Help!!!!!!!!! Today (VERY INTERESTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)?

Question

I am doing an debate on: That daily 2 hour homework for secondary student is essential for their learning and i'm in the affirmatiive team (i'm for)

Answer 1

I`m a teacher. My kids go to school in Germany, but I went through school in Canada. Students get literally "spoon fed" at school in N.Am., and end up not being able to research much less learn very much on their own. 2 hours of independant work is NOT too much in secondary school. There are days when my gr.3 daughter has that much here! It is also like this in other countries. France is much worse, and in Turkey kids in secondary school spend a good 3 or 4 hours on homework a day.
Your job as a teacher is to teach them a new idea /method /technique. Their job is to practice that, and get back to you if they have troubles. By gr. 9 (and earlier) they have to be able to handle this. If not, how can they make it in university, or real life?
Of course, they shouldn`t spend their whole day with homework. Schools there (unlike elsewhere in the world) have lots of activities and breaks to help balance the day. Sports teams, music, clubs are all at school,(often integrated into the school day) so really any student (pupil) there can`t say they don`t have anything to do other than homework.
Also consider the number of hours teens tend to spend on TV and internet. Then compare the number of hours spent learning. Hmmmm.
By the way, I went to uni in Canada (UWO) and then in Freiburg, Germany. After going through the system in N. America, I had difficulties adjusting to the Universities here. On the first day of the semester we got a list of books in each course (at least 20 or 30), were told that we should learn from those, and that was the end of that. There wasn`t one course book. We had to basically figure out what had to be learned and then go about learning it ourselves. Most but not all of these books were in the library, but only a few of each, and some were out of print. There was not an exam at the end of the semester, no, you have to learn independantly and then take a major set of exams after 4 semesters. So if you didn`t do the work yourself, you were lost. Thank goodness I only had to make it through a few courses, and not do my whole degree there. I`d been an honours student at home, but I would never have made it here.
Another thought for your debate. Check out where your country`s schools made it in the last PISA studies, (I know Canada did well, don`t know about USA, I think not as well). You could argue that if USA wants to lead (or continue leading...) as a source of scientists, computer experts etc,. then independent learning (homework) must increase. Now there are so many really great computer experts (as well as in other fields) coming from India - they have to bring them over to Germany because there aren`t enough here! The same will happen there if the general level of education is allowed to stay the same or drop, just because people think 2 hours is too much. When you look at it from an international angle (yes, not a common idea in USA), really the idea is ridiculous.

Answer 2

The core rationale for homework is that it makes the students responsible for their own learning - a necessary mindset in higher education.

Answer 3

This new online classroom website creator makes it fast and easy for a teacher to post homework help, tutorials and assignments online for students (and their parents) to access.

Answer 4

Do your own homework.....?
I used to think...."How is this going to help me....in the real world?" I have finally figureed it out. It developes brain activity. It teaches you to analyze everything. Work through a problem. And it teaches dicipline, and pride.

Answer 5

You have not mentioned the subject matter of the debate. How can one help you if one is master on the topic though.

Answer 6

huh?