Top 9 Worst Homework Mistakes
Any successful student will tell you that much of their educational success was due to homework. But the benefits of doing your homework go beyond just grades.
Study after study has shown that students who dedicate quality time to doing homework have higher confidence, stay out of trouble, have more positive relationships with family and friends, and more. Of course, everyone knows that confidence, a solid foundation of knowledge, and healthy relationships are the keys to being successful. So, let’s recap: doing well on homework equals a fancy future!
With homework being so important to life as a whole, your teacher shouldn’t be the only one wanting you to do it! Read below to learn about some of the most common mistakes students make, and how to easily avoid them!
1. Check it out!
You just spent the last 30 minutes working out a problem. You’re exhausted, and don’t care if you never see that problem again! So, you decide to turn in your homework and not bother checking it. Consider this: if you turn in that problem and it’s wrong, your teacher won’t give you credit and you spent the last 30 minutes of your life wasted! If you’re going to invest time doing something, do it well or it wasn’t worth it! Not only are you more likely to get credit but you might learn something new or catch on to a mistake that you’ve been making for ages that has been bringing down your test scores. Everything you write down to be turned in must be checked in one way or another.
2. Don’t wait until the last minute
What would happen if your favorite band waited until the last minute to practice their songs for the big concert? What if you waited until the last minute to plan out a party? While procrastination might feel good, it rarely ever pays off. The result is sloppy and incorrect work that didn’t help you learn anything and an ugly feeling in the pit of your stomach! Do yourself — and the person who has to grade your homework — a favor… start early! Don’t worry, there will always be time for video games later…
3. Where’s the fire?
If you’re following the ideas from the last step, this shouldn’t be a problem… Rushing through homework will only get you wrong answers, and may end up taking even longer! Working through the problems calmly and methodically will make the problems much more clear, and will help you arrive at the answers more quickly! Just be calm, and stay focused! Breathe!
4. When all else fails, read the directions!
How many times have you gotten stuck and hopelessly frustrated on a problem only to find out later that if you had read the directions more thoroughly or listened more closely to the teacher, you never would have gotten stuck in the first place? Whether you’ve already read the directions or not, read them again! Maybe there’s something you didn’t notice before! Listen carefully when your teacher is speaking, and take notes. Sometimes the answer to that tough problem is worked out in detail in the notes. Teachers are always trying to help students out, it’s a matter of looking through the clues they give you!
5. The cheerleaders are on to something!
Nothing is fun if you’re not enthusiastic! And if it’s not fun, it’s not going to be easy, and you’re not going learn from it! Before starting your work, clear your head and focus only on homework! Think of homework not as a chore, but as a puzzle or a mystery. Challenge yourself to solve it, and pat yourself on the back when you do! (Only after you check your answers of course!)
6. GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!
You’re on step 16 of the math problem from nightmares, or revision 3 of the essay that won’t end. Do you remember what you were trying to accomplish when you started? Maybe you’ve already overshot the answer, or maybe you’ve meandered way off track. As you’re working through the problems, reign yourself in! Reread the problem. What point are you trying to prove in your essay, what variable are you solving for? Actively keeping your goal in mind as you work through the problem will help you stay on track and finish the problems a lot more quickly!
7. Smart people ask!
Let’s face it: everyone needs help from time to time, and there’s nothing wrong with that! Einstein didn’t know the answers to everything… neither did your teacher, your parents, or that really cool celebrity that you like. If you’re stuck on a problem, talk it out with someone, whether it be a friend, parent, tutor, or stuffed animal. Sometimes just saying it out loud is enough to get you past your obstacle! If you’re really stumped, there’s plenty of resources available to you! You can talk to your teacher, try free online tutoring at your local library, or work with an actual tutor. Whatever help you need, there are people out there wanting you to do well!
8. History repeats itself.
What do you do with the graded homeworks that your teacher passes back? Do you throw them away, stuff them into a battered textbook never to be seen again, or take them home and actually look over the mistakes you made? Chances are that the mistakes you made on your homeworks will be the same mistakes you make on the tests. Chances also are that the mistakes you’re making on the homework are easy to correct if you just review them! Once you have a better idea of the problems you are having, it will be that much easier for to fix them!
9. It’s called active learning!
Remember: the point to doing homework is to learn something while you’re at it! To do that, you have to be actively learning while you’re working on it! As you go through your homework, ask yourself questions: What would have happened if the numbers had been in a different order? What was Arthur thinking when he said that in my book? Would I have done the same thing in his situation? What would have happened if I had mixed these two other chemicals instead? (Ask your teacher before trying that one!) If you digest things while you work through them, you’ll learn the material better, and enjoy it more!
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