Homework is a daily struggle students face. The expectation is for the student to take that work home and spend meaningful time with thought-out answers. However, this has become warped over years and is now seen as a counterproductive chore, with little to no effort required. Is assigning daily homework the solution to this problem? I think not. Students already spend grueling seven-plus hours a day in school, which are typically spent cramming as much information as possible into their currently developing minds.
You would think that with a seven-hour school day behind them when students get home they would have the chance to sit back and relax. However, this is often unachievable for the average student. Whether it's work, sports, or chores within the family dynamic. More often than not students aren’t able to truly sit down until eight to nine o’clock at night, so adding on two to three hours plus of school work leaves students feeling exhausted and burnt out. According to NIH.gov “Students with high levels of burnout reported less level of academic satisfaction and academic achievement.” This burnout will begin affecting their GPAs, defeating the whole purpose of homework, to begin with. Not to mention, the emotional toll this can take on their mindset, setting up our incoming leaders for a long history of depression, anxiety, and other stress-related disorders.
Considering the argument that daily homework would do something to improve students' lives and class time, when would this homework be graded? This would have to be graded and reviewed during class time, cutting their time to learn even shorter. Thus resulting in even more cramming. This domino effect would continue to pile over in each and every one of their classes. According to Standford.edu “When the brain is overworked too much, too often, it increases feelings of anxiety, frustration, fatigue and even confusion.” This would yet again cause more mental and physical strain on the student, resulting in subpar results which don’t fully display the extent of that student's abilities.
Depending on the class, such homework is somewhat unnecessary, while it still can be utilized, making this a daily thing can be seen as somewhat overboard. For example, classes like English, Physical Education, Creative Arts, etc. I’m not claiming that no homework is necessary, however daily homework assignments are simply impractical. According to gcsu.edu “most students feel a sense of accomplishment when they complete homework assignments and feel like they have let their teacher down when they do not complete their homework.” This proves that homework completion or lack thereof isn’t due to laziness or spite as there are clear effects on the mental wellbeing of students.
While opposers to this idea may say that this provides extra time for studying and preparation for the next day. This statement has been proven to be contradictory based on several studies concerning cramming and its psychological and physiological effects on students' behavior and overall GPA. According to gpl.com “Research has found that many students cannot recall much information after a cram session. They have trained their mind to recite the material without developing a deeper understanding.” Thus not provide any real use for the student's future learning, leaving this tactic mute in practicality.
Therefore, homework on a daily basis would create a deadly domino effect, providing no probable or useful effect for students. Not only would this decimate the little to no extra time students already have for extracurricular activities. This would also eat up precious classroom time needed for students to have some chance at a deeper understanding of the already vague material. The cost outweighs the good for upcoming leaders.
ReplyDeleteDear Bella,
The organization of your paragraphs was done very poorly. The reason I say this is that it's hard to read and it feels like it's a forever paragraph when you are reading your writing. I save this due to the fact that you have very small edits and you have no space in between the paragraphs whatsoever. For that reason I have to give you the bullet point and level 2 which states, ‘Some attempt to organize text; ideas were developed in a limited manner.’ Now I don't think you were completely eliminated on your ideas but your ideas were very much one-sided. For that I have to give you that bullet point in level 2.
You had a very clear expression and a very wide range of language but unfortunately I cannot give you the effective expression which is stated in level 4 because of your poorly organized paragraphs. However I can give you the bullet point in level three which says ‘Clear expression, with a Range of language, including some complex structures and some less common lexis, although there may be some repetition.’ Some examples of the clear expression and language that you gave are: ‘warped…’, ‘counterproductive chore…’, ‘mental and physical strain on the student…’ and ‘ lack thereof isn’t due to laziness…’ I can give you that bullet point in level three because you were very clear and expressive and you used all of what that bullet point said and you weren't repetitive. However, I can't give you the level above because you have complications at level 2.
I don't see many errors in your writing so I can give you the bullet point which says level three ‘Occasional errors which do not impede communication’. That meeting that I can read your blog without inflicting on how I understand it. Level 3
In level to the bullet points states ‘Task is generally achieved; contact is mostly relevant.’ While this is true in your writing, the reason I say that is because you were supposed to write an argumentative essay. Sadly you didn't exceed the prompt and you only stayed one side; You were very expressive and clear in your writing, But the definition of an argumentative essay is that you have to have A counterclaim or introducing the other position. You didn't have a counterclaim in any of your sentences but also you did a poor job of introducing the other position on the topic. Some examples of what was said about the other position on the topic was ‘The expectation is for the student to take that work home and spend meaningful time with thought-out answers.’ That sentence was in the first paragraph. The next thing you said about the other position was ‘Considering the argument that daily homework would do something to improve students' lives and class time’ This is in paragraph three. All of the aspects and reasons that I have just stated being that you did a poor job on executing the task which the prompt specifically says ‘ In class, you have been discussing whether teachers should assign homework on a daily basis. Your teacher asked you to write an argumentative essay where you state your opinion. ’ What you did state your opinion but you failed to address the other side. Which is a big problem with writing an argumentative essay. Which I can't give you the bullet point a level three so I have to give you the bullet point that is in level 2 for this area.
You attempted to dress your audience but because you didn't address both sides the audience was not fully addressed because what if what if those readers were reading your blog and they were forgiving homework you wouldn't have dressed their side. So I have to give you the bullet point level to which says ‘Limited elements of an attempt to address the audience’ However you did dress your side but you did a poor job of dressing the other side. Level 2.
I give you 11 out of 25.
Hey Bella,
DeleteOverall I think you did a great job on your blog. You had both perspectives but only seemed to have a strong argument for one perspective. To make your blog stronger, I think having a . The only advice I have for you is to not use cited sources like “According to gpl.com “Research has found that many students cannot recall….”. On the exam you won’t be able to search up and quote information to help further your paper. Instead I would use real examples of how homework has been helpful or unhelpful for you.
Overall I would give you a 11/25. Other than an extra enter between your first and second paragraph, your “text is clearly organized” and “ideas are developed clearly”. There are a couple small errors scattered throughout, but it doesn’t “impede communication”. The audience is addressed but not really engaged.
Hi Bella,
ReplyDeleteFirst off I like the way you wrote about homework and you did a really good job at making it arguativement. Plus your structure of the argumentative essay was spot on. However there was one thing that could have been fixed. In the real test you won't have any other sources. This was to be from your head and what you know and have to do your best to make it sound professional. Remember, this is an English class, not global perspectives.
Along with that there were a few errors. Remember to re-read your blog and read it outloud too. Doing that will help catch more errors or if a sentence doesn’t flow right. Besides that I think you did an overall good job on the blog. I would give you a score of 18
Hi Bella, I am going to give you a 15/25.
ReplyDeleteThe first issue I have is structure. After your first paragraph, you have a space before the second paragraph. However, for the rest of your text, there were no spaces between the rest of your paragraphs. Consistency is very important for structure, so make sure to be more mindful about spacing.
There were also a few sentences where the wording did not make sense/ was unnecessary. In your sentence, "This burnout will begin affecting their GPAs, defeating the whole purpose of homework, to begin with," you should just delete "to begin with" because it makes the wording in your sentence sound strange and is unnecessary. The second sentence I will use for example is "Considering the argument that daily homework would do something to improve students' lives and class time." This is more an opinion, however, "would do something" makes your sentence seem more casual and less logical. Instead, I would take it out and just write "would make an improvement in students' lives" or even "would improve students' lives."
The final issue that I had was you did not write a counter argument, which ends up making your side of the argument weaker because you did not give yourself the chance to take down the other side of the argument.
The two things I really like and would like to commend you for are the evidence that you used and how persuasive your text was.