What can teachers do to prevent students from having too much homework? What kind of planning is needed? Are there implications for staff planning time? Dempsey suggests that “you should assign homework in most subjects, especially at the secondary level.” (as cited in Slavin, p.201, 2012). As a secondary school teacher I assign homework for almost every class period. Since this is the case for most secondary school teachers, it is essential to discuss the amount of homework we are assigning. Our staff prevents us from assigning too much homework by discussing how much we are assigning (in minutes) during teacher meetings and agreeing not to assign more than an agreed upon amount during the staff meeting. To meet the time limit I need to make sure that the tasks I am assigning are essential and that I can check them. Cooper, Robinson, Patall, and Trautwein's research "finds that (homework) generally increases achievement, particularly if teachers monitor it and provide comments to students (as cited in Slavin, p. 201, 2012). This means that any homework I assign is homework I will have to grade. The key implication I have to recognize is that increasing homework also means increasing grading for me and therefore less planning time. Plus, if I assign too much homework, I'm reducing time for homework for other classes and forcing the student to interrupt their studies or not get enough sleep. As a Christian educator I must always keep my students' best interests in mind if I assign so much homework that my students feel unable to honor the Sabbath rest. and do not take care of their body while sleeping, then they are not true to the… middle of paper… weekend field trip where students are totally focused and immersed in the topic. Such a field trip would allow students to synthesize and apply what they are learning in a real-life context that allows them to dream and explore without many distractions. In contrast, the typical class setting is limited to 90 minutes and is limited in opportunities for new discoveries. For the 4 stages of learning to be experienced effectively, it needs to happen as a journey through a unit and not as an isolated lesson. Works Cited Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: theory and practice. (10th ed.) New York, NY: Pearson. ISBN: 9780137034352. Van Brummelen, Harro (2009). Walking with God in the Classroom: Christian Approaches to Learning and Teaching. (3rd ed.) Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design (ACSI). ISBN: 9781583310984.