Fair question. Take a look at this blog discussion from a few days ago at the New York Times. Notice how many different opinions there are - professors, psychologists, authors... even very educated, smart people can't all agree on the issue. Whose argument and evidence makes the most sense to you?
Identify your favorite contributor, and sum up the important pieces of evidence s/he presents. Why are you convinced by the argument? Alternatively... identify a contributor whose argument you think DOESN'T work, and point out why his or her evidence isn't convincing.
Post Some Comments: If you regularly do summer homework, do you feel as though it's worth your while? Do you actually benefit from reviewing, or previewing material, or do you still do most of your actual learning in the classroom? If you tend to blow it off, do you think that it puts you at a disadvantage compared with students who do it, or do you feel like you don't really miss out on anything important?
P.S. If you're really interested in following this issue, there are more comments and analysis here at the Chronicle of Higher Education, a popular educators' newspaper.
I think that the majority of summer homework is a waste of time and should be removed from our assignments. While I think it is fine for an English teacher to assign summer reading, I don't think it benefits any students to complete endless amounts of math that are so basic they gain nothing from them.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of AP summer homework, I find it useful. AP follows a certain schedule and since our school year is only so long we need to make up the work in order to be ready for AP tests.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, unless there is a valid reason for summer homework, it doesn't need to be assigned. Summer is a time to unwind and relax but if homework is hanging over your head it's harder to do that. It also brings up the topic of time. During the school year, you're not excused from homework due to a vacation. But since the summer is really the time for vacation, I think you should be excused. Why, if I'm on vacation the whole summer, should I be subjected to sacrificing my free time for homework? School should only be the nine months during which we are in the school building.
I have to say summer homework is quite useless.
ReplyDeleteSummer reading for English I believe should not be scheduled because its often only looked at the first and second week at the most. After the summer reading test, there is literally no discussion about that book, making summer reading simply just busy work.
I do relieze that AP summer work is assigned so we finish the course in time, but there is an entire month of school afterwards. I don't understand why we make the AP test around finals week so that we can fit the whole unit into the year.
Because AP classes are offered throughout the nation, they cannot simply be moved to finals week. Different schools start and end at different times and since all schools must take the tests at the same time the current week of AP testing is much better for the majority of students.
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