From first period to eleventh, Fenwick students are loaded with homework to complete for the next day, or papers and projects for the end of the week. There is a constant influx of work being thrown at students day in and day out. There are papers due at midnight, a submission due by the end of the day. The extreme workload that comes with being a Friar can seem to be a bit too much to handle. It makes students ask the question: do teachers not realize that we have more classes than just theirs?

I conducted an interview with two of my teachers, both of which I feel have given fair amounts of homework in the years I’ve had them. These two English teachers are Mr. Hackman-Brooks and Mrs. Ori, my sophomore and freshman English teachers, respectively. I asked the two of them how they think all teachers at Fenwick should assign work, and how teachers can better communicate either with other teachers or their students to decrease anxiety in students’ stressful lives. As I did not want to antagonize any teacher notorious for large workloads, I thought that getting the other side of the story would be more beneficial in changing how teachers can better plan classes as to not burden the students. Mr. HB responded to my question very quickly, and ostensibly presents his care for student wellbeing. He first had the idea of a master calendar available on schoology, so students and teachers would be able to see all assignments. Mr. HB’s philosophy on homework is this: “Student time is limited and valuable, so anything assigned should contribute to content and skills.” This statement eliminates any “busy work” teachers may assign.

All in all, the teachers I spoke to were very open to student feedback and suggestion for how homework should be divided up, and they like to know how much time their assignments take students.I found that teachers most likely don’t mean to overload students. They simply think that every assignment that they give their classes will help to reinforce their lessons, even if it is repetitive. From my research, interviews, and own extrapolations, I believe what Fenwick really needs more of is student/teacher communication.