Saturday, June 19, 2010

Grrr

Pet peeves... hmmm. I have things I really, really hate (i.e. racism) and then I have things that seem to more fit the "Pet Peeve" label; annoying, annoying, annoying, and annoying. Like homework.

Now that it's summer vacation I don't have homework every day, so I have more time to gripe about how annoying homework was and will be again next year. As a student I understand the effect teachers want homework to have--review of the day's lesson--but as a teenager I see the actual impact it has on my and my friends' lives. If I hear that a highschooler (or middle schooler for that matter, or college student, et cetera) is a total grouch in the morning, stressed, shredding books in frustration, and up until all hours of the morning, I know the diagnosis imediately: homework.

I agree that students need to be responsible for making sure they understand what they're taught. I also agree that studying is usually necessary and should be done, and even review the night after a lesson if someone has time and feels the need. But the reality is that most homework that's assigned is simply busywork under the disguise of "review." In order to keep up a grade a student must complete the mind-numbing repetitive work in multiple subjects, which can take hours, and usually this is done after hours already spent in school, after-school sports or activities, and other obligatons such as practicing an instrument or working or doing chores.

There's my post-school rant...

Kieryn
www.kierynnicolas.com
www.kierynnicolas.blogspot.com