Dear Mr. Debwire,
My name is ____________. I'm writing this letter in support of your decision to eliminate homework at Seven Crosses Academy High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Students are becoming less motivated to attempt the homework that their teachers assign. We'd much rather have control over how we select our homework assignments. We TRULY aren't against having homework assigned- it's just that we would much rather create it for ourselves.
Rather than what the teachers at Seven Crosses believe would interest us, we want to learn about what inspires our interests. For example, I like to learn about marine life, such as the unbelievably stunning nature of killer sea snakes. I'm also passionate about Internet businesses, culinary arts, performing arts, world travel, religion, social behavior, literature, nature, Buddhism and meditation, downhill skiing, and music. In reality, I'll only get two homework assignments every five months that interest me the very most. If I could be in charge of choosing when, how and where to do my homework assignments, that would inspire me more than anything my teachers would be able to do for me. For instance, if I were going fishing, I'd be motivated to do extra work work for a science project (for instance, observing the pollution level in the river or the trout's heartbeat in the natural world rather than in a lab), or if I went skiing, I could do a geography assignment on the terrain, or investigate the incline percentage of the ski slopes for math or physics class.
Most of us either do no homework at all or do the absolute minimum. In reality, no one is being told how much homework to do or when we should do it- so why not have us get ready for the real work by having our teachers not assign homework? Let us do it ourselves- the way we like and in the best ways we know how. We also need to be more independent. This helps us to create our own work too- plus, we need to be creative, participatory, and inventive. Despite the several benefits I already mentioned, I also can hear the critics.
Counter to what I've said, some students, teachers and parents won't agree. It's a fact that some kids require more structure, but they would most certainly enjoy having less pressure dropped on them for one significant reason. Kids should not feel the burden of getting a poor grade; rather they should feel exciting about learning. Now, contrary to everything I just got finished saying, there will always be some kids at Six Crosses who will want and need assigned homework or they will not do anything. These kids never had even had the chance to assign their own homework, because their teachers did it for them ever since they've been in Kindergarten!!!!!
On the whole, Mr. Debwire, I feel we have made a persuasive case to leave out homework assigned by teachers. That's not to say we wish to put an end to homework, it's just that we want to put an end to teachers having control of our work out of school.
Let's have the students become the teachers in their own compelling ways.
Sincerely,
_____________________________
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