how to handle lots of homework

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11 Ways to Deal With Homework Overload

Last Updated: May 22, 2024 Fact Checked

Making a Plan

Staying motivated, starting good homework habits, expert q&a.

This article was co-authored by Jennifer Kaifesh . Jennifer Kaifesh is the Founder of Great Expectations College Prep, a tutoring and counseling service based in Southern California. Jennifer has over 15 years of experience managing and facilitating academic tutoring and standardized test prep as it relates to the college application process. She takes a personal approach to her tutoring, and focuses on working with students to find their specific mix of pursuits that they both enjoy and excel at. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 254,232 times.

A pile of homework can seem daunting, but it’s doable if you make a plan. Make a list of everything you need to do, and work your way through, starting with the most difficult assignments. Focus on your homework and tune out distractions, and you’ll get through things more efficiently. Giving yourself breaks and other rewards will help you stay motivated along the way. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you get stuck! Hang in there, and you’ll knock the homework out before you know it.

Things You Should Know

• Create a checklist of everything you have to do, making sure to include deadlines and which assignments are a top priority.
• Take a 15-minute break for every 2 hours of studying. This can give your mind a break and help you feel more focused.
• Make a schedule of when you plan on doing your homework and try to stick to it. This way, you won’t feel too overwhelmed as the assignments roll in.

• Make a plan to go through your work bit by bit, saving the easiest tasks for last.

• Put phones and any other distractions away. If you have to do your homework on a computer, avoid checking your email or social media while you are trying to work.
• Consider letting your family (or at least your parents) know where and when you plan to do homework, so they'll know to be considerate and only interrupt if necessary.

• If you have the option to do your homework in a study hall, library, or other place where there might be tutors, go for it. That way, there will be help around if you need it. You'll also likely wind up with more free time if you can get work done in school.

• To take a break, get up and move away from your workspace. Walk around a bit, and get a drink or snack.
• Moving around will recharge you mentally, physically, and spiritually, so you’re ready to tackle the next part of your homework.

• For instance, you might write “I need to do this chemistry homework because I want a good average in the class. That will raise my GPA and help me stay eligible for the basketball team and get my diploma.”
• Your goals might also look something like “I’m going to write this history paper because I want to get better as a writer. Knowing how to write well and make a good argument will help me when I’m trying to enter law school, and then down the road when I hope to become a successful attorney.”

• Try doing your homework as soon as possible after it is assigned. Say you have one set of classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and another on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Do the Monday homework on Monday, instead of putting it off until Tuesday.
• That way, the class will still be fresh in your mind, making the homework easier.
• This also gives you time to ask for help if there’s something you don’t understand.

• If you want to keep everyone accountable, write a pact for everyone in your study group to sign, like “I agree to spend 2 hours on Monday and Wednesday afternoons with my study group. I will use that time just for working, and won’t give in to distractions or playing around.”
• Once everyone’s gotten through the homework, there’s no problem with hanging out.

• Most teachers are willing to listen if you’re trying and legitimately have trouble keeping up. They might even adjust the homework assignments to make them more manageable.

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• ↑ https://www.understood.org/en/articles/homework-strategies
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ https://kidshelpline.com.au/kids/tips/dealing-with-homework
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/focused.html
• ↑ http://www.aiuniv.edu/blog/august-2014/tips-for-fighting-homework-fatigue
• ↑ http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/homework.html
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/study-partners/

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Home › Study Tips › How To Deal With A Lot Of Homework? 8 Tips

How To Deal With A Lot Of Homework? 8 Tips

• Published January 22, 2023

Table of Contents

Deadlines can be an incredibly stress-inducing thing. With each passing day, the homework deadlines grow ever closer.

But your work output doesn’t seem to keep pace until finally, in a fit of frantic desperation, you complete the majority of the task in the last 3 hours before it’s due. You’re not alone.

We have no firm figures but based upon our own rather hasty research directly before writing this piece. The percentage of people in the world who habitually procrastinate to some degree equals approximately 99.9999999%.

We don’t know who that .0000001 is, but we’re reasonably sure we wouldn’t enjoy their company.

1. Examples Of Procrastinators

Some famous habitual procrastinators include the likes of French poet and novelist Victor Hugo. Or, American author Herman Melville, and British author Douglas Adams.

Of course, based on their creative output, one would assume that each of these people found ways of meeting their deadlines, and you’d be right.

Victor Hugo used the popular focusing technique of being stripped naked in his study by a servant, who was given strict orders not to return with the clothing until a pre-arranged hour. Melville had his wife chain him to his desk in order to finish Moby Dick.

Douglas Adams regularly required publishers to lock him in rooms and stand guard, glowering menacingly until he produced a manuscript. Alright, then.

Let’s explore a few less extreme ways to cope with an impending deadline.

2. Take Smaller Bites If You Have Too Much Homework

Anyone who’s ever attempted to shed a few unwanted pounds has probably heard or read the advice to take smaller bites, chew your food thoroughly, etc., etc.… This is excellent advice in both weight loss and in the avoidance of procrastination (albeit for very different reasons).

One of the biggest triggers of procrastination is making the crippling mistake of thinking of whatever project you’re working on as one gigantic, hulking menace glaring at you from a distance. He’s probably also holding a large club with spikes coming out of it (although that may just be us).

Divide the overall workload into smaller, more manageable bites. Say, for example, that you’re writing an article listing and detailing the top 20 universities in the UK.

The assignment is to write a total of 10,000 words. Returning briefly to our diet analogy, that initially seems roughly equivalent to being asked to consume an entire roasted goose in one sitting (but without the irresistible allure of the roasted goose).

Following the principle of the smaller bite, however, you’re able to say to yourself, “I don’t have to spill out 10,000 brilliant words onto the page all at once. I’ve got 20 universities to write about. That’s 500 words apiece. Let’s tackle that first one and then worry about the next.”

Taken even further, you realise that each university will have sub-sections of approximately 100 words each. “100 words is nothing!” you exclaim.

And so, you’re able to jump into your project with much less trepidation and despair.

3. Break The Task Up

Of course, breaking the task into smaller pieces is fine for getting you past that stumbling block of the blank page. But you should be aware of one possible pitfall: If you break things down too far, you might decide the project is so easy that you can wait a week or two to get started.

This is bad. A necessary addendum to the “Take Smaller Bites” technique is the “Make Smaller Deadlines” technique. With each sub-step you identify, you should also set a sub-deadline to keep you on track toward completing the entire project.

This is especially important when the overall deadline is further off into the hazy future. The farther out the deadline is, the easier it is to convince yourself to wait another day. Or two. Or twelve.

Smaller bites work well, but if you don’t pair them with smaller deadlines, you’ll likely end up facing the entire project in one go just as you feared you would from the beginning.

4. Give Yourself Permission to Fail

One of the biggest reasons for procrastination is not laziness  but perfectionism . Thomas Edison is a famous American inventor and originator of the electric light bulb and other modern conveniences. He famously refused to accept that he had  failed 10,000 times , opting instead to assert that he’d  found 10,000 ways that didn’t work.

It’s a valid point. From inventors to scientists to actors in rehearsals, brilliant discoveries and stunning performances can’t just spring fully-formed out of nothingness. They’re invariably the result of working through countless failures on the way toward eventual success.

Suppose you’re putting off starting a project because it’s just not the perfect time or because it might not be good enough. Well, you’re right. There is no ideal time, and your first (and second, and third…) try probably won’t be good enough. But you have to allow yourself the freedom to make those initial failures if you ever aspire to succeed truly.

If you’re writing an essay , a poem, or a novel, get something on the page. Sit down now and scribble down an initial list of required tasks if you’re planning an event. That first page may well end up in the trash, and that initial list will no doubt be incomplete.

But that “failure” will lead you to the next try and the next until perched upon a tower of failures, you finally grasp the elusive fruit of success. It’s in the doing that you’ll find success, not in waiting for the perfect time to begin.

5. Eliminate Distractions

Easier said than done these days is the task of eliminating distractions during the time you’ve committed to working. From phone calls to emails to texts to Facebook to Twitter to Snapchat and on and on and on, it seems the world today is nothing but distractions (or that work is just a distraction from the far more interesting buzzing phone in our pocket).

When it comes to time management, procrastination can be the anti-hero that you really don’t want in a time like this. The trick is to find a way to remove yourself from those things.

The first step is to identify the worst offenders. Is it the TikTok notifications popping up simultaneously on your phone and computer screen? The email or texts making your phone chime every 30 seconds? Or, simply the outside world as viewed through the window in front of your desk? Most likely, it’s a combination of some of these and a few other things we haven’t mentioned.

Once you’ve identified the problem, the actions you take are entirely up to you. Is signing out of TikTok enough, or do you need the nuclear option of deactivating the account? Will turning off the phone suffice, or will you need to have a friend or family member keep it for you? Can you close the blind or move your desk? Or must you board up the window? Be honest with yourself. Only you know the extents to which you need to resort to finish your homework.

…To yourself. Only to yourself.

When dealing with a deadline of any sort, it’s usually an excellent idea to set a personal deadline in advance of the actual due date. In other words, lie to yourself about when it’s due. The benefits of this approach are apparent. If your project is due in 3 weeks, and you give yourself 2 weeks, that gives you an entire week to address any unexpected issues that may arise. For example, a part of the homework assignment might be more complex than you initially anticipated.

Of course, this only works if you’re particularly good at lying to yourself. Some can’t ignore the actual due date, so they end up skipping a day of work here and there because they know they’ve got an extra week to get it done. If you’re not gullible enough to believe your own lies, the only option is to add some urgency to your earlier deadline. Have a trusted friend or family member change your social media passwords and only reveal them once you’ve met the deadline.

Give your debit card to your mom and live off only a small daily allowance until the deadline is met. Be creative, but make it something that will motivate you. You’ll thank yourself when you’ve finished your project a week early, and you can relax while everyone else is still sweating it out.

7. Prioritise the most important or difficult tasks first

You may be asking yourself how you can do this – and the simple answer to that is to create an Eisenhower Matrix. It’s a time management skills tool that can help students prioritise difficult assignments by tackling them first.

The Eisenhower Matrix, or the Urgent-Important Matrix, can help prioritise tasks based on their urgency and importance. It may feel like a chore, but use these steps to give you a head start before you complete all your work:

• Write a list of your homework tasks.
• Divide a sheet of paper into four quadrants, labelling each one as “Urgent and Important,” “Important but Not Urgent,” “Urgent but Not Important,” and “Not Urgent or Important.”
• Place each homework task into the appropriate quadrant based on its level of urgency and importance.
• Start with the “Urgent and Important” tasks and work on them first. These are the homework projects that are due soon and are critical to your grades.
• Next, move on to the “Important but Not Urgent” tasks. These are assignments that are important to your long-term success but do not have a pressing deadline.
• Next, the “Urgent but Not Important” assignments. These are tasks that may be due soon but are not critical to your success.
• Finally, the bottom of the pile is “Not Urgent or Important” tasks. These tasks are neither critical nor time-sensitive.

Using this matrix will help you to prioritise your homework and ensure that you are focusing on the most important tasks first.

8. Manage Your Time To Avoid Burnout

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into 25-minute intervals called “Pomodoros” followed by short breaks. During each interval, focus solely on completing a specific task , and then take a short break before starting another Pomodoro.

Repeat this cycle until you have completed all of your homework tasks. Ultimately, this technique helps to increase productivity and prevent burnout by giving your brain regular breaks even though you’re getting too much homework.

9. Seek help when needed, such as from a teacher or tutor.

Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of homework you have as a secondary school student? Fear not, my friend. One strategy to conquer this mountain of assignments is to seek help when needed. But how do you do that?

• Identify the problem: what specifically is causing you to have too much homework? Is it a lack of understanding of the material, difficulty with time management, or something else? Knowing the problem will help you to better communicate it to your teacher or tutor.
• Ask the teacher: your first point of contact should be your teacher. Explain your situation and ask for help. Your teacher may be able to provide you with additional resources or offer to provide extra help during class or after the school day.
• Seek a tutor: If you are still struggling after talking to your teacher, consider seeking help from a tutor. Tutors can provide one-on-one help, can work with you at your own pace and help you with exam preparation .
• Utilise school resources: Many schools have resources such as a homework club or study groups that can help you to manage your workload. Take advantage of these resources if they are available to you.

10. Run Away (haha!)

Sometimes all that’s needed to jumpstart your initiative and get you headed in the right direction is a simple change of venue. There are many resources on the internet to help you choose or arrange your workspace so as to maximise productivity.

One thing to keep in mind is that many productivity experts frown on combining your workspace with your sleeping space. The theory is that combining the two harms both your work and your sleep by confusing your brain as to exactly what the room is meant to be for.

Of course, as a student, your sleeping space may be the only workspace you’ve got. But if you do find your work or rest to be suffering, it might be worth it to move your work sessions to a friend’s room, the library, or another suitable space and save your room for relaxation.

It’s also good to remember that, just because your workspace of choice has been the most inspiring and focused place to get things done in the past, things can change. If your workspace no longer does the job, don’t waste too much time figuring out why. It may just be time for you to find someplace new.

What to do instead of homework?

Whether your homework is complete, or if you’re just managing your time and taking a break, then these 10 activities can keep you active without sitting in front of the TV:

• Exercise or go for a walk: it actually helps to boost your energy levels and improve your focus on your homework.
• Read a book: a great way to relax and unwind while also improving your vocabulary and concentration for future essay writing.
• Meditate or practice yoga: Mindfulness practices can help to reduce stress, and improve focus and other health benefits.
• Organise your space: Organising your workspace space can help to reduce stress and increase productivity.
• Take a nap: A short nap can help to refresh your mind and improve your focus, and who doesn’t love a quick nap?
• Use a study app for students to increase their productivity while keeping you on your phone
• Spend time with friends or family
• Learn a new skill or hobby
• Listen to music or an audiobook
• Write in a journal or diary about how your day is going
• Volunteer in your community

Can Too Much Homework Be Negative To A Student?

Yes, too much homework can be negative for students as it can lead to anxiety and stress due to them feeling overwhelmed. But it depends on the student, their level of understanding, and their individual needs. However, let’s say you’re spending more than 2 hours on homework every night, then that may be ‘too much’.

This can also contribute to sleep deprivation, problems with friends and family and a lack of motivation to learn more.

What is Homework Anxiety?

Homework anxiety is a type of anxiety that can occur in students when they are assigned homework. It is characterised by feelings of stress, worry, and pressure in relation to completing homework assignments. Symptoms of homework anxiety can include procrastination, difficulty concentrating, and physical symptoms such as headaches or stomachaches.

What Causes Homework Anxiety?

For some students, it may be due to a lack of understanding of the material or difficulty with time management. For others, it may be related to perfectionism or fear of failure. Additionally, students who experience homework anxiety may also have underlying anxiety disorders, such as generalised anxiety disorder or OCD.

Do You Feel More Confident To Do Your Homework?

Procrastination is a very common ailment. One that has afflicted most of us at one time or another, but there are ways to keep yourself on track. These six tips are just a few things to consider if you find yourself consistently clamouring to finish your work at the last minute. There are many other resources on the web if you find that these don’t work out for you.

Now, get to work (and good luck).

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5 Tips for Dealing with “Too Much” Homework

In the case of unreasonable “commitments,” you’re procrastinating doing your homework, but of course, there are people who genuinely are overwhelmed by their homework. With that in mind, how do you manage your time to get it all done? The following are five tips for any student (current or prospective) who’s struggling with getting their workload completed on time.

1. Don’t be a perfectionist

There’s an old principle of Pareto’s that’s been adapted to business (specifically management) called the 80-20 rule. The idea is that 80% of your results, come from 20% of your efforts. Think about that. When you tackle an assignment for school, are you trying to make everything perfect? Remember that you’re a student, no one is expecting you to be perfect, you’re in school to get better; you’re supposed to be a work in progress.

As a result, what may feel like “too much” homework, might really be you tackling assignments “too well.” For instance, there’s a reason “speed reading” is a skill that’s encouraged. A textbook is not a work of literature where every sentence means something, it’s okay to skim or, in some cases, skip whole paragraphs – the last paragraph just recaps what you read anyway.

Moreover, many schools or classes curve their grades. So an 80% could be a 100% in your class.

2. Do your homework as soon as it’s assigned to you

Due to the nature of college schedules, students often have classes MWF and different classes on Tuesday and Thursday. As a result, they do their MWF homework on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday in preparation for the following day. Rather than do that. Do your Monday homework, Monday; Tuesday homework, Tuesday; Wednesday homework, Wednesday and so on.

The reason for this is manifold. First of all, the class and the assignment are fresh in your mind – this is especially critical for anything math related to those who are less math-minded. So do the assignment after the class. Chances are, it’ll be much easier to complete.

The second reason is because if you have a question about Monday’s homework and you’re working on it on Monday night, then guess what? You can contact your professor (or a friend) Tuesday for help or clarification. Whereas if you’re completing Monday’s homework on a Tuesday night, you’re out of luck. This can assuage a lot of the stress that comes from too much homework.

This flows into the third reason which is that, rather than having a chunk of homework to do the day before its due, you’re doing a little at a time frequently. This is a basic time management tactic where, if you finish tasks as they’re assigned instead of letting them pile up, you avoid that mental blockade of feeling like there’s “too much” for you to do in the finite amount of time given.

3. Eliminate distractions

All too often, students sit down to do homework and then receive a text, and then another, and then hop on Facebook, and then comment on something, and then take a break. Before they’re aware of it, hours have passed.

The best way to overcome this is to create a workspace. Traditionally, many students go to the library, but there’s no reason you cannot create your own workspace elsewhere. Maybe head to a coffee shop, fold up the backseats of your car, or develop a space in your room for you to specifically to focus on your homework.

If you give your homework 100% of your attention, it’ll pass by more quickly. Regardless of whether you’re writing a paper or working on a math equation, it’s harder to complete any portion of it with interruptions. If you stop writing mid-sentence to answer a text, then you may wonder where you were taking that trail of thought; if you stop a math problem midway through, then you’ll end up going back over the equation, redoing your work, to figure it out.

Eliminating distractions can save you a great deal of time, so find your space.

4. Track your time

Really track it. There are plenty of free sites and apps that will monitor your time. If you can’t (or don’t) eliminate all your distractions, then start clocking where your time is going. Chances are, you’ll be able to cut something that’s draining your hours, out of your schedule.

This is the nature of the internet, social media sites, and games on your phone, usually you use them in micromoments; moments that too small or too insignificant to really be eating up your time, but they do. All too often, students find themselves wondering “where did the time go?” and have difficulty actually placing how much time was spent where or doing what. Time yourself and, more importantly, reserve time to do your homework or reading.

The other benefit of this is that once you start tracking your time, you’ll be able to quantify the problem and manage your time more appropriately. For instance, if a particular class averages 45 minutes of homework, then you know how much time is required to budget into your schedule. Meanwhile, if another class is regularly exceeding three hours, then you may want to consider a tutor or discussing the issue with your professor directly.

5. Accept homework

Homework is a responsibility; it’s a chore. And in the same way that many people don’t take out the trash until it needs to be taken out; many people don’t start homework until it needs to be finished. This is a problem of attitude towards homework more than anything else.

It’s what makes many students feel like there’s “too much” homework, when in actuality, they feel that way because they put off doing it until they absolutely need to do it. As a result, try to change your mode of thinking. Instead of thinking about the volume of reading and writing, accept that it needs to get done. This way, you’re less concerned with the consequences of not doing homework, and more willing to actually get it done.

Hopefully, these five tips will help you in your academic career. Time management is not an easy skill to learn, but once you’ve established it in your life, it will help immensely.

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Coursework/GPA

Everyone struggles with homework sometimes, but if getting your homework done has become a chronic issue for you, then you may need a little extra help. That’s why we’ve written this article all about how to do homework. Once you’re finished reading it, you’ll know how to do homework (and have tons of new ways to motivate yourself to do homework)!

We’ve broken this article down into a few major sections. You’ll find:

• A diagnostic test to help you figure out why you’re struggling with homework
• A discussion of the four major homework problems students face, along with expert tips for addressing them
• A bonus section with tips for how to do homework fast

By the end of this article, you’ll be prepared to tackle whatever homework assignments your teachers throw at you .

So let’s get started!

How to Do Homework: Figure Out Your Struggles 

Sometimes it feels like everything is standing between you and getting your homework done. But the truth is, most people only have one or two major roadblocks that are keeping them from getting their homework done well and on time. 

The best way to figure out how to get motivated to do homework starts with pinpointing the issues that are affecting your ability to get your assignments done. That’s why we’ve developed a short quiz to help you identify the areas where you’re struggling. 

Take the quiz below and record your answers on your phone or on a scrap piece of paper. Keep in mind there are no wrong answers! 

1. You’ve just been assigned an essay in your English class that’s due at the end of the week. What’s the first thing you do?

A. Keep it in mind, even though you won’t start it until the day before it’s due  B. Open up your planner. You’ve got to figure out when you’ll write your paper since you have band practice, a speech tournament, and your little sister’s dance recital this week, too.  C. Groan out loud. Another essay? You could barely get yourself to write the last one!  D. Start thinking about your essay topic, which makes you think about your art project that’s due the same day, which reminds you that your favorite artist might have just posted to Instagram...so you better check your feed right now. 

2. Your mom asked you to pick up your room before she gets home from work. You’ve just gotten home from school. You decide you’ll tackle your chores: 

A. Five minutes before your mom walks through the front door. As long as it gets done, who cares when you start?  B. As soon as you get home from your shift at the local grocery store.  C. After you give yourself a 15-minute pep talk about how you need to get to work.  D. You won’t get it done. Between texts from your friends, trying to watch your favorite Netflix show, and playing with your dog, you just lost track of time! 

3. You’ve signed up to wash dogs at the Humane Society to help earn money for your senior class trip. You: 

A. Show up ten minutes late. You put off leaving your house until the last minute, then got stuck in unexpected traffic on the way to the shelter.  B. Have to call and cancel at the last minute. You forgot you’d already agreed to babysit your cousin and bake cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale.  C. Actually arrive fifteen minutes early with extra brushes and bandanas you picked up at the store. You’re passionate about animals, so you’re excited to help out! D. Show up on time, but only get three dogs washed. You couldn’t help it: you just kept getting distracted by how cute they were!

4. You have an hour of downtime, so you decide you’re going to watch an episode of The Great British Baking Show. You: 

A. Scroll through your social media feeds for twenty minutes before hitting play, which means you’re not able to finish the whole episode. Ugh! You really wanted to see who was sent home!  B. Watch fifteen minutes until you remember you’re supposed to pick up your sister from band practice before heading to your part-time job. No GBBO for you!  C. You finish one episode, then decide to watch another even though you’ve got SAT studying to do. It’s just more fun to watch people make scones.  D. Start the episode, but only catch bits and pieces of it because you’re reading Twitter, cleaning out your backpack, and eating a snack at the same time.

5. Your teacher asks you to stay after class because you’ve missed turning in two homework assignments in a row. When she asks you what’s wrong, you say: 

A. You planned to do your assignments during lunch, but you ran out of time. You decided it would be better to turn in nothing at all than submit unfinished work.  B. You really wanted to get the assignments done, but between your extracurriculars, family commitments, and your part-time job, your homework fell through the cracks.  C. You have a hard time psyching yourself to tackle the assignments. You just can’t seem to find the motivation to work on them once you get home.  D. You tried to do them, but you had a hard time focusing. By the time you realized you hadn’t gotten anything done, it was already time to turn them in. 

Like we said earlier, there are no right or wrong answers to this quiz (though your results will be better if you answered as honestly as possible). Here’s how your answers break down: 

• If your answers were mostly As, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is procrastination. 
• If your answers were mostly Bs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is time management. 
• If your answers were mostly Cs, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is motivation. 
• If your answers were mostly Ds, then your biggest struggle with doing homework is getting distracted. 

Now that you’ve identified why you’re having a hard time getting your homework done, we can help you figure out how to fix it! Scroll down to find your core problem area to learn more about how you can start to address it. 

And one more thing: you’re really struggling with homework, it’s a good idea to read through every section below. You may find some additional tips that will help make homework less intimidating. 

How to Do Homework When You’re a Procrastinator  

Merriam Webster defines “procrastinate” as “to put off intentionally and habitually.” In other words, procrastination is when you choose to do something at the last minute on a regular basis. If you’ve ever found yourself pulling an all-nighter, trying to finish an assignment between periods, or sprinting to turn in a paper minutes before a deadline, you’ve experienced the effects of procrastination. 

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’re in good company. In fact, one study found that 70% to 95% of undergraduate students procrastinate when it comes to doing their homework. Unfortunately, procrastination can negatively impact your grades. Researchers have found that procrastination can lower your grade on an assignment by as much as five points ...which might not sound serious until you realize that can mean the difference between a B- and a C+. 

Procrastination can also negatively affect your health by increasing your stress levels , which can lead to other health conditions like insomnia, a weakened immune system, and even heart conditions. Getting a handle on procrastination can not only improve your grades, it can make you feel better, too! 

The big thing to understand about procrastination is that it’s not the result of laziness. Laziness is defined as being “disinclined to activity or exertion.” In other words, being lazy is all about doing nothing. But a s this Psychology Today article explains , procrastinators don’t put things off because they don’t want to work. Instead, procrastinators tend to postpone tasks they don’t want to do in favor of tasks that they perceive as either more important or more fun. Put another way, procrastinators want to do things...as long as it’s not their homework! 

3 Tips f or Conquering Procrastination 

Because putting off doing homework is a common problem, there are lots of good tactics for addressing procrastination. Keep reading for our three expert tips that will get your homework habits back on track in no time. 

#1: Create a Reward System

Like we mentioned earlier, procrastination happens when you prioritize other activities over getting your homework done. Many times, this happens because homework...well, just isn’t enjoyable. But you can add some fun back into the process by rewarding yourself for getting your work done. 

Here’s what we mean: let’s say you decide that every time you get your homework done before the day it’s due, you’ll give yourself a point. For every five points you earn, you’ll treat yourself to your favorite dessert: a chocolate cupcake! Now you have an extra (delicious!) incentive to motivate you to leave procrastination in the dust. 

If you’re not into cupcakes, don’t worry. Your reward can be anything that motivates you . Maybe it’s hanging out with your best friend or an extra ten minutes of video game time. As long as you’re choosing something that makes homework worth doing, you’ll be successful. 

#2: Have a Homework Accountability Partner 

If you’re having trouble getting yourself to start your homework ahead of time, it may be a good idea to call in reinforcements . Find a friend or classmate you can trust and explain to them that you’re trying to change your homework habits. Ask them if they’d be willing to text you to make sure you’re doing your homework and check in with you once a week to see if you’re meeting your anti-procrastination goals. 

Sharing your goals can make them feel more real, and an accountability partner can help hold you responsible for your decisions. For example, let’s say you’re tempted to put off your science lab write-up until the morning before it’s due. But you know that your accountability partner is going to text you about it tomorrow...and you don’t want to fess up that you haven’t started your assignment. A homework accountability partner can give you the extra support and incentive you need to keep your homework habits on track. 

#3: Create Your Own Due Dates 

If you’re a life-long procrastinator, you might find that changing the habit is harder than you expected. In that case, you might try using procrastination to your advantage! If you just can’t seem to stop doing your work at the last minute, try setting your own due dates for assignments that range from a day to a week before the assignment is actually due. 

Here’s what we mean. Let’s say you have a math worksheet that’s been assigned on Tuesday and is due on Friday. In your planner, you can write down the due date as Thursday instead. You may still put off your homework assignment until the last minute...but in this case, the “last minute” is a day before the assignment’s real due date . This little hack can trick your procrastination-addicted brain into planning ahead! 

If you feel like Kevin Hart in this meme, then our tips for doing homework when you're busy are for you. 

How to Do Homework When You’re too Busy

If you’re aiming to go to a top-tier college , you’re going to have a full plate. Because college admissions is getting more competitive, it’s important that you’re maintaining your grades , studying hard for your standardized tests , and participating in extracurriculars so your application stands out. A packed schedule can get even more hectic once you add family obligations or a part-time job to the mix. 

If you feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions at once, you’re not alone. Recent research has found that stress—and more severe stress-related conditions like anxiety and depression— are a major problem for high school students . In fact, one study from the American Psychological Association found that during the school year, students’ stress levels are higher than those of the adults around them. 

For students, homework is a major contributor to their overall stress levels . Many high schoolers have multiple hours of homework every night , and figuring out how to fit it into an already-packed schedule can seem impossible. 

3 Tips for Fitting Homework Into Your Busy Schedule

While it might feel like you have literally no time left in your schedule, there are still ways to make sure you’re able to get your homework done and meet your other commitments. Here are our expert homework tips for even the busiest of students. 

#1: Make a Prioritized To-Do List 

You probably already have a to-do list to keep yourself on track. The next step is to prioritize the items on your to-do list so you can see what items need your attention right away. 

Here’s how it works: at the beginning of each day, sit down and make a list of all the items you need to get done before you go to bed. This includes your homework, but it should also take into account any practices, chores, events, or job shifts you may have. Once you get everything listed out, it’s time to prioritize them using the labels A, B, and C. Here’s what those labels mean:

• A Tasks : tasks that have to get done—like showing up at work or turning in an assignment—get an A. 
• B Tasks : these are tasks that you would like to get done by the end of the day but aren’t as time sensitive. For example, studying for a test you have next week could be a B-level task. It’s still important, but it doesn’t have to be done right away.
• C Tasks: these are tasks that aren’t very important and/or have no real consequences if you don’t get them done immediately. For instance, if you’re hoping to clean out your closet but it’s not an assigned chore from your parents, you could label that to-do item with a C.

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you visualize which items need your immediate attention, and which items you can leave for later. A prioritized to-do list ensures that you’re spending your time efficiently and effectively, which helps you make room in your schedule for homework. So even though you might really want to start making decorations for Homecoming (a B task), you’ll know that finishing your reading log (an A task) is more important. 

#2: Use a Planner With Time Labels

Your planner is probably packed with notes, events, and assignments already. (And if you’re not using a planner, it’s time to start!) But planners can do more for you than just remind you when an assignment is due. If you’re using a planner with time labels, it can help you visualize how you need to spend your day.

A planner with time labels breaks your day down into chunks, and you assign tasks to each chunk of time. For example, you can make a note of your class schedule with assignments, block out time to study, and make sure you know when you need to be at practice. Once you know which tasks take priority, you can add them to any empty spaces in your day. 

Planning out how you spend your time not only helps you use it wisely, it can help you feel less overwhelmed, too . We’re big fans of planners that include a task list ( like this one ) or have room for notes ( like this one ). 

#3: Set Reminders on Your Phone 

If you need a little extra nudge to make sure you’re getting your homework done on time, it’s a good idea to set some reminders on your phone. You don’t need a fancy app, either. You can use your alarm app to have it go off at specific times throughout the day to remind you to do your homework. This works especially well if you have a set homework time scheduled. So if you’ve decided you’re doing homework at 6:00 pm, you can set an alarm to remind you to bust out your books and get to work. 

If you use your phone as your planner, you may have the option to add alerts, emails, or notifications to scheduled events . Many calendar apps, including the one that comes with your phone, have built-in reminders that you can customize to meet your needs. So if you block off time to do your homework from 4:30 to 6:00 pm, you can set a reminder that will pop up on your phone when it’s time to get started. 

This dog isn't judging your lack of motivation...but your teacher might. Keep reading for tips to help you motivate yourself to do your homework.

How to Do Homework When You’re Unmotivated 

At first glance, it may seem like procrastination and being unmotivated are the same thing. After all, both of these issues usually result in you putting off your homework until the very last minute. 

But there’s one key difference: many procrastinators are working, they’re just prioritizing work differently. They know they’re going to start their homework...they’re just going to do it later. 

Conversely, people who are unmotivated to do homework just can’t find the willpower to tackle their assignments. Procrastinators know they’ll at least attempt the homework at the last minute, whereas people who are unmotivated struggle with convincing themselves to do it at a ll. For procrastinators, the stress comes from the inevitable time crunch. For unmotivated people, the stress comes from trying to convince themselves to do something they don’t want to do in the first place. 

Here are some common reasons students are unmotivated in doing homework : 

• Assignments are too easy, too hard, or seemingly pointless 
• Students aren’t interested in (or passionate about) the subject matter
• Students are intimidated by the work and/or feels like they don’t understand the assignment 
• Homework isn’t fun, and students would rather spend their time on things that they enjoy 

To sum it up: people who lack motivation to do their homework are more likely to not do it at all, or to spend more time worrying about doing their homework than...well, actually doing it.

3 Tips for How to Get Motivated to Do Homework

The key to getting homework done when you’re unmotivated is to figure out what does motivate you, then apply those things to homework. It sounds tricky...but it’s pretty simple once you get the hang of it! Here are our three expert tips for motivating yourself to do your homework. 

#1: Use Incremental Incentives

When you’re not motivated, it’s important to give yourself small rewards to stay focused on finishing the task at hand. The trick is to keep the incentives small and to reward yourself often. For example, maybe you’re reading a good book in your free time. For every ten minutes you spend on your homework, you get to read five pages of your book. Like we mentioned earlier, make sure you’re choosing a reward that works for you! 

So why does this technique work? Using small rewards more often allows you to experience small wins for getting your work done. Every time you make it to one of your tiny reward points, you get to celebrate your success, which gives your brain a boost of dopamine . Dopamine helps you stay motivated and also creates a feeling of satisfaction when you complete your homework !  

#2: Form a Homework Group 

If you’re having trouble motivating yourself, it’s okay to turn to others for support. Creating a homework group can help with this. Bring together a group of your friends or classmates, and pick one time a week where you meet and work on homework together. You don’t have to be in the same class, or even taking the same subjects— the goal is to encourage one another to start (and finish!) your assignments. 

Another added benefit of a homework group is that you can help one another if you’re struggling to understand the material covered in your classes. This is especially helpful if your lack of motivation comes from being intimidated by your assignments. Asking your friends for help may feel less scary than talking to your teacher...and once you get a handle on the material, your homework may become less frightening, too. 

#3: Change Up Your Environment 

If you find that you’re totally unmotivated, it may help if you find a new place to do your homework. For example, if you’ve been struggling to get your homework done at home, try spending an extra hour in the library after school instead. The change of scenery can limit your distractions and give you the energy you need to get your work done. 

If you’re stuck doing homework at home, you can still use this tip. For instance, maybe you’ve always done your homework sitting on your bed. Try relocating somewhere else, like your kitchen table, for a few weeks. You may find that setting up a new “homework spot” in your house gives you a motivational lift and helps you get your work done. 

Social media can be a huge problem when it comes to doing homework. We have advice for helping you unplug and regain focus.

How to Do Homework When You’re Easily Distracted

We live in an always-on world, and there are tons of things clamoring for our attention. From friends and family to pop culture and social media, it seems like there’s always something (or someone!) distracting us from the things we need to do.

The 24/7 world we live in has affected our ability to focus on tasks for prolonged periods of time. Research has shown that over the past decade, an average person’s attention span has gone from 12 seconds to eight seconds . And when we do lose focus, i t takes people a long time to get back on task . One study found that it can take as long as 23 minutes to get back to work once we’ve been distracte d. No wonder it can take hours to get your homework done! 

3 Tips to Improve Your Focus

If you have a hard time focusing when you’re doing your homework, it’s a good idea to try and eliminate as many distractions as possible. Here are three expert tips for blocking out the noise so you can focus on getting your homework done. 

#1: Create a Distraction-Free Environment

Pick a place where you’ll do your homework every day, and make it as distraction-free as possible. Try to find a location where there won’t be tons of noise, and limit your access to screens while you’re doing your homework. Put together a focus-oriented playlist (or choose one on your favorite streaming service), and put your headphones on while you work. 

You may find that other people, like your friends and family, are your biggest distraction. If that’s the case, try setting up some homework boundaries. Let them know when you’ll be working on homework every day, and ask them if they’ll help you keep a quiet environment. They’ll be happy to lend a hand! 

#2: Limit Your Access to Technology 

We know, we know...this tip isn’t fun, but it does work. For homework that doesn’t require a computer, like handouts or worksheets, it’s best to put all your technology away . Turn off your television, put your phone and laptop in your backpack, and silence notifications on any wearable tech you may be sporting. If you listen to music while you work, that’s fine...but make sure you have a playlist set up so you’re not shuffling through songs once you get started on your homework. 

If your homework requires your laptop or tablet, it can be harder to limit your access to distractions. But it’s not impossible! T here are apps you can download that will block certain websites while you’re working so that you’re not tempted to scroll through Twitter or check your Facebook feed. Silence notifications and text messages on your computer, and don’t open your email account unless you absolutely have to. And if you don’t need access to the internet to complete your assignments, turn off your WiFi. Cutting out the online chatter is a great way to make sure you’re getting your homework done. 

#3: Set a Timer (the Pomodoro Technique)

Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique ? It’s a productivity hack that uses a timer to help you focus!

Here’s how it works: first, set a timer for 25 minutes. This is going to be your work time. During this 25 minutes, all you can do is work on whatever homework assignment you have in front of you. No email, no text messaging, no phone calls—just homework. When that timer goes off, you get to take a 5 minute break. Every time you go through one of these cycles, it’s called a “pomodoro.” For every four pomodoros you complete, you can take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

The pomodoro technique works through a combination of boundary setting and rewards. First, it gives you a finite amount of time to focus, so you know that you only have to work really hard for 25 minutes. Once you’ve done that, you’re rewarded with a short break where you can do whatever you want. Additionally, tracking how many pomodoros you complete can help you see how long you’re really working on your homework. (Once you start using our focus tips, you may find it doesn’t take as long as you thought!)

Two Bonus Tips for How to Do Homework Fast

Even if you’re doing everything right, there will be times when you just need to get your homework done as fast as possible. (Why do teachers always have projects due in the same week? The world may never know.)

The problem with speeding through homework is that it’s easy to make mistakes. While turning in an assignment is always better than not submitting anything at all, you want to make sure that you’re not compromising quality for speed. Simply put, the goal is to get your homework done quickly and still make a good grade on the assignment! 

Here are our two bonus tips for getting a decent grade on your homework assignments , even when you’re in a time crunch. 

#1: Do the Easy Parts First 

This is especially true if you’re working on a handout with multiple questions. Before you start working on the assignment, read through all the questions and problems. As you do, make a mark beside the questions you think are “easy” to answer . 

Once you’ve finished going through the whole assignment, you can answer these questions first. Getting the easy questions out of the way as quickly as possible lets you spend more time on the trickier portions of your homework, which will maximize your assignment grade. 

(Quick note: this is also a good strategy to use on timed assignments and tests, like the SAT and the ACT !) 

#2: Pay Attention in Class 

Homework gets a lot easier when you’re actively learning the material. Teachers aren’t giving you homework because they’re mean or trying to ruin your weekend... it’s because they want you to really understand the course material. Homework is designed to reinforce what you’re already learning in class so you’ll be ready to tackle harder concepts later.

When you pay attention in class, ask questions, and take good notes, you’re absorbing the information you’ll need to succeed on your homework assignments. (You’re stuck in class anyway, so you might as well make the most of it!) Not only will paying attention in class make your homework less confusing, it will also help it go much faster, too.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking to improve your productivity beyond homework, a good place to begin is with time management. After all, we only have so much time in a day...so it’s important to get the most out of it! To get you started, check out this list of the 12 best time management techniques that you can start using today.

You may have read this article because homework struggles have been affecting your GPA. Now that you’re on the path to homework success, it’s time to start being proactive about raising your grades. This article teaches you everything you need to know about raising your GPA so you can

Now you know how to get motivated to do homework...but what about your study habits? Studying is just as critical to getting good grades, and ultimately getting into a good college . We can teach you how to study bette r in high school. (We’ve also got tons of resources to help you study for your ACT and SAT exams , too!)

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Overwhelmed with homework? Can’t seem to stay on top of it all? We know the feeling. At times, it can feel difficult, or perhaps even impossible, to tackle all of your homework, deadlines, assignments, and studying. After all, you’re probably participating in multiple extracurriculars, working, volunteering, and taking care of family responsibilities. You might even be worrying about applying to college. So how can you learn to handle all of your homework while remaining sane?

By setting good studying habits now, you will be setting yourself up to become a better student in the future. There’s no better time to begin improving yourself as a student than right now—you’ll also give yourself a fresh start for college and beyond. Keep reading for tips and tricks on how to finally get a handle on all your homework!

Create a study space

It can be difficult — or even impossible—to study if the environment in which you are studying is distracting you. If you try to do your homework in your bedroom or at a friend’s house, you might find it impossible to focus. After all, who wouldn’t be distracted in these scenarios?

Instead of doing your homework on your laptop while lying in bed, try sitting up at a desk in a quiet room. Be sure you have all the supplies that you need, like pencils, pens, paper, your school worksheets, a calculator, and a ruler. You don’t need to create a ridiculously high-tech study room, this just needs to be a place that will help you feel productive and that won’t distract you.

Be sure to eat a healthy snack before you do your homework so that you don’t get distracted by your grumbling stomach. Consider eating something that isn’t too sugary or fatty, rather, you should eat something with protein or with fruits and vegetables that will give you lots of energy over a longer period of time.

If you don’t have a sufficient study space at home, consider visiting a local library or coffee shop to do your work. These spaces will usually be filled with other people who are doing work as well, which can be a useful motivational tool!

It’s always a good idea to take a moment to think about your deadlines and the time commitment that is required for each of your assignments. Try to tackle the biggest and most strenuous assignments first, keeping in mind the due dates for each.

Remember to be realistic . For instance, if you have a 10 page paper due on Friday, don’t wait until Thursday night to start writing it. Instead, you should make a plan to tackle approximately 3 or 4 pages of your per day, which means that you should start on Sunday or Monday. Be sure to also leave a buffer day so that you can edit your paper, proofread it and cite your sources!

Your plans for completing your homework might vary based on your ability and/or level of familiarity with the subject or assignment. This is totally ok, and the more familiar you are with your own abilities, the better! Whatever you do, just make sure that you don’t end up lying to yourself about deadlines. Don’t tell yourself that you can slack off and tackle a ridiculous workload at the last minute—you can’t!

In terms of planning, it might also help you to make a schedule, a google calendar, a to do list or a weekly plan. Many people like being able to see the amount of free time they have available laid out visually so that they can plan when they will get all of their homework done!

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Develop a routine

Developing a routine can help you become more effective at doing your homework. Try to do your homework at the same time each day, or at a similar time each week. Devote a certain amount of hours to a certain assignment that you have, and stick to this amount of time.

Forming a routine will help you build good habits, and it will also help you get into the  routine of reviewing the new information that you learned in your classes each day!

It is much easier to break off little pieces of your assignments and do them over time rather than cramming them in at the last minute. The same thing goes with studying; if you develop a routine, then you will end up retaining more information, whereas cramming at the last minute will make it much more difficult for you to remember anything!

Learn your own learning style

Everyone learns a little bit differently, and it’s important that you get to know yourself and your own learning style: are you a visual learner? Auditory? Kinesthetic? A mixture?

You can try finding out which type of learner you are through online quizzes, or perhaps you’ve already determined what type you are in school. You might also figure it out through trial and error—perhaps flashcards don’t help you retain important information, but writing an outline of the chapter or unit in your textbook does. Don’t be afraid to try out new methods of studying; you never know what will work for you!

Try to determine the circumstances under which you study best: in the library? At your desk? At the kitchen table? Do you work well under pressure, or do you prefer to finish your assignments well before the deadline? Do you study more effectively late at night, or early in the morning? Take note of your own tendencies, and again, don’t be afraid to experiment and try out new methods.

Understanding the best ways in which you can learn will also be a great head start for college—just remember to be patient and kind to yourself throughout this process of discovery.

Ask for help

If you’re really stuck on a certain assignment, try asking for help from someone you trust: a friend, a classmate, an older sibling, a parent…

If you’re still stuck even after receiving help from your loved ones, consider asking your teacher for help. You might even consider staying to talk to your teacher after school to make sure you really understand the assignment! After all, learning your limitations and figuring out who to turn to when you’re stuck is another really wonderful step to take before starting college!

Take breaks

It doesn’t matter who you are, no one is able to study or do homework effectively for 12 hours straight. The average human attention span is around 30 minutes, so if you feel yourself starting to get distracted, don’t hesitate to get up from your seat and take a quick break!

Try going for a jog, making yourself a healthy snack, practicing playing an instrument, sending a text to a friend—just be sure to get back to work once you’re done!

If you find that you’re going to have to work for a particularly long period of time, be sure to take breaks periodically and set up rewards for yourself. Use these rewards to motivate yourself to focus your full attention on the task at hand up until your next break. For instance, you might say to yourself, “if I study calc for 3 hours, then I can take a 30 minute break by watching an episode of my favorite tv show….” There’s nothing wrong with rewarding yourself as long as you use these breaks to keep yourself motivated and focused.

Having a lot of homework can feel difficult and overwhelming, but you can use these feelings to motivate yourself. Getting a handle on this workload will also help you prepare for college!

Overall, the more you are able to understand yourself and your study habits, the more successful you will be. Take the time to learn how to build yourself the perfect study space, how to motivate yourself, and how to work under circumstances that will allow you to be the most productive. Your bad habits can always be transformed into good habits, you just need to be willing to take that first step.

For more tips and information on studying, check out these blog posts:

10 Real World Study Tips to Improve Processing and Retention

How to Organize a High School Study Session

CollegeVine’s Top Six Study Tips for High School Students

5 Ways to Actively Learn During Class

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Homework Hacks: 8 Tips to Get It Done Faster

Homework is no fun, especially if you’ve got a full schedule. You only have a little bit of time and a little bit of energy. And it takes so long to get through it.

Not anymore. We’ve got some helpful homework hacks for you that will make doing your homework faster and less painful.

1. Plan Your Homework and Make a List

When you start your homework, you’ll probably jump right into the first thing on your mind or the first thing you pull out of your backpack, then work your way through the rest of your assignments. There’s a better way.

Figure out how much time you have to do homework, then list out all the different tasks that you have to do. Estimate how long it will take to complete each assignment to see if you need to allow yourself more time. Be realistic. Once your list is complete you can work straight through instead of stopping frequently to figure out what to do next. It will also be extremely gratifying to cross things off after each assignment you finish!

2. Get Out All the Books and Supplies You Need

While you’re working, you discover you need a calculator, you need a certain book, you need a new pencil, you ran out of paper… the list can go on.

Since you’ve now identified all your assignments, figure out everything you need to get each item done and bring it to your workspace so it’s there when you need it.

3. Find a Quiet Place to Work Without Distractions

Speaking of workspace, you probably prefer doing your homework in front of the TV, but that can actually be the biggest distraction of all. Sitting in front of the TV is probably slowing you down, making homework time seem much longer that it actually is.

Find a place that’s quiet, with as few distractions and clutter possible. Remember, the faster you get it done, the faster you can get back to fully enjoying Netflix.

4. Turn Off Your Phone

We know this is probably the last thing you want to hear. How can you live without your phone? But for a couple hours, its totally worth it. Every time you get a notification and check your phone, it breaks your focus. It then takes more brain power to get back on track to what you were working on.

5. Listen to Classical Music While Working

We know what you’re thinking… Classical music? Seriously?

However, classical music is great for background audio. There aren’t any lyrics or beats to distract your focus. And research has shown that students who listen to classical music score higher on tests than students who listen to other genres of music. So find some good classical playlist on Spotify, then celebrate with Queen Bey when you’re done.

6. Eat Snacks and Drink Water

At the end of a long day, you may be mentally and physically tired. If you go straight into homework it may take you a long time to finish and it won’t be your best work.

Having some light healthy snacks and drinking plenty of water helps revitalize your brain and body. Avoid soda, energy drinks, or sugary snacks that will only make you crash before you’re done.

7. Take Short Breaks in Between Homework Tasks

If you have a lot to do, you may feel the pressure to just work straight through hours and hours of homework. But this will likely end up slowing you down, prolonging the entire session.

Do your work in short sprints. Go hard at a task, then take a quick break to stretch and walk around. It’ll re-energize your mind and body to keep going. For starters, try working for 25 minutes, then taking a 5-minute break.

8. Reward Yourself After You’re Finished

Homework isn’t always fun. But negativity can slow you down.

Our brains work off of reward systems. If you give yourself a reward when finishing your homework, it makes it a lot easier to start your homework the next time and you’ll get through it faster. Rewards could be being able to watch a show, eat ice cream, play a game, or going out and doing something fun.

Now that you’ve got all these tips, go get your homework done faster than ever before. It may be hard at first, but keep using these tips and it’ll get easier as you go.

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Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in.

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas about workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework. 

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says, he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy workloads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold , says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace , says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression. 

And for all the distress homework  can cause, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says, homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night. 

"Most students, especially at these high achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends, from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no-homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely but to be more mindful of the type of work students take home, suggests Kang, who was a high school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework; I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial 

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the past two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic , making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized. ... Sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking up assignments can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

More: Some teachers let their students sleep in class. Here's what mental health experts say.

More: Some parents are slipping young kids in for the COVID-19 vaccine, but doctors discourage the move as 'risky'

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Too Much Homework? Here’s What To Do

Whatever their age , most students complain that they have too much homework.

But is that really the case?

Over the last 20 years as a teacher, I’ve heard all sorts of excuses about why homework hasn’t been done.

In years gone by, a household pet was often blamed for eating it. Now it’s the ubiquitous ‘faulty printer’ that seems to prevent homework coming in on time. :)

Of course, there are also plenty of valid reasons for not getting it done.

Sometimes there genuinely is too much homework to do in the time allocated.

Many students struggle to do what’s asked of them for want of somewhere quiet to work, or because they have too many other commitments that can’t be avoided.

But it’s also true that virtually everyone could reduce the stress associated with homework by applying some simple time management skills.

What 'Too Much Homework' Really Means

Each time we get given work to do with a deadline, our ability to manage time is tested. This can take many forms, but the bottom line is simply that...

Work didn’t get done because other things took priority.

Something else was more important, more appealing or just plain easier to do. Homework gets left until, all of a sudden, there is too much to do in not enough time.

The good news is that time management skills can always be learnt and improved. There are plenty of tips and techniques for  overcoming procrastination  on this site, but the following ideas may also be helpful if you feel you have too much homework.

7 Tips For Coping With Too Much Homework

1. Accept it

The starting point for dealing with too much homework is to accept responsibility for getting it done. It’s yours to do, and yours alone.

Let’s be honest. For most people, homework is a chore. Until there’s a massive change in attitudes towards home learning, it’s here to stay.

With that in mind, the best thing is to adopt a positive ‘get it done’ attitude. If you accept that it has to be done (rather than the consequences of not doing it), you only have to decide when and how to do it.

2. Write it down

This may seem an obvious point, but writing down exactly what you have to do and when you have to do it for is an important step to take for getting organized with homework.

Use a simple planner and keep it open at the current page you’re using so that you can remind yourself what you need to do.

3. C reate a workspace

Not everyone has somewhere to work. If you do, how easy is it to use?

Whether it’s a kitchen table or a place in your own room, you’ll do more if you've got somewhere that you can use regularly. You’ll do even better if you tidy up a messy desk .

Make sure you’ve got everything that you need to hand so you can find it quickly when you want it. Get into the habit of putting things back after you’ve used them.

4. Do it the day after you get it

This is a great way to stay on top of your work. The temptation is to leave things until the last minute because that’s when doing it really matters.

Unfortunately, that’s also when it is most stressful, and there’s no margin for error.

Next time you get given a project, assignment or piece of work, start it on the day after you get it. You don’t have to finish it; just do as much as you feel like doing.

Whatever you don’t get done, you carry on with the next day.

This ‘little and often’ approach has three benefits:

• You have a day to ‘relax’ before you start it
• You do it without feeling overwhelmed because you can stop whenever you feel like it.
• More work will get done before the day it’s due to be handed in

5. Think 80-20 - don’t do it too well

The 80-20 rule states that, in life, we get 80% of our results from 20% of what we do.

This is really useful if you feel you have too much homework. Why? Well, it could be that you are doing some things too well.

Obviously some things are either done or they’re not. But often, it’s easy to spend too long on something just with very little to show for your efforts.

I’m not saying that you should produce poor quality work. But do be aware of perfectionism. Try to get better at knowing when your absolute best effort really is necessary, and when good enough is good enough.

6. Reduce your resistance to doing it

Sometimes, ‘too much homework’ means " I’ve left it too late, and now I’ve got too much to do ".

This can be avoided if you start it the day after you get it. And the best way to do that? Make it as easy as you need to.

Can’t face all of it? Time box half an hour. Or 10 minutes. Even 2 minutes if that’s all you can cope with.

How much you do is less important than the fact that you actually do something.

7. When you do it, give it 100% attention

Phones, friends and social media will stretch out the time you spend working. We all have to be aware of wasting time online , so the less you do it, the quicker you can complete your work.

The amount of homework you have varies from week to week, but the tips above may just be the answer. If so, you’ll have learned some valuable skills and turned too much homework into a manageable amount.

Having said that, it can get to the point at which you feel that there really is too much to do, and not just at the moment. If and when you reach the point at which, despite your best efforts, you consistently feel you have too much homework, tell someone.

They say a problem shared is a problem halved, and it’s true. Talking to someone will help. Talking to someone who is in a position to help you do something about it is even better.

In terms of getting things done, developing good study habits can make a massive difference, but sometimes there’s just too much to do. This can be a real problem unless you tell someone, so don’t keep it inside -- get some support.

Do you need to get a better balance in your life? Click below to check out the Time Management Success e-book!

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Homework overload: here’s how to deal

If you feel like you’re drowning under the sea of assignments and tests, follow our eight tips to get your head back above the water.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”  

Despite the ethical implications of an aphori sm that suggests you eat endangered  wildlife,  it is a useful one to remember whenever you feel overwhelmed by your ever-growing task list.   

Like a six-thousand kilo elephant, your homework is something you  have to  tackle bit by bit. Even if you’ve got eight assignments and three tests to study for, there are ways to reduce your stress so that you can work through each task without crumbling.

1. Start early and use your diary

If your homework is beginning to resemble a giant tsunami surging towards you, you might have failed to properly  take into account  deadlines. Even if everything  is  due at once, chances are you weren’t set every assignment on the same day or in the same week. You need to find a good way to keep track of deadlines and other important dates to ensure you leave enough time to get it all done.   

Google Calendar is a great way to start. You could even take an analogue approach and get a giant planner to pin on your wall. Once you’ve chosen your toolset, you need to schedule the process of getting yourself to the deadline. This means counting back from  D-day  so you know when to start a piece of work. This is particularly important for group assignments (which can be a logistical nightmare!) or for longer pieces of work where you’re required to do research or submit drafts. You also need to  take into account  other deadlines around the same time.   

2. Share the load

Do you really need to do everything all on your own or can you share the load with your friends? Now, now, we’re NOT condoning copying or other acts of dishonesty! But sometimes there  are  valuable ways to consolidate the requirements for a project while still learning everything that you need to learn. For a Humanities assignment that requires research, perhaps you can divide and conquer. You’ll still need to teach each other what you’ve learned, which is incidentally also a great way to consolidate your understanding.  

3. Negotiate

Even if you carefully note all deadlines, you may still find that everything is due on the same day. Eek! The thing is, teachers often don’t speak to their colleagues about stuff like this, so they don’t know that every single teacher in the school has chosen the same due date for work. And sometimes – like the end of term – it’s inevitable that everything will come in at the same time.  

But what if the reason you’re overloaded is personal? Perhaps you have an important sporting event that’s going to interfere with your prep time. You might just need to ask one or some of your teachers for an extension. Your school might have a policy about this, but either way, it doesn’t hurt to approach your teacher privately, explain the situation politely, and ask if there’s anything they can do to take a bit of pressure off you.   

It probably goes without saying that you’ll be much more successful the earlier you request an extension. Don’t leave it till the last minute — that just suggests that you’re not very  organised. And no need to feel that you  have to  pile on the drama. You may feel dramatic about it, but generally teachers are more responsive to a sensible, logical argument and a reasonable suggestion.

4. Just do it

Sometimes the best thing you can do is just get the work done. Even if you decide to do a less-than-perfect job in order to meet the deadline, you’ll still learn from the feedback you receive. Of course, the lower the stakes, the easier this advice is to follow, so it may be a matter of determining the importance of each task in terms of how heavily the mark will affect your grade or how important the subject is to you.  

We’ve all had to make the decision to just  get something done , rather than give it all the time it deserves, so don’t feel too bad about it. If, on the other hand, you  have a tendency to  hold back on submitting tasks because you don’t think they’re good enough, you may be a perfectionist.   

We think of perfectionism as a desirable trait, and it does suggest that you care about doing your best, which is admirable. But perfect doesn’t exist. We’re all doing our best in the time allotted. And if you never hand anything in, you never get the feedback you need to improve and progress. So, resist your desire to avoid completing your homework. Avoid avoidance. Just do it, submit it, move on.  

5. Keep living

When you’re stressed, there’s a natural temptation to limit everything else you do. You certainly do need to spend time focusing. But just sitting at your desk, doing a little bit of that subject and a little bit of this subject but not really doing anything because you’re so BORED won’t help. Go for a walk, take a nap, return refreshed.  

6. Gain some clarity

Feeling overwhelmed may have less to do with the quantity of work in front of you and more to do with the fact that you’re not entirely clear about what’s required. It sounds obvious, but it’s remarkable how many students avoid starting a task carefully because they think it’s bigger and more confusing than it really is.  

So, read the question. Once you’ve read it, do you understand what you  have to  do? If not, the temptation will be to put your head in your hands and a) tell yourself you’re stupid, b) tell yourself that your teacher is stupid and/or a terrible person, or c) get involved in a long  Whatsapp  thread with your friends to talk about how you’re stupid AND your teacher is a terrible human.   

To avoid this scenario, make some notes about what you find confusing and/or hard to follow and arrange to talk to your teacher tomorrow to gain some clarity.  

7. Start, even for a few minutes

While this might seem counterintuitive, it can be  really useful  to start something, even if you don’t have much time. Maybe you do only have fifteen minutes before you  have to  go to soccer training, or it’s late and you want to go to bed. But you also have that essay to begin and the blank screen can be so discouraging. Just write something, anything. A couple of sentences are enough. You’ll come back to it tomorrow and change them, so no need to agonise too much.   

Don’t underestimate how much momentum just starting can bring to the situation. Tomorrow, when you come back to the task, you’re not facing a blank screen. Sure, you may need to make some revisions, but you’ll be surprised how decent the words you wrote often are. At least there’s something to work with.  

8. Get some help

If none of these points really help you to  eat the elephant , then try something else. At Cluey, you can work with your personal tutor on your homework and maybe fill some of those skills and knowledge gaps that are making you feel anxious. Importantly, we can demystify your assignments, give you valuable feedback on how best to tackle each problem, and build your confidence. You don’t need to feel overloaded or alone with your homework again.

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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., homework wars: high school workloads, student stress, and how parents can help.

Studies of typical homework loads vary : In one, a Stanford researcher found that more than two hours of homework a night may be counterproductive. The research , conducted among students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities, found that too much homework resulted in stress, physical health problems and a general lack of balance.

Additionally, the  2014 Brown Center Report on American Education , found that with the exception of nine-year-olds, the amount of homework schools assign has remained relatively unchanged since 1984, meaning even those in charge of the curricula don't see a need for adding more to that workload.

But student experiences don’t always match these results. On our own Student Life in America survey, over 50% of students reported feeling stressed, 25% reported that homework was their biggest source of stress, and on average teens are spending one-third of their study time feeling stressed, anxious, or stuck.

The disparity can be explained in one of the conclusions regarding the Brown Report:

Of the three age groups, 17-year-olds have the most bifurcated distribution of the homework burden. They have the largest percentage of kids with no homework (especially when the homework shirkers are added in) and the largest percentage with more than two hours.

So what does that mean for parents who still endure the homework wars at home?

Read More: Teaching Your Kids How To Deal with School Stress

It means that sometimes kids who are on a rigorous college-prep track, probably are receiving more homework, but the statistics are melding it with the kids who are receiving no homework. And on our survey, 64% of students reported that their parents couldn’t help them with their work. This is where the real homework wars lie—not just the amount, but the ability to successfully complete assignments and feel success.

Parents want to figure out how to help their children manage their homework stress and learn the material.

Our Top 4 Tips for Ending Homework Wars

1. have a routine..

Every parenting advice article you will ever read emphasizes the importance of a routine. There’s a reason for that: it works. A routine helps put order into an often disorderly world. It removes the thinking and arguing and “when should I start?” because that decision has already been made. While routines must be flexible to accommodate soccer practice on Tuesday and volunteer work on Thursday, knowing in general when and where you, or your child, will do homework literally removes half the battle.

2. Have a battle plan.

Overwhelmed students look at a mountain of homework and think “insurmountable.” But parents can look at it with an outsider’s perspective and help them plan. Put in an extra hour Monday when you don’t have soccer. Prepare for the AP Chem test on Friday a little at a time each evening so Thursday doesn’t loom as a scary study night (consistency and repetition will also help lock the information in your brain). Start reading the book for your English report so that it’s underway. Go ahead and write a few sentences, so you don’t have a blank page staring at you. Knowing what the week will look like helps you keep calm and carry on.

3. Don’t be afraid to call in reserves.

You can’t outsource the “battle” but you can outsource the help ! We find that kids just do better having someone other than their parents help them —and sometimes even parents with the best of intentions aren’t equipped to wrestle with complicated physics problem. At The Princeton Review, we specialize in making homework time less stressful. Our tutors are available 24/7 to work one-to-one in an online classroom with a chat feature, interactive whiteboard, and the file sharing tool, where students can share their most challenging assignments.

4. Celebrate victories—and know when to surrender.

Students and parents can review completed assignments together at the end of the night -- acknowledging even small wins helps build a sense of accomplishment. If you’ve been through a particularly tough battle, you’ll also want to reach reach a cease-fire before hitting your bunk. A war ends when one person disengages. At some point, after parents have provided a listening ear, planning, and support, they have to let natural consequences take their course. And taking a step back--and removing any pressure a parent may be inadvertently creating--can be just what’s needed.

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August 16, 2021

Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in

by Sara M Moniuszko

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide-range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas over workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework .

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy work loads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold, says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace, says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression.

And for all the distress homework causes, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night.

"Most students, especially at these high-achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school ," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely, but to be more mindful of the type of work students go home with, suggests Kang, who was a high-school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework, I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the last two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic, making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized... sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking assignments up can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

©2021 USA Today Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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• EXPLORE Random Article

How to Manage High School Classes, Homework, Sports and Keeping Up with Household Chores

Last Updated: October 21, 2021

This article was co-authored by Ashley Pritchard, MA . Ashley Pritchard is an Academic and School Counselor at Delaware Valley Regional High School in Frenchtown, New Jersey. Ashley has over 3 years of high school, college, and career counseling experience. She has an MA in School Counseling with a specialization in Mental Health from Caldwell University and is certified as an Independent Education Consultant through the University of California, Irvine. This article has been viewed 86,326 times.

Your high school years are some of the most fun and overwhelming years of your life. Balancing your school work, your athletic commitments as well as your home and personal life can be nothing short of exhausting. Luckily, if you spend a little time figuring out how to manage everything, you may find you’re able to clear away much of the stress, leaving you free to enjoy your high school experience.

Staying On Top of Your School Work

• If you know you’re going to be missing class because of an away game, talk to your teachers ahead of time to find out what assignments you’ll be missing.
• Plan to turn in your assignments early if you’re going to be missing class, or if that’s not possible, ask your teacher for an extension.

• If you can’t afford a tutor, ask your teacher if you can come in for extra help after school.
• The more you fall behind, the harder it will be to catch up later. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and stress by staying on top of the work.

• If you’re traveling on the bus to an away game, use the time on the bus to work on assignments or do your class reading.
• Learn how to multi-task: do your reading while eating breakfast or study for a test while blow drying your hair.

Managing Your Time and Staying Organized

• Create a filing system that will help you keep track of all your current assignments.
• Color code your folders and assignments by using different colored labels for each class.

• Mark off all the time you have classes or practices, then look at the rest of your schedule and figure out when you have free time to do homework and chores.
• Make sure to give yourself some free time each week to relax, or you will get burned out.
• If you have trouble getting organized, ask a parent or guidance counselor to help you.

• Try to split up the work – work on your project for 20 minutes every day, instead of working on it for a three hour chunk on one day.
• Don’t cram. Cramming the night before a test is far less effective than actual studying and will exhaust your brain and stress you out.

• Spend two hours on Saturday getting a jumpstart on your assignments for next week.
• Spend an hour on Sunday getting organized and making a to-do list for the upcoming week.

• If your chores are daily chores, like making the bed, try to do them first thing when you wake up to get them out of the way early.
• Multi-task during chore time. If you have a book to read for English class, get the audio recording and listen to it while doing your laundry.

Maximizing Your Mental and Physical Health

• You can’t exactly quit going to school or doing homework or chores, so sports are the easiest commitment to eliminate.
• If you’re incredibly busy at school or with practice, ask your parents if you can take a week off from doing chores (tell them you’ll do double next week to make up for it).

• Have a water bottle with you at all times. Drinking water will help keep you hydrated and feeling good.
• Eat fruits and vegetables. These will help your immune system and make you less susceptible to falling ill.
• Make a bedtime and stick to it. If you’re not sleeping regularly, it will be impossible for you to function at the top of your game.

• Use social media as a reward – if you finish all your work for the day, you can spend more time checking Twitter.
• Give yourself an hour on social on weekends as a reward for working so hard during the week.

Expert Q&A

• Do not commit to anything more than you’re already doing. If there’s anything extra you’re doing that you can quit, do that. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
• Remember why you’re working so hard. Refocus on your goals and that will make the work seem that much more worth it. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ Ashley Pritchard, MA. Academic & School Counselor. Expert Interview. 4 November 2019.
• ↑ http://www.fastweb.com/student-life/articles/balancing-academics-extracurriculars-your-college-search
• ↑ http://www.ecampustours.com/for-students/career-exploration/building-your-resume/how-to-balance-high-school-and-a-part-time-job.aspx#.V1MVHJMrLjE
• ↑ http://lifehacker.com/5829673/how-to-find-more-time-in-your-day-by-putting-your-chores-on-auto-pilot

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What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Alexa, can you help me with my child’s homework?

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What did you do when you couldn’t solve a tricky maths equation?

Did you search for the answer on Google, skip doing the homework altogether and tell your teacher dog ate it, or watch as your parents asked Alexa for the answer?

As bizarre as it may sound, the latter scenario is happening at an alarming rate, as parents and grandparents struggle to help kids complete their homework – particularly mathematics. 

There comes a time when homework becomes a little too advanced for parents to help with, especially as many forget how to do tricky long divisions, algebra or the names of all the triangles once they finish school . With over 500 million Alexa-enabled devices sold worldwide, people are using technology to their advantage when it comes to maths.

New data commissioned by the Department for Education ’s Skills for Life campaign and Kindred found that 54% of parents would say they ‘would struggle to know where to start’ if left to their own decisions when helping children with their maths homework.

The Skills for Life campaign is encouraging adults of all ages to up their skills and learn something new, and to boost their confidence when helping their children at home and potentially improve their own career prospects. 

Of the 2,250 adults surveyed, 69% said they use the internet to help solve schoolwork problems and 20% reported using virtual assistants, like Alexa and Google Assistant, to help tutor their kids at home. Maths was revealed to cause the most angst and was voted the least favourite homework subject among parents and grandparents.

The data comes as education groups raise concerns about the growing use of AI in students’ work. Asking a virtual assistant for help on a task you plan to finish yourself is quite different to asking ChatGPT to come up with the answers for you, it raises questions about how much we rely on technology. 

A 16-year-old student identified only as Fiore previously told Metro.co.uk that he turned to ChatGPT when he realised an English essay was due the next day. It’s 2024 after all, and his story serves as a stark reminder that the days of cramming the assignment into an all-nighter or turning to SparkNotes for help are long gone.

Although many people would fear plagiarism detectors or eagle-eyed lecturers spotting AI-generated essays , the student wasn’t afraid about being caught. 

However, not all students are using AI to cheat and not all are using ChatGPT, with some turning to Gemini, which was developed by Google. Chatbots have also been found to be helpful for students with dyslexia when it comes to comprehending in-depth academic texts. 

Jane Basnett, director of digital learning at Downe House School in Berkshire admits that homework can be tricky for parents. ‘In the old days, parents turned to the Encyclopaedia Britannica to find responses, visited the library with their child or they asked a more informed friend,’ she told Metro.co.uk. ‘They had conversations and made discoveries about different topics that perhaps they had not known about before.’ 

This practice, however, has changed drastically now that technology is just one tap, swipe or voice command away. ‘Finding the knowledge is one thing, understanding it and engaging with it properly is another.

‘Parents need to encourage their child to understand the GenAI output and to put their own responses together.

‘These are just the sort of conversations that teachers are having with their students in classrooms across the country. Gen AI (generative artificial intelligence) is a tool that can very quickly do your homework for you but in doing so, it takes away the key important elements of education: learning, discovering and critical thinking.’

One dad, Paul Duggan, 68, from London made a huge life change after realising he couldn’t help his daughter with her homework. He completed a Skills for Life Numeracy course in 2020, when his daughter Rebecca was 10, after she inspired him to sign up.

He has since gone on to achieve a Functional Skills qualification in maths, which is equivalent to a Maths GCSE. 

‘I always had a difficult relationship with maths,’ he said. ‘I think a lot of people do. When my daughter, Rebecca, started needing more help with her homework I realised that if I didn’t tackle my fear of numbers now, not only would I be unable to help, but I’d also risk passing on my negative relationship with maths, which I certainly didn’t want to do.’

Not all parents will be able to find the time to brush up on their maths skills, as they often have to balance full-time jobs, the needs of other children, the cost of living and general life stuff. But for those like Paul who could, it has proven to be invaluable.

‘Signing up to the Skills for Life course was honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s helped boost my confidence with everyday sums, and I’ve also grown a lot closer to my daughter, Rebecca, in the process, helping her solve equations and more complex problems as she studies for her maths GSCE.’

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Parenting tweens? These are the common challenges and how to handle them

No longer little, but not yet a teen, kids in the tween years are changing fast.

So-called because it’s in-between the two more recognised developmental stages of young children and teenagers, the tween period is between eight and 12 years, and many parents could do with some help getting through it.

Parenting author Tanith Carey knows only too well what it’s like dealing with the tween stage – she’s been through it with her two daughters, and has now written the book What’s My Tween Thinking? about it with psychologist Dr Angharad Rudkin.

“It’s a phase when hormones start to kick in, children are forming their first serious friendships – and having their first major fallouts – and start wanting their own screens, which are a doorway to an adult world they’re not yet ready for,” observes Carey.

“Yet while parents mentally prepare themselves for the terrible twos and the tumultuous teen years, often they’re not prepared for the vitally important period in between.

“The good news is these years won’t feel as confusing once you know the developmental reasons behind your tween’s changing behaviour and see the world through their eyes.”

Here, Carey outlines some of the common challenges parents may face with their tweens, and how to deal with them…

‘I’m not holding your hand mum’

Your tween pulls their hand away from yours for the first time on a walk to the shops.

What your tween is thinking

‘I’m testing how it feels to be more independent. Now my peers are more important in my life, I’m desperate to fit in. Even when my friends aren’t around, I still imagine what they’d say if they saw me holding my mum’s hand and how they’d call me babyish.’

What you might be thinking

You may feel sad that the child who could once never get enough of you is moving into a phase where they no longer seem to need you as much.

How you could respond

“Don’t take it personally,” advises Carey. “This is more about your child’s development and their emerging need to find their own tribe. In fact, pulling away is a positive sign that they trust you to keep loving them anyway.”

She warns that although tweens may not want to hold your hand as much in public, they may still need physical connection at home, so parents should offer different options, like stroking their backs for reassurance or asking if they’d like a cuddle.

‘I AM doing my homework’

Your child is taking ages to start their homework.

What your tween’s thinking

‘My lesson feels like ages ago, and my mind’s gone blank. Plus, at home, there’s so much I’d rather be doing and without a teacher and my classmates around me to keep me focused, it’s hard to concentrate.’

After a long day, you probably just want your child to get their homework over with so you can get on with the rest of the evening. If they say they don’t know where to start or seem to be avoiding it for fear of getting it wrong, you might be getting panicky or tempted to do it for them.

Carey suggests that initially, parents should just take a deep breath. “Getting frustrated with them will make them more anxious, and it’ll become more difficult for them to access the logical thinking parts of their brains they need now,” she says, advising that if they’re finding it hard to get going, parents should help them name how they feel. “Once they know you’ve heard them, they’re more likely to start, she explains.

She points out that when a task is daunting, the most difficult part is getting underway. “So make it feel more manageable by suggesting they try it for five minutes – the likelihood is that they’ll carry on.”

If homework is turning into a nightly conflict and your tween struggles to do it within the time given by the teacher, mention it to the school, advises Carey. “It’s best to identify any learning challenges quickly,” she says.

‘Why can’t I go on TikTok when all my friends are on it?’

Your child is angry you won’t let them sign up to TikTok because they’re not yet 13.

“Ok so it’s not really all my friends, just a couple. But I’ll tell my parents it’s everyone to make them worry I’ll be left out. They keep saying social media is dangerous, but I’d never be so silly to fall for weird grown-ups because I’d know. And anyway, dad lets me play video games for grown-ups because he likes them too. So what’s the difference?’

You’re likely to be worried your tween is too naive to handle what can happen online, scared of what they might see, and concerned about what messages you’re giving them by allowing them to lie about their age.

Carey suggests parents explain to their tween that their brain is still developing, and social media is designed to be super-stimulating. “Tell them it’s too early for them to be distracted from the real-world things they love, like playdates, being outside, and arts and crafts, which are all important for them to feel good.

“As a middle way, consider letting them try one platform, like a closed group of friends on WhatsApp, for a limited time on a shared family device, but always in the common areas of your home, and never in bedrooms,” she stresses.

What’s My Tween Thinking? Practical Child Psychology For Modern Parents by Tanith Carey and Dr Angharad Rudkin is published by DK books on February 15, priced £16.99.

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Dan hurley to meet with ‘extremely aggressive’ lakers brass friday as coaching rumors intensify.

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The Lakers seem to really want Dan Hurley in the fold.

Los Angeles plans to meet with the UConn men’s basketball coach on Friday and hopes to close a deal as soon as the weekend as the Lakers look to fill their vacancy on the bench, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski .

After news broke earlier Thursday that the Lakers were interested in the two-time national champion Huskies coach, Wojnarowski added more details about the upcoming meeting on “NBA Countdown” before Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

The “extremely aggressive” Lakers will have owner Jeanie Buss and general manager and vice president Rob Pelinka meet with Hurley and his agent on Friday.

The ESPN insider added that the two sides will discuss what a potential partnership would look like, and he expects talks will move quickly, though the Lakers still have to determine if there is a “fit” in Los Angeles.

Wojnarowski expects things to finish quickly, even if Hurley does not intend to sign a deal.

The two sides already have had preliminary discussions about the job, and The Post confirmed Thursday that Hurley is interested in the gig.

Los Angeles has the coaching opening after Darvin Ham was fired following a first-round playoff exit after a 47-35 regular season.

Earlier this week, The Athletic reported that ESPN analyst and former NBAer JJ Redick was being zeroed in on as a top candidate for the gig.

On Wednesday, Redick addressed the report on the “GoJo and Golic” show, saying he’s keeping his focus on his media work for the NBA Finals.

“I would says this: My focus right now is on calling the NBA Finals,” Redick said. “I am so fortunate that I’m in this position and I get to call these finals with Doris and Mike … my day-to-day right now is consumed with calling games, the 19 different podcasts I feel like I have, my obligations to all of our partners. My focus is on the NBA Finals.”

Hurley, who denied that he had any interest in Kentucky’s coaching opening earlier this spring, said after UConn won its second straight national title that he wasn’t going to be leaving for another school.

“I’m not going in the portal,” Hurley said in April, according to the Hartford Courant . “I’m not.”

Not long after that, Hurley was on “The Dan Patrick Show” and said he would join the NBA ranks “down the road if I can grow up a little bit.” 

Hurley has reached the NCAA Tournament four straight years and has a 141-58 record since taking over the UConn program in 2018-19 after stops at Wagner and Rhode Island.

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Water deal for Navajo and Hopi tribes still has a (Capitol) Hill to climb

Opinion: arizona has never gotten this far on a deal to settle navajo and hopi water claims, but more work remains..

Navajo and Hopi are hardly friends.

Yet they have unanimously agreed to a deal that could finally bring running water to thousands of tribal homes that lack it in northeastern Arizona.

The wide-reaching settlement would resolve a slew of tribal water claims in Arizona, not just those for the Little Colorado River that have been tied up in court for generations.

As a result, Navajo and Hopi would be entitled to water from the Little Colorado River and the Colorado River, as well as to the effluent they produce and the groundwater that lies beneath their lands.

The deal also carves out a permanent homeland for the San Juan Southern Paiute tribe and quantifies water rights for use on those lands.

That’s huge.

How Arizona and tribes found compromise

The closest Arizona ever got to a settlement was more than a decade ago, when some tribal members balked at the last minute and the deal fell apart under its own weight.

Even a few years ago, most folks would tell you that it was a lost cause to try to amicably settle water claims for the Navajo Nation, the nation’s largest tribe, and their historic Hopi rivals outside of court.

But a few things have changed since then:

As the trial for the Little Colorado River progressed, it became increasingly clear that neither Navajo nor Hopi would get anything close to the water they wanted from the litigation.

Then the pandemic hit, and the public health crisis that emerged only underlined the need to provide water to Navajo and Hopi homes.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs took office with a new approach to negotiations, stripping out provisions that had long been sticking points.

And funding began to flow to tribes from the federal infrastructure law — all of which led to meaningful compromises.

Proposed water settlement has a lot to like

The deal that emerged has a lot to like.

It should create a far more diverse and stable water portfolio for the tribes than they would have gotten in court.

Navajo and Hopi would agree to jointly manage the groundwater under their lands, setting pumping limits for each to help protect the long-term health of the aquifers.

The deal also should speed resolution of non-tribal claims to the Little Colorado by years and completely avoid what likely would have been a decades-long trial to resolve the tribes’ claims to the Colorado River.

Why it's so hard: For some cities to get off groundwater

And that should make it easier for all of us to plan for the long haul, knowing that a judge won’t come along sometime in the future — when water supplies are likely stretched even more than they are now — and rearrange the deck.

But the settlement still has a hill to climb.

Capitol Hill, that is, where Congress must sign off on the settlement and fund its eye-popping $5 billion price tag.

But it also faces hurdles in Congress

Navajo leaders have robust plans to justify why the tribes need $5 billion to provide clean, running water across their expansive lands, an area larger than at least 10 states.

But that’s also $3 billion more than the largest tribal water settlement Congress has approved to date.

Because the Navajo Nation encompasses parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, and is split between the Colorado River’s two basins, this latest settlement would allow Navajo and Hopi to move water across state lines and between basins.

Doing so would help run water lines more directly and serve more people in remote communities, but it also could be controversial because neither is currently allowed under the current “ law of the river ,” a century’s worth of laws, court rulings and regulations that help govern water use on the mighty Colorado.

Some worry about the precedent that could set, particularly as negotiations shape up on the next several decades of river management.

The settlement also allows the tribes to lease and store water, which could help them pencil out long-term water delivery costs and better manage supplies while infrastructure is built.

But those provisions also could be controversial among tribal and non-tribal members who don’t want this water sent elsewhere, even temporarily.

Can we find the unity to pass this deal?

If a deal this monumental is going to fly through a lame-duck Congress, Western states must strongly argue in favor of it.

The good news is that the current Congress has been more open to approving tribal settlements, as has the current federal administration.

But it’s also widely accepted that if that administration or Congress markedly changes, the deal could be DOA after December.

So, the clock to build support is ticking.

Keep an eye on Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who noted in a statement that he “looks forward to working with tribes and water users to introduce and enact legislation,” and Republican Rep. Eli Crane, whose district includes Navajo and Hopi lands but some fear could be pressured by MAGA colleagues to balk at the cost.

Crane has remained mum on the deal.

If the Arizona delegation isn’t strongly united and pressing for a resolution, this hill could prove insurmountable.

Reach Allhands at  [email protected] . On X, formerly Twitter:  @joannaallhands .

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Student Opinion

Should We Get Rid of Homework?

Some educators are pushing to get rid of homework. Would that be a good thing?

By Jeremy Engle and Michael Gonchar

Do you like doing homework? Do you think it has benefited you educationally?

Has homework ever helped you practice a difficult skill — in math, for example — until you mastered it? Has it helped you learn new concepts in history or science? Has it helped to teach you life skills, such as independence and responsibility? Or, have you had a more negative experience with homework? Does it stress you out, numb your brain from busywork or actually make you fall behind in your classes?

Should we get rid of homework?

In “ The Movement to End Homework Is Wrong, ” published in July, the Times Opinion writer Jay Caspian Kang argues that homework may be imperfect, but it still serves an important purpose in school. The essay begins:

Do students really need to do their homework? As a parent and a former teacher, I have been pondering this question for quite a long time. The teacher side of me can acknowledge that there were assignments I gave out to my students that probably had little to no academic value. But I also imagine that some of my students never would have done their basic reading if they hadn’t been trained to complete expected assignments, which would have made the task of teaching an English class nearly impossible. As a parent, I would rather my daughter not get stuck doing the sort of pointless homework I would occasionally assign, but I also think there’s a lot of value in saying, “Hey, a lot of work you’re going to end up doing in your life is pointless, so why not just get used to it?” I certainly am not the only person wondering about the value of homework. Recently, the sociologist Jessica McCrory Calarco and the mathematics education scholars Ilana Horn and Grace Chen published a paper, “ You Need to Be More Responsible: The Myth of Meritocracy and Teachers’ Accounts of Homework Inequalities .” They argued that while there’s some evidence that homework might help students learn, it also exacerbates inequalities and reinforces what they call the “meritocratic” narrative that says kids who do well in school do so because of “individual competence, effort and responsibility.” The authors believe this meritocratic narrative is a myth and that homework — math homework in particular — further entrenches the myth in the minds of teachers and their students. Calarco, Horn and Chen write, “Research has highlighted inequalities in students’ homework production and linked those inequalities to differences in students’ home lives and in the support students’ families can provide.”

Mr. Kang argues:

But there’s a defense of homework that doesn’t really have much to do with class mobility, equality or any sense of reinforcing the notion of meritocracy. It’s one that became quite clear to me when I was a teacher: Kids need to learn how to practice things. Homework, in many cases, is the only ritualized thing they have to do every day. Even if we could perfectly equalize opportunity in school and empower all students not to be encumbered by the weight of their socioeconomic status or ethnicity, I’m not sure what good it would do if the kids didn’t know how to do something relentlessly, over and over again, until they perfected it. Most teachers know that type of progress is very difficult to achieve inside the classroom, regardless of a student’s background, which is why, I imagine, Calarco, Horn and Chen found that most teachers weren’t thinking in a structural inequalities frame. Holistic ideas of education, in which learning is emphasized and students can explore concepts and ideas, are largely for the types of kids who don’t need to worry about class mobility. A defense of rote practice through homework might seem revanchist at this moment, but if we truly believe that schools should teach children lessons that fall outside the meritocracy, I can’t think of one that matters more than the simple satisfaction of mastering something that you were once bad at. That takes homework and the acknowledgment that sometimes a student can get a question wrong and, with proper instruction, eventually get it right.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

Should we get rid of homework? Why, or why not?

Is homework an outdated, ineffective or counterproductive tool for learning? Do you agree with the authors of the paper that homework is harmful and worsens inequalities that exist between students’ home circumstances?

Or do you agree with Mr. Kang that homework still has real educational value?

When you get home after school, how much homework will you do? Do you think the amount is appropriate, too much or too little? Is homework, including the projects and writing assignments you do at home, an important part of your learning experience? Or, in your opinion, is it not a good use of time? Explain.

In these letters to the editor , one reader makes a distinction between elementary school and high school:

Homework’s value is unclear for younger students. But by high school and college, homework is absolutely essential for any student who wishes to excel. There simply isn’t time to digest Dostoyevsky if you only ever read him in class.

What do you think? How much does grade level matter when discussing the value of homework?

Is there a way to make homework more effective?

If you were a teacher, would you assign homework? What kind of assignments would you give and why?

Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column . Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Jeremy Engle joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2018 after spending more than 20 years as a classroom humanities and documentary-making teacher, professional developer and curriculum designer working with students and teachers across the country. More about Jeremy Engle