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At parent's evening recently, my mum was told, by my history teacher, that I am a perfectionist. He then told her that whenever I get homework, I should set myself a timer, and if it isn't finished by the end of the time limit, I should just leave it. The problem is, I now have to write an essay on 'How and why the Nazi approach to the Jews changed from 1933-1945' and I forgot to ask how long it should take. I would truly appreciate it if somebody should give me a rough estimate of the timer I should set myself. It is an essay, and we just have to cover all the reasons it may have changed.
I appreciate it may be difficult, but it would help me immensely.
Thanks in advance.
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How And Why Did The Nazi Approach To The Jews Change From 1933 - 1945? How long should it take?
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#2
- Group: Moderating Teacher & Admin
- Posts: 3,350
- Joined: 29-December 03
- Gender:Male
- Location:County Durham
Posted 10 April 2007 - 08:33 PM
Oh dear - How long is a piece of string?
However, your teacher is right - you wuld be silly to spend TOO long writing your homework, but it is difficult to say how long you should spend on a particular piece of work without knowing you or what your teacher wants.
I presume this is just a homework essay, and not a piece of coursework.
If it is a piece of coursework, ignore what I'm going to say.
When you do an essay at home, you have to remember that, in the exam, the LONGEST you will have to write on any question - even the biggest essays - is 15 minutes.
So don't spend longer than 30 minutes writing any essay, ever (except coursework).
And as you go on, and as you get better, I would be trying to bring that time down and down towards the 15 minutes.
However, do spend some time before that preparing your essay ... thinking of its structure, and the order you are going to put the paragraphs in ... jotting down the facts you are going to use to 'prove' your points ... thinking of the explanations you will use to justify your ideas.
How long you spend on this preparation bit will depend on how much you know about the subject before you start. If your teacher has told you all the notes and facts you need to do the essay, then it's just a matter of reorganising the stuff, so that shouldn't take more than a few minutes.
If you need to go away and research your subject first, of course, it is going to take longer.
But once you know all the facts and ideas you are going to write about, if you take more than 45 minutes for the whole thing (preparation-AND-writing) you are wasting your time a bit.
Be prepared to hand in a few essays and get low marks for them while you 'learn the knack' of writing quickly.
(Again, apart from coursework,) the marks you get for your essays in class don't matter - all that matters is the mark you get in the final exam. So it doesn't matter if you flunk a few essays trying to learn how to think-and-write.
However, your teacher is right - you wuld be silly to spend TOO long writing your homework, but it is difficult to say how long you should spend on a particular piece of work without knowing you or what your teacher wants.
I presume this is just a homework essay, and not a piece of coursework.
If it is a piece of coursework, ignore what I'm going to say.
When you do an essay at home, you have to remember that, in the exam, the LONGEST you will have to write on any question - even the biggest essays - is 15 minutes.
So don't spend longer than 30 minutes writing any essay, ever (except coursework).
And as you go on, and as you get better, I would be trying to bring that time down and down towards the 15 minutes.
However, do spend some time before that preparing your essay ... thinking of its structure, and the order you are going to put the paragraphs in ... jotting down the facts you are going to use to 'prove' your points ... thinking of the explanations you will use to justify your ideas.
How long you spend on this preparation bit will depend on how much you know about the subject before you start. If your teacher has told you all the notes and facts you need to do the essay, then it's just a matter of reorganising the stuff, so that shouldn't take more than a few minutes.
If you need to go away and research your subject first, of course, it is going to take longer.
But once you know all the facts and ideas you are going to write about, if you take more than 45 minutes for the whole thing (preparation-AND-writing) you are wasting your time a bit.
Be prepared to hand in a few essays and get low marks for them while you 'learn the knack' of writing quickly.
(Again, apart from coursework,) the marks you get for your essays in class don't matter - all that matters is the mark you get in the final exam. So it doesn't matter if you flunk a few essays trying to learn how to think-and-write.
#3
- Group: Student
- Posts: 27
- Joined: 03-November 04
Posted 11 April 2007 - 07:42 PM
Thanks, before I was spending up to 4 hours on homework, which even I know is unreasonable. I'm doing it tomorrow, but I will go and see my teacher on the first day back, just to check.
And by the way, it is just a normal homework essay.
And by the way, it is just a normal homework essay.
#4
- Group: Moderating Teacher & Admin
- Posts: 3,350
- Joined: 29-December 03
- Gender:Male
- Location:County Durham
Posted 11 April 2007 - 11:32 PM
There is nothing wrong with being a perfectionist - you will make a good employee!
High standards are NOT a fault!!!
But you have to be careful not to wear yourself out.
I always tell my new members of staff:
First, SURVIVE.
When you are surviving OK, then you can begin to do the job.
Only when you are handling that OK should you start to do the job well.
High standards are NOT a fault!!!
But you have to be careful not to wear yourself out.
I always tell my new members of staff:
First, SURVIVE.
When you are surviving OK, then you can begin to do the job.
Only when you are handling that OK should you start to do the job well.
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