Homework - why bother?
Tuesday 22 January 2008
Whether you love it or hate it, homework is a fact of life if you're still at school or college. Is it really necessary and how important is it to do it properly anyway?
Why bother?
You may feel like you work hard enough at school without having to do yet more work afterwards.
However homework does help you to firstly take in what you have learned in class. This is especially helpful when it comes to exam time. It means you don’t have to do lots of cramming and learn everything again because a lot of it will already have sunk in.
Homework also helps you prepare for something coming up in class and check you've understood what you're learning.
Teachers can tell
Do you get it?
Teachers can tell whether their class has understood something by looking at the work. They then plan their next lesson according to whether everyone has understood or not. If you do not understand, then ask. Your teacher will explain it to you in more detail. If you pretend to know things then they can't help you improve and develop in your learning.
Copy cat
Teachers can also tell if you have copied your home work. It is easy to tell when someone has copied work from classmate.
If you copy it you will be found out - it's really obvious! Think about your friend too. They will only let you copy for so long before they realise that they are the one doing all the work. If they get into trouble by letting you copy, how will you feel? Will they be angry? Also sooner or later they will make a mistake and you might end up red faced in front of the whole class.
Cut and paste
They can also tell if you have “cut and pasted” from a website! They have internet too you know!
Not all websites are 100% accurate, especially sites like Wikipedia which anyone can edit or add to. This means that you might be cutting and pasting the wrong answers and learning the wrong facts too.
Make a plan
If you’re using any of the above methods to “shortcut” your homework, ask yourself why you need to.
Getting homework done quickly and efficiently is usually all to do with planning your time.
Try to set aside regular time in the evening to do your work and stick to your routine. Homework increases the further you get in education so the sooner you start the better.
For more homework tips check out the need2know leaning section.
