By Lily Krivanek and Tegwyn Lea
Emerson and Da Vinci students have been at school for several weeks now, and we wanted to hear their thoughts on how they are managing their schoolwork. We put out a survey asking students about how they felt about this topic. There was a lot of variability in how students felt about their classes, with about half saying they were pretty relaxed about schoolwork, and some very rushed and overwhelmed. Here are some thoughts, feelings, and advice from some students we asked.
“I think that the workload is reasonable, but with all the other things going on in my life, I don’t have free time to just relax and be with family.” -Bethany, 8th grade
“I think there is a moderate amount. I always wish there was less but it’s not that bad.” -Anonymous
“I have so much homework and so much going on in the week that really the only time I have time to complete it is on the weekends, which isn’t fair since the weekends are supposed to be when you get a break from school!” -Anonymous
It seems that the amount of work people get is different for every student. We also asked if students can share some advice they can give to teachers to make their work easier, quicker, or more enjoyable.
“Let us have time in class to start it so if we have questions when we start it it’s easy to solve the problem.” -Anonymous
“Give plenty of instructions and instructions on how to find the instructions” -Ty, 8th grade
“Just don’t make it so crowded and quick, and force stuff in just because you feel like you have to. Lots of kids have at least some extracurriculars and school is rarely the only thing going on in kids’ lives. We shouldn’t have to stay up late to finish an assignment.” -Anonymous
“Tell the students all the homework they have due that week” -Kiera, 7th grade
Teachers would really benefit from hearing the student’s perspective more, we got a lot of great suggestions about clear directions, due dates, and expectations. Next, we asked students for some tips for other students concerning homework and time management.
“Take it one step at a time. If you do your assignments one by one, what at first looks like a big workload is a snap!” -Mia, 7th grade
“Get stuff done in class and don’t waste time” -Gio, 8th grade
“If you’re having trouble, ask a friend for help”-Adelina, 8th grade
“Take your time with it. Teachers are pretty understanding” -Claire, 9th grade
Thank you for this advice! Your tips will definitely help other students with managing homework. Thank you to all who answered our survey, as we got over 100 responses (wow!) we couldn’t include all of them but there was plenty of good things you all had to say! Remember, if you feel stressed out or overwhelmed about schoolwork or something else, don’t be afraid to let your teachers or the counselor know, and they will help you. Have a great rest of your year!
-Tegwyn and Lily, the Peagle Press
