they do to prepare kids for these tests, just short of giving them the answer key. I remember several times we would take an entire month out of the school year to prep for tests. While the rest of the year we'd be reminded of the tests coming up and how we needed to do well on them.
I also love how we'd be told that these tests would have zero bearing on our chances of passing a grade, or in the case of the CAHSEE exams here in california, how they wouldnt hold water over passing high school and that they were simply experimenting with the tests and not to take them too seriously.
Guess what they pulled on us at the last minute? "BTW, if you didnt do well on the CAHSEE exam, you wont pass High School, and you only get two tries, and you've already taken it once, fail this time and you will never recieve a diploma!"
Gee and they wonder why the drop out rate is so high.
I could point out everything in detail of what's inherently wrong with the public education system. Down to the fact it was originally intended to create mediocrity among the working class when it was introduced in the 1890's. (ever wonder why the most intelligent are looked down upon?)
If you want to fix the school system the following needs to be done:
Stricter standards for teachers, starting from the earliest grades on up.
Performance based on their teaching abilities, not based on how well their kids do on some standardized test they basically give the answers to beforehand.
More schools and smaller class sizes (dont we all hear this every election? ;P)
Accountibility
and tons of other things I can go on for pages for. sorry for a two part post but this is a very hot topic for me. Also why I hope to get a good paying career so I can be able to put my kids into private school.
Moparman1539
Member
- Sep 9, 2006
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IndyYZ85 said:
Holy crap! you sound like my mom, im not writing a report, or making a program. Im talking to other people. I dont have to be formal, its a forum. and its not a report or something REALLY important! So please Calm down!
yes, i know its good to have a good education. and i know eveyrthing (except the languages) really good, i have A's, and B's in all my classes, and i know what im doing in all of them. I am smart with most of the stuff i do in school. But just because i dont do my homework is the reason i dont have alll A's, and im happy with B's, my parents are happy, im happy, and i still get to have fun after school. I know its not the right thing to do. ut as ssoon as my grades start to drop ill start doing my homework till they go up. but homework is usally only worth like 5 points. WOW, we took 3 40 point tests in the last 3 mounths..
- Feb 4, 2001
- 538
- 0
Zac's in the 6th grade and carries home huge text books like I used in high school for homework everyday, way more advance than what I was doing in grade school. This seems excessive but those kids in foreign countries are way more overloaded than our kids, I'm pretty sure Japanese kids go to school 240 days a year. I was watching a show on the Discover channel about Italy and one of the people they were focused on was a 17 year old girl that was racing cars and one of her classes is mechanical engineering, they didn't offer that in my high school. I understand that they need to be children but to be as far behind as they are isn't good either.
C
CaNaDiAn,Eh?
Moparman1539 said:
That attitude is fine in high school but once you get into any kind of post secondary education it will kill you. I know a lot of people with similar attitudes, who suddenly found themselves in University, failing because they have no work ethic. I know you say you are going to ITT Tech not university, but it is still a post secondary education, and I really doubt you will be able to breeze through it like in high school.
Moparman, despite the fact that this is an informal gathering, you are portraying yourself as an illiterate kid that simply doesn't care. Then you expect us to hear your argument and accept your points. The fact is, the way you express yourself is making a valid argument against what you are trying to say. Furthermore, with your whole attitude about putting forth a little effort makes it impossible to take you seriously at all. While I did as little homework as possible in school, and recieved a few D's and even an F as a result, I did somehow manage to graduate with honors. I feel that I was a lot like you are now, the work wasn't hard, I justs didn't want to do it. One difference, I care about how I present myself. Several years later, and after a lot of growing up, I enrolled in a Tech College. Guess what? I spent many hours at home, working toward a better grade, or just getting ahead so I wouldn't fall behind. It wasn't always assigned. I had a few classes with kids just like you (a lot of them were coming to me for help).
I do feel that standardized tests are now becoming a crutch to education. Last year, my kids (3rd and 5th grade) were told that if they didn't pass the CRCT, they would not pass their grade. It is unfortunate to put that much pressure on a kid to pass a test that is in place to determine funding for the school. Also, these tests as so important now, that most teachers are only required to teach kids to pass these tests. What was once a test to see how much kids are learning has now become the curriculum outline.
Moparman1539 said:
Sucks being a teenager, doesn't it?
I am 39 years old and not really doing with my life what I wanted to, partly due to illness out of my control, partly due to not doing things when I was in 10th grade that I should have done.
I did the bare minimum to get thru school. I was told by people all the time that all I needed to do was "apply myself". I have a scary high aptitude for technical things. I am a self taught network technician. Owned my own ISP for a while. Give me a manual and a problem to fix, and in a short time I'll find a solution.
What I lack is a piece of paper from a university saying how smart I am.
That prevents me from getting anywhere in life.
Dude, if you think this forum doesn't matter, you are sadly mistaken. This is a public forum that is for all intents and purposes a permanant record. At some point in the future, it could be found by someone who matters and used against you.
And, besides that, if you want to be perceived as an unintelligent jackass by everyone here, that's up to you. For me, I want to appear to the many people on here, who happen to be very smart and successful, as an equal. I don't know what turns life is going to take, but if in the future I need the help of some of the people on here in some more serious way, I don't want them thinking I am an idiot.
Oh, next to the "Preview Post" button below the box you are going to type your next rant in, is a "SpellCheck" button. It works. Use it. ;)
- Feb 4, 2001
- 538
- 0
Sweet and oh so true IndyYZ85. I failed to apply myself in school as well, it was all about partying and that was a huge mistake. I am doing my best to not let my son make the same error in judgment. I find myself constantly struggling with my commucation skill whether it be on forums or at work, I know what I want to say I just don't like the way it comes out of my mouth and I know it makes me seem like the dolt that I am......ha ha. I don't want him to have to deal with that but ultimately I know it's his choice to make as it was mine.
Shadowpillar
Member
- Oct 4, 2006
- 48
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mdkuder said:
Ever seen the suicide rate for japan? and the rise of anti-social disorders there? (such as kids taking over part of the house and locking everyone out and becoming outright hermits, they just one day stay in a room and when everyone finally leaves, they lock it all up and take it over and do some weird stuff) Gotta love how they try looking good through their children. Forcing kids to not be kids but pawns to make one's nation look good statistically is gonna result in a really messed up nation sooner or later ;) Well they succeeded in making the most advanced robots after all.
Also, any hs can teach advanced classes, it's just the matter of them finding teachers who will do it for a reasonable wage considering the risk that in most high schools, you could be the target of some gang banger because you gave him an F.
Most advanced education is in the higher up levels because college filters out the bad seeds. You can also blame a lot of what's wrong with society as well.
If you pick it all apart, you'll find a horrible almost irrepairable mess.
- Aug 2, 2000
- 13,510
- 19
Just like you can with anything else.Shadowpillar said:
Here's a thought: Parents! Raise your kids! The school ain't there to raise them for you. If parents would take the time to discipline their own kids and make sure they are well-behaved, the teacher's job would be lots easier and everyone will benefit.
Milk
Looking for Mr. Right
- Jun 28, 2002
- 1,452
- 0
I think taking away homework is a bad, and stupid, idea.
Homework gives a kid structure and responsibility. Some parents cant even give that to their kids, so maybe it will help. I do, however, think that it should be limited by age. Younger kids should have less than older kids.
It amazes me how kids today arent responsible for themselves and can slide by. In my day, if I didnt turn an assignment in, I got my ears pulled off and cracked with a ruler by nuns!
Homework gives a kid structure and responsibility. Some parents cant even give that to their kids, so maybe it will help. I do, however, think that it should be limited by age. Younger kids should have less than older kids.
It amazes me how kids today arent responsible for themselves and can slide by. In my day, if I didnt turn an assignment in, I got my ears pulled off and cracked with a ruler by nuns!
XRpredator said:
That's the biggest thing. I took care of my little sister for a year and a half while she was in Kindergarten and 1st grade. She had 3 or 4 sheets DAILY that she would have to bring home to do. I couldn't figure out why she had so much at such a young age. Well, I went in, seems the teacher was spending more time dealing with disruptive kids (my little sister was one of them) than actual teaching. When you have 2 or 3 kids in a class of 30 that have behavioral issues, you're going to get 10-15 more that want some of that attention too and they'll act up as well. It's a vicious cycle, more like dealing with animals than human beings (as cold as that sounds). So, the only quality learning she was getting is what my wife and I provided at home after school.
SpeedyManiac
Member
- Aug 8, 2000
- 2,378
- 0
I breezed through highschool with marks in the top 5 of my class, all without ever having a heavy homework load. Man does it suck now. I must say it's been a whole new ball game in real school (yes, I believe school really doesn't begin until post secondary education, whether that be tradeschool, college, university, whatever). I have class less than 6 hours a day (Fridays I have 1 class from 11am to noon) but I put in atleast 40 hours a week at the bare minimum. Right now I'm usually doing homework every night until 11pm, most nights midnight then getting up around 7-8 and working all day. Maybe a little more homework in highschool would be a good thing, because it sure is a shock coming to university.
Now, back to the 2 assignments and essay proposal due tomorrow...
Now, back to the 2 assignments and essay proposal due tomorrow...
