Get your head round homework
Thursday 2 February 2006
Nobody is homework's biggest fan, but here's our guide to getting through it hassle-free..
Extra help
Ask your teacher if you need some extra help. They'll be glad you were honest enough to say that you're having difficulties, rather than muddling through it on your own and making mistakes.
Serious
It's best not to rely on your teacher to do everything for you. They won't be keen to help you if you haven't made some sort of effort. Show that you have made a serious attempt.
Planning ahead
It's a good idead to plan when you're going to do your homework.
Try and do it as soon as you get in from school, while you're still in work mode.
Last minute
It's never a good idea to do your homework on the school bus, or at the last minute such as the night before it's due in.
You can't produce good work unless you've spent a bit of time on it and done it somewhere comfortable.
Look into it
The best work takes a bit of research. Why accept one explanation when there could be others? Do some extra reading.
Your teacher is bound to be impressed that you've shown initiative, as long as you don't stray too far from the original question.
Copycat
Never be tempted to rip things off the internet or from books. If there's one thing teachers hate, it's copying.
It'll be obvious that the work is not your own, so you're bound to be found out. It could result in you getting a zero mark for your work. Is it worth it?
Quality
Concentrate on the quality of your work rather than quantity. As long as your work is well researched and thought out, it shouldn't matter how much you've done.
On and on
Try not to waffle . It's tempting to go on and on about a subject to fill space but you're unlikely to hold your teacher's attention if you've written something that is overlong, no matter how worthy every point.
Pretty neat
Try and write as neatly as you can. It's important for the reader of your work to understand what you're trying to say. If a teacher can't read what you've written then they may not bother persevering and reading until the end.
Sickly sweet
You shouldn't overdo it with the presentation. If what you've written isn't up to scratch, no amount of fancy underlining, highlighting and handwriting styles in lots of pretty colours will hide that fact. Just stick to the task in hand.
Get stuck in
Don't just skip doing your homework; your teacher won't be impressed.
If you really don't have time, then at least do as much as you can before handing it in, it's better than nothing.
Talk to someone
Never ignore a problem if you've got one. If you just decide not to hand it in, you'll look like you don't care.
If you need an extension, ask your teacher before the homework is due in, not as they come to your desk to collect it from you.
