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Homework should be harder


Bronium

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I'm so bored in school right now. I'm ahead (as in already know the subject matter) in Chemistry, Maths Methods and Advance General and Biology. The only fun subject I've had for this week has been Physics, and even then I fear that might stop, considering we might study for a test (that counts for 10% of my grade) that's happening in a weeks time. I have English, but considering that I've spent the last 5 lessons coloring blank pieces of paper with one solid color, I don't really know what we're doing in English

 

I even have tonnes of work to do. I mean, It's not like the teachers aren't giving me more worksheets. Trust me, 5 hours a day is more than enough. I don't mind that. When I was beginning the year, the work they gave us was more theory and more "what if..." That's fun to do.It's just that the homework they give me now..is just so...so simple. Just so...mechanical. It doesn't make me think.

 

Which brings me to the main point of this entry. Why homework should be harder.

 

Homework these days...just seems like punching numbers and writing said punched numbers and other numbers on sheets of paper. It's more of a mechanical process really. I just sit back, put on some loud music, and get to work on my homework. I'm not even thinking. I'm just doing it. And it's because I don't need to think. The variables are there. The numbers are there. There equations are there. It's like I'm just the scribe and the book is just there to playfully ask me questions, to make it seem like I'm part of the team.I'm not thinking at all.

 

And even the "application" questions. They're just such bullshit. It's putting the exact same numbers, but hiding them with words. Trim the fat and you got you're good ol' variables, equations and numbers.

 

I thought homework was about helping me. Helping me understand new concepts by shedding them in a different light and making us think beyond the questions themselves.

 

But nope. Same old shit. Same old numbers.

 

It's so surprising to me, as to why teachers are so shocked when kids don't do their homework. It's pretty obvious to me. I mean, the homework we're set out is worthless. Clearly, the kids don't feel that the homework their given is worth the time they spend doing it. And rightly so. Homework seems more like a tradition, rather than something of value. It seems like they just give it, because that's how it's always been. And that just sucks.

 

See. I'm not asking for much. I'm not asking for the world. All I'm asking for, is that you put some effort into making homework, so us kids won't mind putting back some effort into said homework.

 

So stop setting us:

Chapter 3: Q1-19, Pg 144

 

And start setting us:

"So what do you guys think Kgms^-1 is really defining? You might know the equation, but what are we describing with this equation? Also, let's use Megagrams! Screw tradition! And screw tonnes!"

  • Brohoof 1

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I still don't think we need the homeworks. Because what you're doing are things that you've already done at school.... soooo....

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But some kids need to practice and it's really hard to practice while learning something new. So they'll practice at home. And practice isn't all that bad. 5 to 10 questions should be more than enough. The amount teachers give is ridiculous though. Also, homework can be fun, is done right.

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  • Founder

My thoughts exactly.

 

The existence of homework should either be justified, or teachers should accept that students won't see value in it.

 

In my personal experience, the best teachers hardly even give a damn about homework and instead focus on making each and every lecture meaningful and memorable. When the time comes to quantify your proficiency in the material, they pay much more attention to your performance and attitude in the classroom than how many pages of homework you did.

 

 

But some kids need to practice and it's really hard to practice while learning something new.

 

Operative keyword: some. Some kids need a lot more practice than others. I'm of the opinion that homework needs to be demoted to purely optional practice that does not factor into your grade. Instead of being encouraged to do all the homework, students should be encouraged to do as much of it as they feel is necessary. It will work wonders to separate the wheat from the chaff.

  • Brohoof 1
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