As someone who has been in advanced classes most of their life, homework is not unfamiliar to me. Throughout the day, as my planner fills up with tasks, I get prepared for the thrill of the night ahead. I expect no more than a tedious evening filled with homework—I’ll be consumed by math problems to solve, essays to read and write, graphs to draw, and workbook pages to complete.

That was until I started getting assigned notes to take. Now the idea of homework is both tedious and ineffective.

Taking notes for homework didn’t start as an issue for me; I’m not an aesthetic note-taker with 20 Amazon highlighters, but with my black pen and pink highlighter I get it done. As the school year progresses, this has become a nightly thing for me in the majority of my classes. In-class time is filled with student questions and example problems, and teachers expect students to come in with some knowledge from either a textbook, videos, or slideshows.

Each night I sit at my dining room table and work on a task; I am more focused on getting it done and watching the next episode of “Gilmore Girls” or listening to my parents’ work drama than I am on the actual notes I am taking. Hence, the new information never enters my brain, leaving me unprepared for class the next day.

A probable solution for this issue is to work on it during study hall, but a 25-minute period isn’t nearly enough time to make a dent in the overbearing pile of work in front of me. I watch a few of my AP Environmental Science videos at 2x speed, and by then the bell has rung. After school, I often have a club or extracurricular activity, meaning I won’t get home until 4:30 p.m. During track season, it is even later. This leaves me limited time to complete everything I may need to do before my eyes eventually close, and I find myself in bed, asleep. Consequently, I arrive at school unprepared for class as I don’t go in with the necessary information.

You may be thinking that the alternative is even worse: having to work on problems at home rather than in school. With this option, students can work through problems themselves and see what they understand and may need extra support for. It is a lot easier for me to pay attention while actively taking notes in class compared to watching a teacher solve a problem. Students should not be 100% responsible for learning all of the materials on their own. Class time should be designated for taking notes and learning new material, while homework should be for practicing and reinforcing the material. I think that this would be more effective for many students. Overall, note-taking should not be homework and students should not be left alone to learn new material.