So, why do we have homework anyway?

Believe it or not, I do not give homework assignment to make you miserable or cut into your social life. Each assignment that I give is designed to do one of two things:  1) introduce an idea that we will be dealing with in class, or 2) to review an idea that you will need to understand for a quiz and/or test.

For that reason, it is important that you do the best you can on the assignments.  Copying someone else’s work, or filling in spaces for the sake of making it appear that you completed the work will do you no good in the long run.  The assignments that I give are not intended to take tremendous amounts of time to complete properly. But I can guarantee that if you take the time to complete them properly, you will be much better off when quiz or test day arrives.

Guided Reading Questions

The purpose of these questions is to make sure that you understand the main ideas of the guided notes that we go over each day. It’s no secret that these are the same ideas that will be showing up on quizzes, chapter tests, and perhaps the Regents Exam.  For that reason alone, these questions are for your benefit.

When it comes to answering these questions, let me start with a couple of things not to do.  First of all, answers that are vague or incomplete are not useful for you.

Example:
Question - Philip II based his absolute power on what idea?
Answer - that he had all of it

If you were using this answer to prepare you for a test, you’d be in serious trouble.  There is simply not enough information there.

The other thing to avoid is simply looking for a line in the guided notes that looks like it has something to do with the question and copying it. 

Example:
Question - Philip II based his absolute power on what idea?
Answer - He said he ruled by divine right.

Remember, the point of the questions is to help you review the material, and make sure you understand the main points.  The answer here, which is copied from the notes, is on the right track, but it doesn’t mean that you actually understand the main ideas.

So, here are my suggestions for how to approach the guided reading questions:

• Read the question. Think about it, and make sure that you understand what the question is asking you. If you don’t understand it, that’s what I’m here for.
• Read back over the guided notes pertaining to that question. Think about what we talked about while going over them.  When I’m talking while doing the notes, I’m honestly doing more than just filling up the silence, I’m explaining the main ideas.
• Go back and answer the question. Put your answers in your own words.  Make sure that you could explain it to someone who knows nothing about the topic. Remember that these answers are going to be one of your most valuable resources for studying for tests and quizzes. Any effort that you put into them will be repaid.

  Example:
  Question - Philip II based his absolute power on what idea?
  Answer - Philip II said that his power was based on divine right, which means that God had given him the power to rule. The point of this is that God must know who the best person for the job is, so no one should question Philip II.

Final Thoughts

I realize that to some of you, this seems like a lot of work, and you’ll want to fall back on copying from the notes, or throwing down a few words to make it look like you’ve completed the assignment.  Please don’t do that. First of all, know that when checking homework, I do look for this, and grade accordingly.  Secondly, I can tell you from experience that by the end of the second chapter, it is very easy to tell the difference between students who are taking the time to do the work properly, and those who are trying to do the minimum amount of work that will get them homework credit.  The ones who put the work in are usually the ones who end up passing the Regents Exam.