Journal #6: NETS 1 & 2

Spencer, J. (2011, September 19). Ten reasons to get rid of homework (and five alternatives). Retrieved from http://www.educationrethink.com/2011/09/ten-reasons-to-get-rid-of-homework-and.html

Summary: The title of this article is exactly what it is about, 10 reasons to get rid of homework. The ten that he lists are: 1) that younger/ 2) older kids are too busy, 3) some have inadequate parental help, 4) kids need to be kids, 5) role reversal of parent to teacher, 6) homework becomes a non-motivator, 7) lacks achievement, 8) it creates nonsense busy work, 9) it does not "teach good study habits", and 10) it diminishes the child's learning desire. John Spencer does not give his students homework and instead mentions 5 things that he does instead. He feels that homework should be an extracurricular activity which does not involve those packets of "busy work".  He mentioned that children learn skill dynamics in skate parks and creative thinking involved by creating new games.

Q: Would you get rid of homework in your classroom?

A: No, but I do agree with the points that John Spencer makes. He definitely has an interesting approach to learning that seems to be working amazingly, and I commend him for sticking up for what he believes in. I 100% agree with the "busy work" that homework is labeled as, but I think that if homework was referred to as something else such as "continued learning" that it wouldn't feel so much like a chore. For example, I remember when I was in middle school and the school acquired an Accelerated Reading Program. Each book was given a certain amount of points and a test had to be taken in order to acquire all the points depending on if you got all the answers correct.  A total number of points then had to be earned by a certain period which was weighted at a high percentage of the grade. Needless to say, I loved reading just for fun, but because of the program, I lost that love and passion for reading.

Q: Why would you still give homework?

A: I think that the "continued learning" would help me, as a teacher, to determine if my students are actually grasping the material. Also, it would help to see where some students are struggling with any topics. I would never assign packets of "busy work" (it would all be relevant and creative activities depending on the subject). I would not weigh a high percentage of the grade for homework, as a matter of fact; I would only count it as complete or incomplete.