Imagine sitting in your bedroom, it’s 10:55 p.m and you have to complete three major assignments, all due by 11:59 on Google Classroom. One assignment is a summative worth 70% of your grade and will definitely take the most time to do, leaving you with little to no time to finish the other two. One teacher has informed you that if your assignment [that is worth fewer points] is late, they won’t grade it and the other teacher will take 20 points off.  So, what do you do? Complete the most important assignment and save at least one grade, or complete the two assignments that will help your grade in two other classes? Homework can be headache to turn in on time when a student has seven classes to keep up with. 

Some students have voiced that teachers need to allow more time to complete work outside of class and ease up on how many assignments are handed out.

“Teachers put work on top of work, and it gets too confusing and a bit much sometimes.” Jaleah Hatcher, sophomore, said. 

However, some teachers respectfully disagreed with these students, saying that time is given in and out of class to finish their work. 

“I know I do [give enough class time], I can’t speak for other teachers, Sherry Wibben, science teacher, said. “It’s standard practice that we give students time to do assignments. Usually if a student has a question about an assignment, they can ask me in class. I’m the source.”

Other teachers make a point that students should complete certain assignments at home and not allow it to consume class time.

“It’s heartbreaking to me,” Dorthea Nevils, English teacher, said. “In previous years, I didn’t have to give up time in class for student to get work done that should have been done at home.” 

Further complicating matters, some students believe a few teachers are unapproachable in the classroom and would rather ask for help from other sources or not ask at all. 

Rhyan Haynes, junior, said she’s seen some improvement in her current teachers, but other teachers she would just prefer to google her question rather than ask the teacher.

Sitting down with students and taking time to thoroughly teach a lesson and making sure everybody understands is another way that teachers can help students relieve stress and succeed.

“Everybody doesn’t learn the same, everybody learns differently, I feel like they should slow down and teach the lesson more thoroughly then maybe we would understand the lessons,” Destiny Tatum, sophomore, said. “I feel like since everybody learns so differently, we shouldn’t use the grading system that we have. I don’t like it because an F shouldn’t always determine if we pass or fail a class.”

Coordination is another tip students would give to their teachers. A lot of student take part in a sports team or an after-school activity that can be time consuming.

“[Teachers] don’t coordinate with one another,” Merrick Hoel, sophomore, said. “It’s hard to manage when you have sports and other activities.” 

Even some teachers agree that there could be a little more communication with other faculty members when it comes to assignments and projects. 

“I think sometimes we do [coordinate around each other’s lessons], depending on the subject matter,” Matthew Horn, social studies teacher, said. “I think we could do a better job of coordinating together so we can maybe teach similar stuff or not overwhelm you with big assignments, especially with AP classes, but it is something that we’re working on.”