http://cytochromec.net/blog/2009/08/rambling-post-about-homework-inspired-by-edchat-of-825/ The joys of ed tech by Colin Matheson Mon, 14 May 2012 19:08:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://cytochromec.net/blog/2009/08/rambling-post-about-homework-inspired-by-edchat-of-825/comment-page-/#comment-12213 Cathleen Weglarz Sat, 12 May 2012 16:01:40 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=33#comment-12213 Breaking News: Top of the line celeb Tom Truong has decided to grant the entire human race free online college education to billions of people world wide. Tell everyone. Breaking News: Top of the line celeb Tom Truong has decided to grant the entire human race free online college education to billions of people world wide. Tell everyone.

]]> http://cytochromec.net/blog/2009/08/rambling-post-about-homework-inspired-by-edchat-of-825/comment-page-/#comment-96 Colin Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:02:18 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=33#comment-96 Thank you for your comment. I think you are right that school (and HW) can be difficult for students who are very self motivated and focused. I guess the question is, are the HW assignments useless for all students or just useless for bright students? Perhaps there needs to be more differentiation (or dare I say tracking?). Also, school is not the only place that creative people will encounter the need to deal with external expectations that don't jive with their internal motivation. It may sound twisted, but your daughter is being forced to learn mental resiliency in a world that, by and large, does not foster individual creativity. If your daughter is going to write for a living, she will probably need to jump through a lot of hoops, pay a lot of dues, and make a lot of compromises. Whether or not she succeeds will have as much to do with her ability to cope with that reality as with her ability to write. Probably not her teachers' goals with their work, but most teachers cannot set up a class that supports the gifted few. Thank you for your comment. I think you are right that school (and HW) can be difficult for students who are very self motivated and focused. I guess the question is, are the HW assignments useless for all students or just useless for bright students? Perhaps there needs to be more differentiation (or dare I say tracking?). Also, school is not the only place that creative people will encounter the need to deal with external expectations that don’t jive with their internal motivation. It may sound twisted, but your daughter is being forced to learn mental resiliency in a world that, by and large, does not foster individual creativity. If your daughter is going to write for a living, she will probably need to jump through a lot of hoops, pay a lot of dues, and make a lot of compromises. Whether or not she succeeds will have as much to do with her ability to cope with that reality as with her ability to write. Probably not her teachers’ goals with their work, but most teachers cannot set up a class that supports the gifted few.

]]> http://cytochromec.net/blog/2009/08/rambling-post-about-homework-inspired-by-edchat-of-825/comment-page-/#comment-95 LeeAnn Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:18:54 +0000 http://cytochromec.net/blog/?p=33#comment-95 I am the parent referenced in your post and I would like to clarify my explanation of why I still believe HW is a factor in her decrease of writing. First of all, she is a good writer. She has always been a voracious reader and from her first writing, she was practicing the techniques of the authors she was reading. She attends various creative writing workshops and camps in the summer. And in the summer, when there is no HW, she returns to her love of writing. It may be anecdotal, but I'm a teacher as well as a parent and I see far too many useless HW assignments and not enough that are relevant and authentic. I am the parent referenced in your post and I would like to clarify my explanation of why I still believe HW is a factor in her decrease of writing. First of all, she is a good writer. She has always been a voracious reader and from her first writing, she was practicing the techniques of the authors she was reading. She attends various creative writing workshops and camps in the summer. And in the summer, when there is no HW, she returns to her love of writing. It may be anecdotal, but I’m a teacher as well as a parent and I see far too many useless HW assignments and not enough that are relevant and authentic.

]]>