Why I even give homework...

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Why I even give homework...
By Allison

Thank you all for your sincere responses!!!! Just so you know where I'm coming from, I usually only give 3 or 4 assignments for homework each night(and that is if they didn't finish in in class because I give a 30 min. study
hall each day in addition to the last 5 min. of each subject to begin on homework). Homework is basically classwork that wasn't finished during the course of the day.
I don't teach in a typical public school, which enhances the trouble I'm facing with my homework policy. The problem is, the school I teach in is private and the families are all wealthy/ professional types. They

are very educated families (lots of doctors and lawyers and other professionals). I would say that 95% of our students have many more resources than the typical middle class family (ex. all 30 of my students last year had the internet and their own computer in their bedrooms). Parents demand that I give at least 45 min. to an hour of homework each night. That is why I must learn to control the paperwork. To not give any homework each night would surely get me fired (in place of a teacher who would rather "challenge their children to learn at a higher level"). I LOVE my school, but making sure that kids are busy every night puts a lot of extra work on me.

This is why I'm trying to come up with an easier way to handle the homework. Any other help would be very much appreciated. Thanks again for all of your help.