Two students, two teachers, one course…and four hours difference of homework.

Much of a student’s experience in a class is determined by their teacher, and due to the small and talkative community of Piedmont, when students sign up for a class, they often know which teacher they are going to get and how that will influence that course.

However, when classes that are taught by multiple teachers, students often feel blind going into the school year, unaware of what their workload and classroom experience will entail.

Although teachers should be entitled to have different philosophies regarding homework load, tests, classwork, and participation, all of these factors shape a student’s decision on whether or not to take the course. If a student chooses a specific schedule based on how many hours of homework he or she can complete, and this student gets a teacher who assigns more homework than expected, his or her entire year will be different than expected.

Balancing a rigorous course load is a lot of work, and there are enormous pressures to spend every waking hour completing the homework required of a grueling schedule. Class schedules are one of the most important things that colleges consider, which can make taking difficult classes appealing to many students.

Because this is such a prominent pressure, it is only fair that students are made aware of the work and effort that is necessary to put into a class in order to get a good grade.The Course Catalogue outlines expectations for every course, and the Planning Guide even describes the expected number of hours of work per week in each AP or honors class. These guidelines exist for a reason, and teachers should do their best to adhere to them.

With this is mind, it is important for teachers to communicate not only with students, but with each other.  I understand that students should not take classes just to make their schedule appear rigorous in the interest of college applications, and it is not fair to counselors, administrators or teachers if students switch out of a class because a teacher has a reputation of teaching a difficult course. However, there are only so many hours in a day for students to spend on each subject. To create more equality between classes, each subject should have a standard for tests, quizzes, and homework load.

I believe that teachers’ different interests should influence their classes, and that teaching styles have benefits, but when assigning homework or creating testing schedules, teachers must consider the amount of time that a student should spend on or preparing for that assignment.

 If a department agrees that a certain class should cover more than the standard amount of material, it should be agreed upon and assigned throughout every class in a specific course.

Two students, two teachers, one course…end of story.