Are you pro- or anti-...?

[golden braid]

I think a little bit of homework is good to teach responsibility and how to figure things out on your own. But I think kids today have too much to do with homework and other activities and then they are getting burned out. Kids need to have time and should exercise more since people today are so overweight.

[littlelies7]

Anti-homework.

I don't like it at all. I much perferred doing classwork, like Johnny Stew mentioned.

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by GardenStateGirlie
I hated it. I absolutely hated it. History and English, I didn't mind at all. But SCIENCE AND MATH..... I recall being GRADED on my math homework. IMO, homework should be graded on completion NOT correctness. And if it is indeed PRACTICE, why should the homework be graded at all? There are some kids that study and do horribly. There are those that study and excel....then there are those who don't study at all, can sit in class and pick up everything and ace a test and understand everything the teacher has explained...and then there are those who don't study at all and do poorly. It depends on the child and whether or not they want to be helped. Homework might help a teacher to understand the problem a child is having...unless you had some of the teachers I had who really didn't care about the fact that you didn't understand...only the fact that you got the answer wrong.

So while I can't sit here and say there aren't some benefits to homework, I can say that there are some downfalls. Say there are 8 periods in a school day...a kid has math, science, history, english, and perhaps one or two electives that require studying as well like current world events and journalism. If EVERY TEACHER assigns that student homework that takes an hour or more to do that night, that kid isn't going to sleep until late. Sometimes it gets to be too much...

My school puts a cap of 30 minutes per night per subject. I don't permit my department to take major grades on writing assignments, as the alternative gives an advantage to kids with tutors or meddling "cheat" parents.
A general rule of thumb for younger ages is 10 minutes per night per grade level, i.e., 2nd grade will have twenty minutes, etc.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by strandinthewind
but I would check out other books on the subjects (particularly history) and read them

Good choice.
And it's a known fact that reading your own textbooks can be agony, but thumbing through other people's can be irrestistable.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by dissention
Pro-homework, but only to an extent. Some schools really pile it on and I find it ridiculous. Kids have a lot of things to worry about these days and having 3+ hours of homework is ridiculous. However, I think kids should have a choice between gym or study hall, that way they would have the opportunity to knock some of the work off their backs.

I think kids need gym.
Most of the students I know who are stressed with time management have bigger issues with overly demanding extra-curricular activity than with homework burdens.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by chiliD
Pro.

It's a great song. I think I like the Splinter Group's version a little better than Fleetwood Mac's though. And, Rick Vito does a KILLER version on his Pink & Black album.

Not really thrilled with J.Geils Band version, though.

I had no idea you listen to anything other than Stevie's solo demos. Nice to see you trying new things.


- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
As a kid, I loathed homework.
It was the second bane of my existence.

The first being...?
(You knew I would ask.)

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by chiliD
Actually, I think kids today need as much physical activity as they can get. So, "gym" should be mandatory.

Obesity in kids (and just about ALL Americans) is rampant. Between sedentary lifestyles of people being either in front of a TV or computer for hours a day and the easy accessibility of fast-food, we're in for a nationwide health crises...obesity/diabetes/hypertention/heart disease.

Agreed.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew

But I suppose it is a necessary evil... even if it is killer on a kid's self-esteem!
Too bad there isn't some way to remove all competitiveness from phys ed class, and just stick to basic exercise.

Of course there are ways.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by ryan8472
It is too bad. All we do in my gym class is play games, like Basketball, Speedball (which until recently I thought was a heroin/cocaine combo...) which is a combination of football & soccer, and softball (which I don't mind.) At least we have a weight room though, which we do use. (By the way, I've always been the unathletic reject as well )

Back to the original question though. Since I still am in school, and thus still get homework every night, I must say that I am split. One part of me thinks that homework is good in that I get a lot more information than I usually would in class. On the other hand, some teachers (in my school) think that they are the only ones that give homework, and proceed to assign tons of homework on top of the three projects they have due. I do LOVE history though, and don't mind doing it one bit

Bombardment & dodgeball were the big ones when I was an elementary school student. Throw in a frightening gym teacher, & you've got a load of kids hating the subject.

And cheers to your last comment.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by strandinthewind
I know - only I was the opposite - I was 6' tall in the eighth grade and a full 6'4" in by my junior year. Fortunately, I was strong as an ox and that made up for any atheletic prowess I lacked Also, I played football (defensive tackle) so that was my gym class along with all of the other players.
Personally, I think gym should be the last class of the day for everyone and they should do cadio stuff like running and weights - these are not competitive. But, a little competition is not bad and everyone should have a working knowledge of football, basketball, and baseball, esp guys who tend to use it more later in life IMO.

Its just the people my size that are jerks make all of us big guys look that way. I was always the one that tried, sometimes without success, to include everyone, esp. the wallflowers. I remember this one guy was so shy he just broke down crying in my chest telling me about how everyone hated him and he was dumb, ugly, worthless, unpopular, etc. That was just so horrible to me No one should be made to feel that way. Perhaps gym just brings out those emotions, esp. in people perceived as not in the "in crowd"

Awww, ya soft-hearted big lug.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by GardenStateGirlie
Gym was such a stupid excuse for a period.

I'm confused. I always heard it was that a period is such a great excuse for no gym.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
It was torture at the time (but then, so was my school experience in general, because of bullies and harrassment), but, as Stevie says, "That was a long time ago...."

I think it all helped me to be a more compassionate and empathic person... so it was a good thing in that regard.

But I would like the school systems to find a better way to conduct phys. ed., to spare other kids from those same difficulties and humiliations.
High School isn't too far from hell for some kids.

True, though I think junior high/middle school can be even worse for kids.

- Jake

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by strandinthewind
Isn't it amazing to you now that you, and us all in some ways, let people treat you like that. Although I have always been assertive, people usually didn't mess with me because of my size, etc., in so many ways, I found my voice after high school. I just think sometimes if I knew then what I know now Seriously, I would have not let people get to me as much and I certainly would have called people far more on their BS rather than just thinking I should be nice or whatever to them because they were popular, etc.

Also, Johnny - if we had been in high school together and you could have put up with me and my incessant singing of La Nicks I'd have beat the hell out of and/or at least performed a verbal autopsy on anyone who messed with ya

Hey, remember that movie "My Bodyguard"?
Just having a Ruth Gordon moment here.

- Jake

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally posted by darklinensuit
I'm confused. I always heard it was that a period is such a great excuse for no gym.

- Jake

Oh, it was always a great excuse. However, I usually did the "can I go to choir, I need to work on some things," bit. Smartass.