Andrea Townsend in a Teacher’s Defense of Homework

Israel Adewoye 2nd Period LA

They Say, I Say Homework Essay

The general argument made by Andrea Townsend in “A Teacher’s Defense of Homework” is that homework, although seeming excessive, is an essential part of students development and is vital to their education. More specifically, Townsend argues that with all the material students are required to go over in a school year, schoolwork isn’t enough, and putting in effort outside school through homework is necessary. She asserts that giving students homework allows for interactive and hands-on activities like labs during class time; all effective learning methods. The passage states “I need students to put in some time and effort studying outside of class..” In this passage, Townsend is suggesting that homework helps students develop more on content taught in the classroom and provides extra practice. In conclusion, Townsend believes homework is overall beneficiary to students. An example we see is in Japanese students who through doing extra work after school (Juku), score higher and perform better academically than American students.

Townsend is somewhat right because homework can be sometimes helpful for students as it is a means of practice for students away from the class room. In particular, students can benefit from homework because they can work on material not completed in class. For example, students can get an idea of a new topic through homework before working on it in class or finish worksheets that couldn’t be done during class. Although some students or parents might object that homework can be repetitive, time consuming or stressful, I maintain that it can provide the needed help most students need and can be significant in boosting test scores and others. Therefore, I conclude that teachers giving homework could be for the students good.

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