Between classes, after school activities like sports or clubs, jobs, chores and necessary things like eating, showering, exercising, etc,  some students struggle to fit in homework.

The average time that students are able to start their homework each night is typically between 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Students also recorded that they spend a total of about one and a half to two hours each night on homework.

For some students, they then don’t go to sleep until about 11- 11:30 at night, and then must wake up at around 6:30 the next morning to be at school on time. Even though the student may be setting himself up for the “healthy” eight hours of sleep at night, many students agree that only about five hours of that is sound sleep.

Should the teachers at ODA address the homework aspect of classes to ensure that students don’t have overcrowded schedules? Some see no need for change.

“I think we have an appropriate amount of homework. We have time in study hall to get most of it done, also our quizzes and tests are spread out.”

-Mckinleigh Rutledge, Grade 9

“I feel like the homework is fair for the most part. Of course there are days were there is way more than we would like, but overall its not too bad. The only thing I have to recommend is that if all of the teachers could put the homework on the portal in the beginning of the week so we can plan ahead and manage our time since some days are busier than others.”

-Liz Gaukhman, Grade 11

“Junior year, I think our homework load is fairly reasonable other than SAT prep and college app prep on top of that.”

-Lauren Redington, Grade 11

Others request more mindful approaches from teachers.

“I think that there is a decent amount of homework for most classes, but some more difficult classes with more homework would be helpful if they gave students more time in between when an assignment is due to complete their homework.”

-Kiarra Womack, Grade 10

“I believe that the homework situation is a sticky one. Sometimes I find myself having about 10 different assignments in one night, then the next 2 days I have no homework at all. I am a person that does not like doing homework at all, and dreads the time to do it. I Feel that if teachers could just space out the assignments evenly by day, students wouldn’t complain as much. I am someone who will take the teacher’s side in most cases because they have experience and way more knowledge than we do. I understand why they give us that amount of homework to review the lesson learned, but I don’t agree with the fact of having five different things for the same class to do on the same day. It’s illogical.”

-Valentina Alvarez, Grade 9

Others suggest web-based solutions might help balance the load.

“I think the homework should be slightly reduced, since we have gotten back from spring break the teachers have been giving us quite a bit of homework and its been piling up for me. Maybe if there was a place on the portal like the test calendar which could show the homework that was being given for the night by the other teacher, the homework could be reduced.”

-Alex Seftas, Grade 10

Taking in these responses, the general consensus seems to be that the homework load isn’t unreasonable, but just that it comes in waves and makes it hard on the students to do so much at one time.

If the teachers could place all the homework on the portal at the beginning of the week, it would allow the students to plan ahead and be prepared for what is to come. Also it wouldn’t be a bad idea for teachers to communicate with one another so they could avoid all giving their one or two assignments for the week on the same day.

One last thing seems to be that most students would appreciate it if more time could be given in between when an assignment is given, to when it is actually due. This could also help students with too many assignments to do in one night.

Students ask faculty to consider mindful approaches for next year as they continue to implement new strategies for teaching and learning.