We’ve all been there. We’ve all experienced that moment of unadulterated dread as the menacingly thick packets of paper are passed back, one unwilling student at a time. We’ve all felt that pang of horror as we leaf through it, the overwhelming mass of text predicting a long and grueling assignment. The trek ahead is long; the task, meaningless.

It’s ironic that so many of these hefty packets and lengthy assignments can be categorized by just one pesky word: busywork.

Teachers, I’m not suggesting that all of the work you assign is pointless. In-depth and provocative essays and labs provide powerful independent learning experiences, the occasional math worksheet can help solidify a difficult concept, and an optional study guide is beyond helpful and always appreciated.

I can understand how, in a moment of absentmindedness, you might assign busywork on top of these helpful assignments, possibly forgetting that your students receive homework from six other classes. Or perhaps, as is the case for many of my fellow seniors, that they are already bogged down with the college application process. Or it may have slipped your mind that, as human beings, your students lead entire lives outside of school.

And these lapses of judgment would be completely understandable and permissible.

You know, if they didn’t happen constantly.

For students of particularly homework-happy teachers, it’s a constant struggle to stay on the ball. As a senior struggling with a mad case of premature senioritis, I can personally attest to this. There is nothing more demoralizing than conquering one heap of homework, only to find a comparably colossal heap behind it – especially while battling the overwhelming urge to simply do nothing at all.

Teachers, it is for this reason that I make this humble appeal, and hope it catches at least one reasonable eye:

Massive packets of pointless worksheets and assignments accomplish nothing. Personally, when presented with a packet full of dinky yet time-consuming tasks, it is my natural and immediate inclination to dismiss its contents as pointless space-fillers. As such, the only true skill that I gain from them is a heightened ability to BS assignments, and my final product is always sub-par.

I don’t mean to dish out the complaints. I understand that homework is a necessary and beneficial facet of a student’s career. However, I find it becomes excessive – and even detrimental – when that homework assumes a dominant role in that student’s life.

So please, teachers, consider this plea the next time you plan on assigning five pages of mandatory study questions, or a packet of word problems, or a particularly lengthy journal assignment.

Sometimes, less is more.