Are We Teachers? - Why do so many people here post homework questions?

Those kinds of posts do seem to be increasing, don't they? I don't mind helping and will gladly guide the kid to finding the final answer on their own. (It's good practice for a teaching major.) However, the ones that expect us to do an entire list of equations or an essay will only recieve a stern note reminding the asker what the true purpose of school is!

There are many kids that are just lazy. On the other hand answers or examples are not always clearly stated in textbooks and I refuse to believe that you never ever left your book in your locker when you were in school. People don't generally want to spend their entire evening trying to dig through the Internet to find an answer when they have still more homework to do after they find the answer to that question.. As you know, search engines tend to just look at words while they completely ignore the context of the question. This site gives people an opportunity to get help from humans who do more than just process the words and bring up a list of results that contain those words. Moreover, I don't think that getting homework help here is any worse than getting help from a fellow classmate.

I'm not saying you don't have a point; I'm just saying that you're overgeneralizing a little which everyone does sometimes.

EDIT: Thumbs down, eh? Well if that's your opinion, fine. After all, isn't that what democracy is for? ;)

I don't think it's a lack of teaching ability in the classroom. I think it's a matter of many students being too lazy to do their own work.

Look carefully at the "questions" posted up here. Most of them are direct cut-and-paste (or bad retypes) of their homework assignments. Most of them aren't even questions! The kids never show that they've tried to accomplish anything on their own, they just expect us to do it for them. When I answer those kids, I will sometimes point them in the direction they need to go to find the answers, but I NEVER give it to them. I also give a stern lecture about doing their own work ... been reported for it a few times, but don't really care.

The kids that DO understand the difference between HELP and DO IT FOR ME are the ones I like to help. They are the ones who have shown their math work so we can help them find their mistakes. They post their essays so we can help make it better. They ask for places to look for information, not the information itself. THOSE are the kids to help.

If all of us who answer questions up here cared more for the kids and less for the stupid points that get us absolutely nothing (and YES, I do have a bunch of the damn things) then maybe the lazy ones would go elsewhere (or do their work!).

One thing I find very interesting, Y!A will slap your wrist for answers telling kids to do their own work, but there's nothing in the community guidelines about cheating or helping kids cheat or plagiarism! Now isn't THAT interesting?

EDIT: Just two questions down I found a PERFECT example! This person does not even attempt to do anything, just posts a direct homework assignment. Oh yea, if we do it, we get a "God Bless" ... gotta get right on THAT!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Au7Oe...

BTW: Nice answer for the question Free!

SECOND EDIT: Here is a kid who did it right! Kudos to her, and everyone should read her work!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ahtqx...

Teachers are paid to teach. Are you suggesting that we do their homework as well ? If you consider the number of children in the world, and the enormous amount of homework which is set daily, then the amount of it that comes on here is miniscule. The system is abused, as are all systems, but the losers are the abusers: it will be pretty plain to a teacher that a child has cheated on homework. It may even be beneficial to the child in the long run, to discover that you eventually get caught if you habitually cheat. There are a lot of children who do use this forum for the purpose for which it was intended, and I for one thoroughly enjoy the challenge of generating answers which are correct, clear and concise. The "serial" abusers I ignore. As should everyone else.

I answer the occasional Homework Help question - provided it is asked in this category, politely, and not in the History category. Those questions I do see in the History category, I just give thumbs up to the "Do your own homework!" answers. If they do ask politely in the proper category, and thank me politely for my answer - I take that into account when I see their next question.

The category is called Homework Help - that's why people post homework questions here. The problem is, many (not all, but MOST) of the people using that category: 1) don't understand the meaning of the word HELP (as opposed to "do this for me", and/or 2) they're lazy and know that someone will be so desperate for meaningless points that they'll do the work for them.

Some of us actually are teachers -- but GOOD teachers understand what it means to HELP and GUIDE, and know that spoonfeeding answers is NOT the way to help someone learn.

If this IS your last resort, then SHOW your work. DEMONSTRATE that you've done due dilligence so that it's clear you just need some HELP. Be specific instead of just posting your assignment.

They learn the most important: where to find information, and they are simply using this opportunity. Now they know about it, they would be stupid not to. If you don`t like to help a 12 year old with a problem, which for him is as important as any of yours, go and answer a question about hair colour.

It annoys me too, but getting others to do their daily homework only works until test time, then they bomb the test because they never learned how to do it. Some people who post answers to homework help talk the kids through HOW to get the answer instead of just giving the answer, and hopefully some of the kids take that to heart.

If you live in California at least, the students outweigh the teachers. There is a huge overcrowding of our classrooms, and if a kid can ask for HELP on here, then I believe we must help shape the minds of our future leaders. Like it or not, today's youth is tomorrows future. Help comes in a variety of ways, and a kid asking for help is better than a kid hoping to do his best, then falling further and further behind. Just my opinion, though. Don't help if you don't want to. There are enough of us willing to help. :)

Ad Hoc, - we are.

The trick is, if you answer the question,

try to create an understanding of ,

maybe even some interest in,

the subject, not just a grade.