"Students come to school each day to learn, and to learn, they have to put in some work, such as reading, completing handouts, and solving math problems. Sometimes, this process includes homework to do out of class. OSA does not have a specific policy on homework, but here is what middle school teachers and students think of homework. " -- Zara Quiter, Seventh Grade
Students come to school each day to learn, and to learn, they have to put in some work, such as reading, completing handouts, and solving math problems. Sometimes, this process includes homework to do out of class. OSA does not have a specific policy on homework, but here is what middle school teachers and students think of homework.
“I don’t like it too much especially when you have a lot of classes you’re doing homework for,” said Mila Boyden, eighth grade student in Literary Arts, of her general opinion of homework. While she generally doesn’t like homework, she can find some things that are useful about it.
“I like the practice because I feel like if there wasn’t homework, specifically for math, I wouldn’t have enough time to practice equations and get the methods of how to solve equations without homework.”
Vinh Ander Nygaard, a sixth grader in Fashion Design said, “I've only gotten homework in English and science but it was very little in English… [Homework] slightly adds to the quality [of learning], but lots of the time you're happier if you don’t have homework because you can goof off and chill.”
Ander Nygaard said if he cannot do their homework, he will, “Usually email the teacher, telling them I did not have time to do the homework, my life has been busy lately, or ask if I get an extension.”
Some students find it easier to work at home. “It helps me learn better because it’s harder for me to learn in class. It’s usually loud in class so it's easier for me to have homework when I can do it separately,” Ife Thomas, a seventh grader in Fashion Design said. “[Homework] makes sense because if you don’t do your work in class it becomes homework.”
But not everyone agrees. “I don’t think homework adds to the quality of your learning because again most people don’t actually do the work, and they just do it for the grade and I don’t think it helps people understand the work more,” said eighth grade student in Literary Arts, Cb Omand.
“I do not assign homework for my students, except there is an expectation they will be reading outside of class. They can choose whatever they want to read but I expect that they reflect on their reading so it doesn’t wash over them, and actually think about their reading,” said Amanda Farmer, a middle school Humanities teacher.
“I don’t know what their home looks like. Some students have a long bus ride to get home and by the time they get home they are exhausted. Or their grownups are working late and they have younger siblings to take care of,” said Farmer on why she doesn’t give homework. “Some students are between homes at the moment, they're unhoused, and expecting them to have a location outside of class that is conducive to focus on homework feels like it's coming from a point of privilege. So I don’t assign homework because I believe in equity for all my students.”
“If a student learns incorrectly in class and then goes home and practices it incorrectly it can reinforce that and then it becomes more challenging to correct that learning,” Farmer continued.
Brenda Wagner, middle school Math teacher, does give homework. She said, “I give [my students] one assignment a week, and only on weeks when there is no test. It usually is one page, both sides of questions, and usually around 6-8 problems total.”
There are five key reasons Wagner gives homework. The reasons are that math requires practice, students need exposure to different kinds of problems, it helps with critical thinking, it helps with retention, and doing the homework is practice for independent learning skills and enhances perseverance.
“Like learning any skill, math requires practice. This is more important in math than many of the other academic classes because math is a skilled based kind of academic class,” Wagner said.
Crystal Yan, a Physical Science and Math teacher, and Science Chair Head, does not give homework for science. “My perspective on homework has changed a lot after I attended a science conference and I started to see giving homework as inequitable,” she said. “I want students to have the practice but I don’t want to penalize them if they're unable to do it because of circumstances that are out of their control.”
“For math, it’s only given if the class as a whole is not on task and actively working during class. I assign it then because I think they need the practice that they missed in class,” Yan continued. “I also give it in math because as a department we’re supposed to. Math is kind of a language you need to practice more so.”
But do students actually do their homework?
“A lot of kids don’t do [homework] anyway,” said Omand said. “They look it up or get their friends to give them answers just to get the grade.”
On the contrary, Boyden said that homework is useful and it’s better to have homework than no homework. “I remember when I didn’t have math homework, and I did get the stuff in math, but it took me longer because I didn’t have as much practice, and if I wanted to practice math I would have to create problems myself, which I’m not gonna do because that’s so much work. But now that I have homework in math I have problems I can practice if I’m struggling with something."
“I don’t like it too much especially when you have a lot of classes you’re doing homework for,” said Mila Boyden, eighth grade student in Literary Arts, of her general opinion of homework. While she generally doesn’t like homework, she can find some things that are useful about it.
“I like the practice because I feel like if there wasn’t homework, specifically for math, I wouldn’t have enough time to practice equations and get the methods of how to solve equations without homework.”
Vinh Ander Nygaard, a sixth grader in Fashion Design said, “I've only gotten homework in English and science but it was very little in English… [Homework] slightly adds to the quality [of learning], but lots of the time you're happier if you don’t have homework because you can goof off and chill.”
Ander Nygaard said if he cannot do their homework, he will, “Usually email the teacher, telling them I did not have time to do the homework, my life has been busy lately, or ask if I get an extension.”
Some students find it easier to work at home. “It helps me learn better because it’s harder for me to learn in class. It’s usually loud in class so it's easier for me to have homework when I can do it separately,” Ife Thomas, a seventh grader in Fashion Design said. “[Homework] makes sense because if you don’t do your work in class it becomes homework.”
But not everyone agrees. “I don’t think homework adds to the quality of your learning because again most people don’t actually do the work, and they just do it for the grade and I don’t think it helps people understand the work more,” said eighth grade student in Literary Arts, Cb Omand.
“I do not assign homework for my students, except there is an expectation they will be reading outside of class. They can choose whatever they want to read but I expect that they reflect on their reading so it doesn’t wash over them, and actually think about their reading,” said Amanda Farmer, a middle school Humanities teacher.
“I don’t know what their home looks like. Some students have a long bus ride to get home and by the time they get home they are exhausted. Or their grownups are working late and they have younger siblings to take care of,” said Farmer on why she doesn’t give homework. “Some students are between homes at the moment, they're unhoused, and expecting them to have a location outside of class that is conducive to focus on homework feels like it's coming from a point of privilege. So I don’t assign homework because I believe in equity for all my students.”
“If a student learns incorrectly in class and then goes home and practices it incorrectly it can reinforce that and then it becomes more challenging to correct that learning,” Farmer continued.
Brenda Wagner, middle school Math teacher, does give homework. She said, “I give [my students] one assignment a week, and only on weeks when there is no test. It usually is one page, both sides of questions, and usually around 6-8 problems total.”
There are five key reasons Wagner gives homework. The reasons are that math requires practice, students need exposure to different kinds of problems, it helps with critical thinking, it helps with retention, and doing the homework is practice for independent learning skills and enhances perseverance.
“Like learning any skill, math requires practice. This is more important in math than many of the other academic classes because math is a skilled based kind of academic class,” Wagner said.
Crystal Yan, a Physical Science and Math teacher, and Science Chair Head, does not give homework for science. “My perspective on homework has changed a lot after I attended a science conference and I started to see giving homework as inequitable,” she said. “I want students to have the practice but I don’t want to penalize them if they're unable to do it because of circumstances that are out of their control.”
“For math, it’s only given if the class as a whole is not on task and actively working during class. I assign it then because I think they need the practice that they missed in class,” Yan continued. “I also give it in math because as a department we’re supposed to. Math is kind of a language you need to practice more so.”
But do students actually do their homework?
“A lot of kids don’t do [homework] anyway,” said Omand said. “They look it up or get their friends to give them answers just to get the grade.”
On the contrary, Boyden said that homework is useful and it’s better to have homework than no homework. “I remember when I didn’t have math homework, and I did get the stuff in math, but it took me longer because I didn’t have as much practice, and if I wanted to practice math I would have to create problems myself, which I’m not gonna do because that’s so much work. But now that I have homework in math I have problems I can practice if I’m struggling with something."
