Let’s be honest, nobody has ever enjoyed doing homework. No matter how much you may enjoy school, learning, or doing work, homework is the devil’s invention. Thus, as a high school senior, I find myself unsure about the actual value of it. I know this may partially be due to the fact that my high school career has reached its twilight, but I am beginning to question it.
First of all, let me explain that this is not a message not to do your homework. I completely understand that homework has a place in your schoolwork and should be done. Without doing homework, it is almost impossible to master a class. While the classwork is there to teach, homework is where you practice and master a subject. Unless you instantly learn an understand every topic, you need to do homework to grasp the subject.
With that said, I advocate prioritizing. Just like in real life, you are not always going to be able to do everything. So, don’t kill yourself doing everything. Before you start, prioritize. Also, remember that sleep is as much of a priority as everything else. I know students (including myself) who stay up til 3 or even 4 am to get their assignments done, but this never works out. Usually you end up producing sub-par work and having a crappy day. Instead, consider sleep a priority. If you have a big project, get that done. But ignore the little stuff. If I have an essay due, I don’t worry about my math worksheets.
Remember that you can communicate with your teachers. If I have a paper that I don’t understand, I don’t stay up all night killing myself over it. Next day, I go to the teacher first thing and tell him or her that I don’t get it. Telling a teacher this and getting help is just as good as doing the paper. They like that you came for help, you still learn, and it keeps you from basically clawing your eyes out that night.
Find out which teachers grade homework. If they don’t grade their homework, well, that homework has now dropped on the priority scale. The same goes to homework that “is for your own practice.” That’s teacher slang for: you don’t need to do this but you should. Keep that in mind when the assignments start piling in.
Homework isn’t fun and is a lot of work, but with some careful planning and prioritization, it becomes one heck of a lot easier.