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Three students in Mr. Randy Turner's advanced communication arts class will have poems published in the
next edition of "Teacher Selection: Anthology of Eighth Grade Poetry." The poems, written by Emily Evans, Brittany Harmon,
and Sarah McDonough, are featured below.
A MEADOW OF SWEET SCENTS
By Sarah McDonough
I sit in a meadow of violet and lily
and my thoughts are flying to you.
They fly swift, yet subtle,
as wind, a butterfly may drift through.
Most others would call it daydreaming,
Since it's dreaming that I do.
The dreams are repetitive, but annoyed I am not,
for all that I dream of is you, only you.
It is not only daydreaming,
I dream at night, too.
In the morning, when I wake up,
the sky's a brighter blue.
The rest of the world is silent,
I notice nothing else but you.
You are so perfect in every way.
It is amazing yet so true.
As I lay in this meadow of such sweet scents,
my thoughts bond together like the strongest of glue.
It keeps becoming clearer day by day
my life needs only you.
INVISIBLE
By Brittany Harmon
All hope is gone from a remarkable mind.
A heart is broken by all the unkind.
Her life is destroyed
She can never shine.
Her opinionated words go unspoken
Everyone assumes she is just fine.
She's losing her dreams
Every passing moment, one is gone.
No one listens to her screams
not in the evening or at dawn.
She wants to make them realize
that she's more than just a stranger.
Shes a friend that's in disguise.
Come closer, there is no danger.
Just please apologize
for all the hurt that you have caused
When you kept on walking and never paused
to listen to what she had to say.
She will remember that moment every day
No matter how hard you try
she will never forget
the times you made her cry
and the times she thought that was it
That it was better just to die
instead of throwing a miserable fit.
Oh and by the way,
there is one more thing she wanted me to say.
It was that she loves you
and always will
regardless of what you do
Even though your feelings towards her still
are fantasy and will never be true.
INTIMIDATION
By Emily M. Evans
You fight and scream,
You break lots of things
I want to just scream
STOP!
But I fear upsetting you further
I just want you to love and accept me
You are accomplishing nothing
but negative things
No one even appreciates what you do,
Not even the one who fights with you
You would never hurt us
Or so you say
While you are in a sober state
I believe you
I really do
Yet it still frightens me when you are like this.
Students in Mr. Randy Turner's Advanced Communication Arts class recently wrote essays on the subject Homework.
Following are some of the papers that made The Writers Wall of Fame.
HOMEWORK CHALLENGES US
By Sarah McDonough
Do students really have that much homework? Many students complain about having too much to do after school. They say
that they have sports and after-school activities so they can't do all the homework given to them. They go to school and they
know that they are going to have a load of homework and yet they keep complaining about it.
In addition to the reading, research, writing, and overall work, we have homework; not to mention the chores we do
at home.
Although homework can be a lot of time taken away from our everyday lives, we need it. Doing our work at home gives
us a chance to do the work ourselves, to see if we understand the lesson that is being taught at school.
Studies have shown that most students only get less than one hour of homework, and not even every day of the week.
We actually have it easy! Do you know how much homework we should have? For one thing, we have five classes and we should
get homework in almost every class. We should have about two hours a night.
Fortunately, we have many more activities in classes than we would have if we didnt do as much homework than we actually
do now. We spend all the time in class doing presentations and plays, instead of doing worksheet after worksheet like last
year. Now, we do them at home where we can choose where we study, and there are less distractions.
All in all, homework is a very good thing. It challenges us, and we can learn a lot more by doing it ourselves. We
have it easy, but the easy way isn't always the right way.
ONLY WHEN NECESSARY
By Rachel Ryan
Students should only have homework if it is absolutely necessary. That is not how it is. Teachers give homework even
if the only reason is because they feel like it. Besides our regular work, teachers give extra work, but is this necessary?
Some say that teachers give homework so that they can see if the student understands the concept, but if they are going
to do that they should not grade our homework on the number of questions we get right. Instead, our homework should be graded
on the number of questions we complete.
For example, if you have 20 questions and you do all 20 questions, but you still miss 10 of them, you still get credit
for doing all 20 questions. This would show that you tried on your homework, but the concept was not taught clearly. Therefore,
it is not the students' fault if they don't understand the concept.
In addition to teachers not teaching the students clearly, if you are told to ask your parents or a family member for
help by the teacher, then there is no use for teachers. Teachers say that you can ask your parents for help when you get home,
but in many families the parents are not home to help them. Some parents can't help us even if they are home because they
were not taught the things we are learning. So homework is almost useless. If you don't understand the concept, you wont get
it done because you have no one to help you.
Furthermore, many children are involved in after-school activitities, which causes them to have less time to work on
their homework. For instance, some students are in sports such as soccer, football, basketball, and volleyball. Some students
are in sports, but some are not. Every student has things that occur unexpectedly and when these things happen, the students
should not have to worry about homework. Instead, they should be able to concentrate on the situation.
In a classroom, the teacher is there to explain things to you, but there is not always someone at home to help you.
Some of the things we are learning our family members have not been taught. Students should not have to do homework. Instead,
they should be allowed time to do their work in class. Students all have things in their lives that take up their time, which
takes away from their time to do homework.
In short, homework is unnecessary.
TOO MUCH HOMEWORK
By Paige Strella
Is there too much homework? Yes, that's what most students think, but some studies have shown that we don't have enough.
They are saying we need more.
For one thing, some teachers don't explain things well, consequently, you have homework that you don't know how to
do. Then you are stuck at home with something you are clueless about and you end up trying to figure it out for about three
hours. Sometimes I don't get to eat dinner because of how much homework I have!
Also, some teachers take the whole hour explaining new concepts, but they never get to the main point. So then I spend
time reading and trying to figure it out.
Sometimes students have games that night along with a whole bunch of homework to be done by the next day. Some games
go on until 8:30 to 9:00, then we have to do our homework, take a shower, and still eat dinner.
To sum it all up, students should not be getting more homework. We have enough work in school.
JUST ENOUGH HOMEWORK
By Autumn Mauller
As an eighth grader, I have just enough homework. It usually gets done in a reasonable amount of time. Having homework
usually keeps you at the same spot in the lesson as the rest of the class. As long as you understand the material, homework
isnt a big deal.
Getting homework done when you have a practice for some kind of sport is usually easy, although on game nights you
usually stay out until around eight or nine oclock. When this happens, it is very hard to get homework done.
Then there are the times you get overloaded with homework. This happens when you have a large project due and you also
have two or three regular assignments due at the same time. It is almost impossible to get everything done when this situation
occurs. However, this situation hardly ever happens.
When teachers give you homework nearly every night, it is usually because they spend basically the whole hour explaining
the lesson. They do this because when you have homework, unless you want to call your teacher, you can't ask questions. They
want to make sure you understand the lesson so you wont have any questions. Even though most teachers make sure you understand,
you could always get hold of a teacher who goes fast and won't explain to you in depth if you don't understand. If this happens,
just say something.
In conclusion, we get about the right amount of homework. It's easy to get done unless its a big project. The type
of teacher usually makes a difference on the amount of homework you get.
THE STUDENTS' FAULT OR THE TEACHERS'
By Brittany Harmon
Homework is the word every kid hates to hear. It's what keeps them from doing what they want to do every day after
school. Especially when they are assigned so much homework that they don't get any time to themselves.
Some kids will stay up all night working on an assignment or project for school. Other kids just simply skip doing
their homework. As a result, they don't do as well in school and their grades drop. Is it really the students fault or the
teachers?
Actually, it could be both. Sometimes the students are slackers, but other times the teachers assign too much homework.
There should be a limit to how much homework teacher can give out. They should give out enough to make students think,
but not so much that homework is the students only priority. Sometimes the amount of homework kids get is overwhelming.
Other school activities can get in the way of homework. For example, sports can be very time consuming. On game nights,
you have to watch the entire game and sometimes they run late. When you mix in dinner and sleeping, it doesn't leave much
time for getting homework done.
Therefore, teachers shouldn't assign more than 30 minutes to an hour of homework. If kids are up all night doing homework,
they can become stressed and that can affect their behavior in the classroom. Homework, by itself, isn't a bad thing. However,
too much of it can be a bad thing.
A NECESSARY EVIL
By Lindsey Hamm
It's amazing how history repeats itself, how the same worries and complaints resurface year after year. They say that
people become their parents. Maybe it's true. Naturally, most would deny it, but why is it that today we hear so many of the
same complaints we've heard for ages?
I'll admit, many things have changed and become harder for the young people of today, but why is this age-old question
about homework still coming up in conversations and reports?
In truth, no child wants homework, but we must admit that it does help the students understand what they are being
taught. It also helps the teachers understand what the students know and don't know so that they may plan their lessons better.
Homework does help in the education of young people.
Recent tests and studies have shown that most students in America have less than an hour of homework a night.
In contrast, students in other countries have up to twice as much. Students should not be swamped with home just
for the sake of it. They should be given homework when it helps the class program in their studies and prepare for the next
day.
Students should have homework, but not a set amount. It seems that some adults are forgetting the true purpose of homework,
which is to help the students and teachers understand whether or not they can do the work on their own. Further, it gives
the teachers more time at school for other activities that are fun and informative.
Overall, homework is not the most important aspect of school, but must be given its due. It makes students rely on
their own abilities, rather than the teachers', and it teaches us responsibility to get our work done.
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