Human and Abilities

Research can immensely help practice in education. As seen in Lincoln Alternative High School as well as schools that use the Turnaround program, graduation rates can increase and dropout/suspension rates can decrease. If the Centers for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanete did not do a study to see if trauma affects education, no conclusions may have been found. This means that children who experienced trauma and educators may have been using and receiving the same discipline techniques that were not helping these children become more successful. It is so important to see what problems are and then research better ways to fix them. Then, once solutions are found they need to be practiced. This is why the Turnaround program is great, because it helps educators put research into practice. This allows room for actual change to take place. Practice can also inform the research to see if the research’s findings continue to work and be successful.

I find this debate about homework to be quite intriguing. Personally, I am all for a teacher that does not give homework. However, I have often been given homework and I personally thought it was helping me. I cannot help but wonder if it depends on the age of the student as to whether or not homework is helpful. Do older students have more success in school if they get homework as opposed to younger students who may need different stimulation? I found that the note home assumes that families can eat dinner as a family, read together and play outside. However, that is not always possible and if children do not get homework or do any of the things the teacher listed, would they be falling behind? These are just a few thoughts I had when looking at this but I feel they would be important to the teacher’s no-homework policy.

Personally, I believe that doing homework does help academic achievement. I believe that spending more time on material makes students retain it better. In research done about homework in early adolescence at Loyola University of Chicago, it was found that if students do homework alone, there is a more negative affect on grades. If students do in class work, the affect is neutral and if student do homework with their parents they often had higher academic achievement. However, another study by Duke University found that there was no strong evidence to support the association between homework-achievement and grades or knowing of the subject matter. This appears to tell me that we need more evidence to support whether or not homework is useful or not. Either way, though, both studies found that doing homework with a parent is helpful so that is quality information to know.

Citations

Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987-2003. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 1-62. doi:10.3102/00346543076001001

Leone, C.M. & Richards, H. J Youth Adolescence (1989) 18: 531. doi:10.1007/BF02139072

Hello all! To start off with the basics, my name is Erin Lyman and I am a junior majoring in Communication Disorders. I am from Illinois and yes I am a Bears fan- it’s not easy being one but I can’t jump on the Packers bandwagon. I am not as big into football as I am into college basketball and baseball, though! I love God, my family, sports, adventure, dogs and Dunkin Donuts.

Before coming to Whitewater I attended Philadelphia University in Pennsylvania where I played volleyball and was majoring in Law and Society. I had a professor named Evan Laine and he was by far the best teacher I have ever had. He changed my way of thinking by making me realize that what I was being told was not necessarily the truth. He taught me not to accept everything I heard without questioning it and finding out what was factual.

In high school, I accepted everything I learned or saw as fact. If I watched a 9/11 conspiracy video I would not have questioned it, I simply would have accepted it. Now, because of Professor Laine, I question things I am being told and find myself doing research and then forming my own opinions and ideas. I would look into that 9/11 conspiracy video and try my best to discover if what I was being told was true and if not, why. This has inspired me to be more open minded, independent and confident in what I support. Similar to the Dead Poets society clip, Professor Laine opened my eyes and I was able to see the world from a different, less ignorant view. This is what I hope to do for others in my future career. I want people and my patients to know they have options and not to accept what they are being told.

I will be taking what Professor Laine taught me into the real world both inside and outside of the workplace. The knowledge I gained will help me in my career as a speech pathologist because I will not simply accept what I am told when treating patients. I will try to find different ways to help them and know that there are more options and ways to do things. In my future career I hope to work in the neonatal intensive care unit and do research to advance the speech pathology field.

Finally, I believe what makes a good teacher is someone that pushes students to think outside the box and see the world in a different way. It is easy to get stuck in a routine, especially in a classroom. A good teacher will not just teach so that a student retains information for tests and so on. They will teach life lessons that students can use in and out of the classroom. Also, a good teacher cares about the student as a student and as a person. Many factors outside of school influence one’s success in school. In the reading it talked about one teacher who has his students keep journals where they can tell him about problems, fears and so on. This teacher writes back to his students. I love this because it creates a sense of open communication and trust as well as letting the students know that their teacher cares about them as people. This positive relationship can help a teachers sense of efficacy, therefore helping them be more successful, and it can help the students have more drive to succeed.