homework in the 90s

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

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19 Ways Teaching Was Different in the ’90s

If you close your eyes, you can almost hear the whirring of the overhead projector fan.

Vibe with me here.

It’s 1993. You wake up, put your hair in a claw clip, fluff your bangs, and throw on an oversized sports jacket (don’t worry, it goes with your high-waisted pleated pants). You pour yourself a bowl of Waffle Crisp while catching the end of a Jenny Jones rerun on the tiny black-and-white TV in your kitchen. You hop in your Chevy Corsica and jam out to your Whitney Houston cassette.

You’re on your way to teach in the ’90s.

Whether or not you can actually remember being in the classroom in the 1990s, here’s how teaching was different in this golden (and hot pink and aqua) age:

1. You had to keep track of software and resources on CDs and floppy disks.

2. You decked out your classroom in Garfield posters.

Source: eBay

3. Students had to wait until they got home to tell their parents the flagrant injustices you’d committed.

But they’d usually forget them by lunchtime.

4. Your entire professional life was either printing, writing upon, or cleaning transparencies.

“It’s on the ceiling” was the ’90s version of “You’re on mute.”

5. You found the Superman “S” drawn on every classroom surface at the end of the day.

Source: Instructables

6. TVs were wheeled in on carts and had to be requested in advance.

If your class heard those wheels squeaking down the hallway, they knew their day was about to get a whole lot better.

7. Classroom management came in the form of scratch ’n sniff stickers.

What did the robot one smell like?

8. You took up notes instead of phones. (If you could get them open.)

9. Progress reports actually functioned as progress reports.

And you didn’t have to document six phone calls home before putting a grade below 90 on them.

10. You shudder now thinking of what your students were looking up on “The World-Wide Web” without firewalls or filters of any kind.

11. you went around stunting in one of these get-ups..

Dibs on the one on the left.

12. You didn’t have to think about assigning un-Googleable homework questions.

Ask Jeeves wasn’t great at linear algebra.

13. School funding apparently depended on cereal box tops.

Source: Listia

14. You were constantly confiscating Tamagotchis, Game Boy Advances, and Tech Decks.

Source: Amazon

15. You rushed to the cafeteria a little faster than you’d like to admit on rectangle-pizza day.

Craving a piece of that rectangular goodness? Here’s a copycat recipe !

16. You had to literally pry your students away from Kid Pix and Oregon Trail.

Sources: Wikipedia and Know Your Meme

Want to jump back in time? You can still play around on Kid Pix and try your luck on the Oregon Trail !

17. You knew there was going to be a mutiny when you brought this bad boy out.

Source: Brain Quest on Amazon

18. You’d crack open a refreshing beverage between classes.

Sources: Pinterest and Reddit r/Nostalgia

19. Dress-code violators rocked JNCO jeans and Bart Simpson T-shirts.

Sources: Throwbacks and Pacsun

Whether you feel more “ Good Riddance ” or “ It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday ” about your ’90s teaching days, I hope you enjoyed this little stroll down memory lane. (Feel free to listen to either song in your portable CD player.)

What do you remember about teaching or learning in the ’90s? Let us know in the comments!

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• Back To School

Kids Today Will Never Understand — Here's What Back-to-School Looked Like in the '90s

Everyone looks back on their childhood as a "simpler time," but for kids who went to school in the '90s, there's no truer sentiment. School lunches consisted of PB&Js and milk, free time involved reading rather than playing educational games on iPads, and math was, well . . . math (throwing shade your way, Common Core ).

Although some things will never change, like kids freaking out over getting to go shopping for school supplies , so much about the '90s looked completely different. If you were a '90s kid, take a stroll down memory lane with us , won't you?

First Day of School Outfits Were a Little More Dorky

OK, a lot more dorky .

As Were Class Photos on Picture Day

You stood on a rickety set of risers and there was zero editing for the final product .

You Had a Caboodle Full of Stuff to Get Ready With in the A.M.

It was always filled to the brim and you could never get it closed (relive the good old days with this Urban Outfitters Caboodle ($10)).

Including These Butterfly Clips

If you didn't have 20 in your hair at once, you were doing it wrong (grab 12 of these pastel ones on Etsy for $8).

And 8 Million of These Lip Smackers Balms

Of which you would trade the flavors you didn't want with your friends.

You Won the Jackpot If Your Mom Packed Dunkaroos For Lunch

Especially if it was the sprinkled frosting version .

With a Yoo-Hoo to Wash Them Down

There was nothing more refreshing than this water-based chocolate drink, especially if it came in a juice box.

All in Your Plastic Lunch Box With Matching Thermos

What theme was yours? (Mine was Barbie, thanky ou very much, but you can still grab this vintage Dinosaurs one on Esty ($16).)

At Recess, You’d Make One of These Cootie Catchers to Tell Fortunes

And promptly rig your friends' results.

Or Trade Pokémon Cards

Because you had to catch 'em all (grab a '90s set of Pokémon cards on Etsy for $10).

All of Your School Supplies Would Be Lisa Frank

So much color, so many Golden Retriever puppies.

And You Couldn’t Live Without a New Trapper Keeper

You know, for all of your important papers to get shoved into haphazardly (keep crunching those papers into this vintage Trapper Keeper on, sale for $20).

No Matter How Many Crayons You Had at Home, You Needed a Fresh Box For School

And if your mom let you get the 64-pack, it was like the holidays came early.

And a Pack of Mr. Sketch Scented Markers

That you'd sniff a little too hard and get all over the tip of your nose (keep on sniffing with this vintage set of scented markers for $14).

AND Some Stacking Pencils

Did anyone ever actually get through a full pencil tip, or did everyone just push them through, losing it in the abyss forever? ( Buy 50 more to test out your theory on Etsy for $13).

You Kept Them All in a Space Maker

And its hinges would be broken by the third week of school (get this pink one from Etsy $16).

Many of Your Lessons Used an Overhead Projector

Which was never, ever in focus.

You's Watch a Movie on VHS That Applied to the Lesson

In a combo TV/VCR that never actually worked, usually.

For Many Assignments, You Had to Write in Cursive

And if you made a mistake , you had to start over.

When You Finished an Assignment Early, You'd Free Read One of These Books

Or something from the Goosebumps series , The Boxcar Children , or another book series (get a copy of any of the ones shown for just $2 on Etsy .

You'd Try to Sneak in Some Time With Your Tamagotchi Under Your Desk

They needed to be fed in real time or else you'd have a tragedy on your hands.

You'd “Work" in a Computer Lab That Looked Like This During Library

And by work, we mean typing up an assignment for another class.

You'd Save Your Typed Assignments to These Floppy Disks

Which would constantly break so your work would be lost forever.

You'd Learn How to Type With Mavis Beacon

But everyone would cheat and look down at the keys anyway.

You'd Try to Spend the Whole Class Playing Your Friends in Oregon Trail

And would promptly die of dysentery every damn time (rep the times with this glow-in-the-dark Oregon Trail pin ($12)).

Or Attempt to Play Minesweeper Solo

But literally no one knew that there was supposedly an actual formula to follow when playing and would die hundreds of times in a row.

School Trips Weren’t All That Involved

A hay ride and some apple picking was "science."

Class Birthdays Were at a Chuck-E-Cheese 9 Times Out of 10

Long live the days of knowing you'd be invited to every kid's birthday party in your whole 30-kid class.

• The '90s

Teaching in the ’90s vs. NOW: How the Times Have Changed

by David Rode

School has certainly changed a lot in the last 30 years. As we continue on with all the challenges and changes of a brand new decade, let’s take a look back to see just how far we’ve come since those funky, fresh ’90s.

Teaching in the ’90s vs NOW:

In the ’90s: Teachers have always tried to blend in a few current phrases to make themselves feel relevant and for the most part, we fail miserably. Back in the ’90s, there was always that one teacher walking the halls telling kids that his fly new ride was totally radical. And students would likely roll their eyes and keep on walking.

Now : These days if you want to stay in the know, you better be ready to spill some tea to see who’s throwing shade and who is getting a little salty because bae is no longer #lifegoals and it may be time to yeet and move on. If you just understood even half of that sentence, you’re already ahead of most of us.

2. Parent-Teacher Conferences

What is my child doing wrong vs. What is the teacher doing wrong?

In the ’90s : Back in the day, most parent-teacher conferences were a way for teachers to let parents know that their child was dropping the ball. That’s normally when the child gets that “Uh-oh” look on their face and parents give their kid the evil death glare and make sure they get their act together.

Now : Parent interactions seem very different when considering the ’90s vs. now! These days, parent-teacher conferences are a way for parents to let teachers know that they are dropping the ball. That’s normally when the teacher gets that “Uh-oh” look on their face and parents give teachers the evil death glare and try to tell them how they need to get their act together.

Similar… and yet so very different.

In the ’90s : Fighting with kids to follow dress code is a tale as old as time. In the 90s, teachers constantly had to remind boys to pull their pants up since for some inexplicable reason it was considered cool to walk around with clothing 7 sizes too big.

Now : Today, we’ve all learned to keep our pants up where they belong, but there’s a new epidemic sweeping schools in the form of hoodies. Some schools have straight up banned them, others have to deal with students slowly sinking into their hoodies until they look like a walking pile of laundry.

4. Technology

In the ’90s : Teachers had it rough 30 years ago. When we wanted to show pictures to our students we had to drag the overhead projector out of storage, fire up its 2,000-degree lamp and hope you didn’t burn your retinas staring at it. And if you wanted to show a video you had to wheel in “the TV” (because every school only had one). 

Now : Of course the biggest change to teaching in the ’90s vs. now is technology. Technology (when it works) has become a teacher’s best friend. You are always connected to the information superhighway and smart boards keep getting smarter and smarter. You need educational videos? We got every educational video ever. You need interactive games? We have all of them too!

5. Students’ rewards

In the ’90s : Back then, if you were the teacher’s pet you got to clap the erasers outside at the end of the day. A few minutes of escape from classroom boredom and a breath of precious fresh air.

Now : Today, the last thing kids seem to want is fresh air. If you want to reward a kid these days, you better carry a bag of organic candy or give them some extra game time on the computer. 

6. Science experiments

In the ’90s : We were all so easily impressed 30 years ago. Cutting open a frog or combining baking soda with a little vinegar was all it took to grab student’s attention back then.

Now : These days, if you want to grab a student’s attention, you’re fighting an uphill battle. You better bring your A-game in the science classroom. Even sure-fire winners like Diet Coke and Mentos are passed these days. If it doesn’t involve an explosion, augmented reality, or something they can eat, they probably won’t be impressed.

7. Math word problems

In the ’90s : Getting kids interested in solving word problems has always been a challenge. That’s why back in the day we made word problems relatable. If Johnny’s weekly allowance is $25, and he already bought $7 worth of Pogs, does he have enough to buy 3 cassettes at $5 each?

Now : Sadly, some of today’s word problems need a lot of updating. You try explaining to your middle schoolers why the child in this problem is buying 1,000 “minutes” for her cell phone plan. Then watch them recoil in horror when the next problem involves text messages that cost $.10 each!

8. Making copies

In the ’90s : Making copies in the ’90s was a chore. Some of us were still using the ol’ reliable mimeograph machine. Sure the copies were just one color and almost too blurry to read, but kids sure loved smelling that ink. Then the machine would break and teachers would lose their minds.

Now : Today’s schools bring in huge copy machines that can do it all. Staple, collate, print on both sides… it’s amazing. Of course, learning how to do all those things takes a degree in advanced physics. And even then the machine breaks and teachers lose their minds.

See, not everything has changed in 30 years.

What would you add to the changes in teaching in the ’90s vs now? Let us know in the #teacherlife community !

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History of Homework

The institution of homework is deeply embedded in the American culture. How many times as a child have you heard your parents say that you can’t go outside, play games, or get dessert until you have finished your homework? Or how many times have you uttered that phrase to your own children? Although the concept of a homework assignment has been questioned throughout history, and probably will be, time and time again, it is still viewed as something normal, and as a part of every student’s life. Even outside the school, phrases like “you haven’t done your homework on that pitch/project” are used to suggest that a person hasn’t done all they could have done to prepare for a certain challenge.

Now, over time, the public’s attitude toward homework has changed numerous times, keeping in line with then active social trends and philosophies, and that battle is still raging on today. But before we take a look at what the future holds for the concept of homework, let’s take a trip down memory lane first. You will find that the arguments in favor or against homework were almost exactly the same as they are today.

Homework through History

Seeing as primary education at the end of 19th century was not mandatory, student attendance couldn’t be described as regular. The classrooms were a lot different, as well, with students of different ages sitting together in the same class. Moreover, a very small percentage of children would choose to pursue education past the 4th grade. Once they have learned to read, write, and do some basic arithmetic, they would leave school in order to find work or to help around the house. Homework was rare occurrence, because setting aside a few hours for learning each night interfered with their chores and daily obligations.

As education became more available and more progressive at the turn of the 20th century, there was a strong rebellion against homework taking place in academic circles. Even pediatricians got in on the debate, stating that children should not be made to do homework, as it robs them of all the benefits provided by physical activities and time spent outside the house. Seeing as conditions such as the attention deficit disorder were not diagnosed back then, homework was to blame.

This anti-homework movement reached its peak in the 1930s, with a Society for the Abolition of Homework being formed in order to prevent schools from giving students homework, with numerous school districts following their lead. Even in those schools where homework was not abolished, very few homework assignments were given. This continued all the way until the end of the 1950s, which marked a sharp turn in country’s attitude towards homework.

The reason for this was the launch of the Sputnik I satellite by the Soviet Union in 1957. Seeing as the entire Cold War era was marked by the constant competition between USA and the Soviet Union, U.S. educators, teachers, and even parents were afraid that their children, and the entire nation, would be left behind by their Soviet counterparts, who would lead the way into the future, which meant that homework was once again back on the map, and more important than ever.

Things changed again in the late 60s and early 70s. Vietnam War was still raging on, giving birth to civil rights movement and counterculture, which were looking to shake up all of the previously established norms. Homework was yet again under the microscope. It was argued that homework got in the way of kids socializing, and even their sleep, which meant that homework had yet again fallen from grace, just like it had at the beginning of the century.

In the 1980s, the climate changed again, spurred on by the study called A Nation at Risk which blamed the shaky U.S. economy on schools which weren’t challenging their students enough. As a result, the entire school system was labeled as mediocre in an age where the entire country was striving toward excellence, as saw the bright young minds of tomorrow as its way out. There was more of everything: classes, grades, tests, and more homework. This trend spilled over into the 90s, as well.

At the end of the 90s, homework was yet again under the attack. It was cited that children are overworked and stressed out. The increasing demand for tutors was the key argument. If students needed homework assignment help, there was too much of it. But, besides homework help, homework was also viewed as an obstacle for families with two working parents. The only time parents would get to spend time with their children was being usurped, as kids were forced to work on their homework for hours.

Present Day

While few will argue the role homework plays in reinforcing the information taught in class, there is still talk about how much homework is too much. According to certain studies, the effectiveness of homework starts to decline if the students are given more than 90 minutes of homework every day, which is evident by their test results. Current trends are not concerned with whether or not homework has its merits. It does, there is no question about it, but the main goal right now find the right balance between quantity and quality.

Also, homework in a traditional sense might be susceptible to change, because of the increasingly important role modern technology plays in our lives, and it affects the students, as well. We don’t know what the future holds, but one thing is for sure: we should always do our homework and be prepared.

Like many of my fellow millennials, I constantly find myself fighting the urge to check my phone. While I think it was a probably a good thing that a phone wasn't available to me when I was a kid, but that didn't mean I didn't experience the homework struggles that every kid had in the '90s . Where there's a will, there's a way, right? For the most part, I was a good student but, still, who wants to do homework? The lack of technology didn’t slow down '90s kids from procrastinating. If anything, it just made their procrastination attempts (and, usually, successes) that much more elaborate and imaginative and crafty. Like, literally, we did crafts. How else could we entertain ourselves until Tiny Toons came on? Just kidding. Sort of.

Seriously, as a slightly older millennial, most of my early memories came from the '90s , and I have a warm, nostalgic longing for the lazy afternoons I spent at my parents' house, popping a video into our aging VHS player, attempting to connect our computer to our modem, and using the Casio keyboard I loved with a fiery passion, all in an attempt to avoid sitting down and doing my homework. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, and when I ran out of ideas on how to avoid homework, I simply tried my hand at the following:

We Wandered Over To Our Friend's House

Because now kids just text or FaceTime or use Facebook or send a tweet or do something that doesn't require them actually going outside and traveling to their friends' houses.

We Watched Daytime Television

I can think of two main categories: Jerry Springer and everything else. I'm pretty sure that, technically, I wasn't supposed to watch Jerry, but it still, um, happened on occasion. Luckily for me, gems like Saved By The Bell and Animaniacs were also in regular rotation. What do kids watch now? Is MTV's TRL still a thing?

We Flipped Through Magazines

Do kids even purchase magazines? Wait, do they even know what magazines are?

We Discussed (At Length) Leonardo DiCaprio, Backstreet Boys, N Sync, And Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Talk about the ultimate crushes. I mean, say what you will about Harry Styles and his now-solo career , but he has nothing on JTT. Nothing, you hear me?!

We Flipped Through Tween Catalogs For Fashion Insporation

Confession: I never ordered a single thing, but I thought about it all the time.

We At Processed Snacks

It sounds kinda bad, but weren't all snacks processed in the '90s? Now kids are into organic, fresh, farm-to-table treats, and that's definitely not what the '90s were about.

We Played On The Monkey Bars (Over Concrete)

Safety first, right? Thankfully, we've lived to tell about it.

We Talked On Corded Telephones

Those who were lucky enough to have their own phones in their own rooms had it made. Now I think kids in elementary school have their own cellphones.

We Wrote Notes To Our Friends On Notebook Paper

And then we folded them creatively and handed them over at school the following day. None of this newfangled texting. Our emojis were actual facial expressions.

40 Things Only '90s Kids Will Remember

Why was it so hard to keep your Tamagotchi alive?!

So many things happened in the 1990s that it's kind of impossible to sum it all up. The internet went mainstream, grunge and pop dominated music charts, and the president had an affair. And that's just a tiny fraction of what went down. Even if you lived through it, it's easy to forget all of the things that made the '90s truly unique. 'Member this?

Feeling like a rockstar when you opened a Capri Sun without breaking it.

Capri Suns are straight-up delicious and their foil casing was pretty revolutionary when it first came out. It took some practice, but figuring out how to open one without jamming your straw through the top (or into your finger) was a serious skill.

Building up a serious troll doll collection.

Troll dolls were everything back in the day, and you couldn't have just one. A major downside: It was hard AF to brush their hair.

Obsessing over 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch.'

It was the stuff of high school dreams: 16-year-old Sabrina found out she's a witch and gets to perform magic all the time. How could you not watch?

Living your best life on a pool noodle.

When pool noodles became popular, it was kind of mind-blowing. Being able to float on something you didn't have to blow up just made you feel really, really cool—that, and being able to shoot water out of one end like an elephant, of course.

Trying to keep your parents from vacuuming up your Polly Pockets.

They were teeny-tiny figurines that were forever getting lost. But you just so happened to have a zillion of them, so it was all good.

Blowing on your CD before playing it.

CDs were way cooler than tapes, but they were kinda finicky. Blowing and shirt-rubbing were all socially-accepted ways to try to make your CDs play without skipping.

Watching TGIF every Friday night.

Way back before everyone had Netflix and Hulu, there was the family-friendly TGIF lineup to fill up your Friday nights. Full House, Family Matters, Step By Step ...now that was good TV.

Feeling like your American Girl doll just got you.

American Girl dolls technically came out in the mid-'80s, but they really blew up in the '90s. Reading about the adventures of your American Girl doll while she chilled nearby on her stand was pretty freaking cool.

Getting pissed when your sister taped over your favorite show.

Back before there was DVR, you had to rely on a VHS when you couldn't make it home for your favorite show. Unfortunately, you could tape over those tapes, which often sparked epic wars between siblings.

Listening to nothing but girl bands.

The Spice Girls, Destiny's Child, TLC...it was pretty much you, but in a band. And, you know, with cooler outfits.

Unless you were listening to your favorite boy band.

You were either heavy into 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, or 98 Degrees, and obviously you were going to marry someone from "your" band someday. You couldn't ride the fence with these, either—you had to go all in with one or the other.

Spending all your time at your friend's house because she had a trampoline.

You could spend hours jumping up and down on one of these, and the fact that your parents thought they were dangerous only made them cooler.

Watching TRL after school.

Total Request Live , aka TRL , as everyone called it, was must-watch after-school programming. Voting for your favorite video to make the top 10 was the perfect way to use up time you should have been spending on homework.

Completely bugging out over Y2K.

No one knew what would happen at midnight on January 1, 2000. Would the internet crash and the world shut down? Despite people completely freaking out, nothing happened.

Worshipping Britney and Justin as the ultimate power couple.

If anyone else dated Justin Timberlake, 'N Sync fans would have hated her. But this was Britney freaking Spears. The two were everywhere in the late '90s, and everyone wanted to be them.

Trying (and failing) to keep your Tamagotchi alive.

Getting a Tamagotchi seemed like a good idea at the time—it was like a pet, but you didn't have to clean up after it. But after two days of forgetting to feed and play with it, you were kinda over it.

Getting up to pee during commercial breaks.

It's easy to pause your favorite show now when you want to eat, pee, or do whatever. Back then, you just had to wait for commercial breaks and scramble to jam everything in before they were over.

Shouting 'Run, Forrest, run!' at any given opportunity.

Forrest Gump came out in 1994, and it was huge . Everyone would quote "Run, Forrest, run!" anytime they saw someone running because, you know, it was so original.

Using the internet for the first time.

The World Wide Web was technically invented in 1989, but it really took off in the '90s. Sure, you had to use dial-up and it took forever for really basic websites to load, but the internet was so, so cool.

Watching 'Titanic' until you could recite every line.

Titanic came out in 1997, and everyone and their mom obsessed over the love story of Jack and Rose, and that damn boat ruining everything. Getting misty-eyed while listening to Celine Dion sing "My Heart Will Go On" was practically a rite of passage.

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Life | School | 90s

10 Things That Helped Us All Survive Elementary School In The 90s

By Tanya | Jun 15, 2024

Going to elementary school is something that we all had to do, but we all had different experiences.

Socially, elementary school was a battlefield. It was exhausting and more dramatic than it needed to be, but at least we all grew up before the internet was a thing.

Nowadays kids have to deal with their bullies following them home, at least virtually, and never getting a chance to be alone. Even if it's from their friends, kids should have some time to themselves, right?

Well, when we grew up in the 90s, times were just a lot simpler. Who agrees with me?

To be fair, we had the best of both worlds!

We spent our younger years playing with toys and growing our imaginations, and then by the time we were in high school the internet was around so we still got the benefits of online research!

But elementary school wasn't the worst time, really. Maybe the social aspects sucked, but a lot of the stuff we did was pretty awesome.

Those things that truly made the 90s elementary school experience what it was really helped us make it through.

Things like:

1. The joy you experienced when the teacher wheeled in a TV cart

This meant that you were going to be watching Bill Nye, Magic School Bus , or some other awesome movie because the teacher didn't feel like teaching you.

It was great, because if you were really sleepy you could at least put your head down and awkwardly lean so you could still see the screen, as long as you didn't accidentally fall asleep.

Anytime you got to watch a movie was better than class, even if the movie was trying to sneakily teach you something.

2. The joy that came from buying a new Lisa Frank diary, folder, or notebook

Lisa Frank was around before the 90s, yes, but we still loved her just as much as the 80s kids.

You could get a notebook, a diary, stationary, folders, binders, pencil cases, literally any of the school supplies you needed, covered in rainbow horses, dolphins, puppies and kittens.

They were almost blindingly bright and happy looking, but you know what, we all loved it.

3. Finally getting your first set of mechanical pencils

Will I ever fully understand why we did this? No, but literally every single person who has owned a mechanical pencil has done this at least 20 times.

The only bad part about this was if you accidentally let go of the eraser and then the lead locked in place. I snapped off the lead so much more often than I should have just because I got distracted so easily.

4. Getting one of those Ice Cream cups and eating it with a wooden spoon

Who wants a real spoon when you can have this glorified Popsicle stick to scoop up your delicious frozen treat?

Sure, sometimes the spoon would snap, leaving you with a very sharp edge to worry about. But honestly, ice cream cups just wouldn't taste the same without that slight wood favor.

5. Scooter games in gym class

I know now they make ones with handles to try and stop kids from crushing their fingers, but that takes away half the fun. I mean, it doesn't actually, but it does lower the stakes a bit.

We would sit on these little scooters and scuttle around like little crabs, trying as hard as we could to move faster.

I still remember the one time my friend was pushing me on a scooter and my foot slipped off the edge and those rubber-soled gym shoes we all had to buy stopped me faster than expected and she went soaring over my head. It was very impressive (and painful).

6. The other excellent gym class option: The giant parachute

What kind of athletic skill did this teach us? No one knows, but it was super fun!

There was just something so calming about rushing in with all of your classmates and having to work together to keep all the air in as long as possible.

I guess it taught us some teamwork skills, so at least that's something!

7. Playing Heads up 7up

Okay, hands up if you've cheated at 7up... If your hand isn't up right now you're lying.

This game was tricky and kind of embarrassing if it took you too long to figure out who tagged you, but it was the best way to end the week.

But seriously, everyone was cheating all the time.

8. Scholastic Book Fair day

Nothing is more wonderful or special than Book Fair day. Getting to pick out a new book or two was the absolute best thing imaginable.

It was a bonus if you were able to save up your allowance so that you could pick out some super cool new bookmarks!

Seriously, I think if you had to pick one thing, the book fair was probably the best part of elementary school.

9. Mr. Sketch scented markers were a necessity

My favorite was always purple. I don't know what it is about artificial grape scent, but it's the absolute best.

We used them to decorate all of our bristol board posters and our construction paper, but you had to be really careful because it would bleed right through the paper.

10. Passing notes in class

Before there was text messaging, we would have to write our notes on real paper. I know, crazy right?

We had all these cool ways to fold them and tricks to get them to our friends when they sat on the other side of the room, but you had to make sure it was marked confidential, otherwise anyone could read it.

No matter what part of elementary school helped you cope with the crazy emotions and dramatic social politics, I think we can all agree that elementary school in the 90s was pretty much the best.

Seriously, I can't emphasize enough how good and wonderful Scholastic Book Fairs were. There is no doubt in my mind that an elementary school experience isn't complete without one.

But even outside of school times have changed. So many things we used to do are no longer socially acceptable.

H/T - The Odyssey / Imgulz

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6 Things Students in the 90s Did Between Lessons When There Were No Smartphones

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The world has changed in the past 30 years. Technology has considerably improved not only the lives of students but also of teachers and parents alike. If back in the 90s the combination of students with smartphones didn’t exist, nowadays you can’t find a student without a smartphone.

Smartphones rule our lives . They are essentially a tiny computers which can take amazing photographs and also connect to the internet. If you are a student nowadays and you find yourself bored between lessons, you surely just grab your smartphone and scroll your social media feed.

But things were pretty different back in the 90s and students saved the breaks between lessons for other activities. Below you will find a list of 6 common things that students did back then when they weren’t distracted by a smartphone. Who knows, it might even inspire you to put your phone away.

1. Switch Tables In some classes, you just wanted to stay near your friends. Maybe the teacher was more permissive and you were allowed to talk for the whole class. Or maybe you wanted to work in the same writing group as your fellow friends. So, what did students do between lessons?

They switched tables with the hope that they will be closer to their friends. Unfortunately, some teachers did not allow these table switches, so many students were asked to return to their original places. But it was worth the shot, as some teachers had not even noticed the changes.

2 . Copy the Homework and Not Buy an Assignment Online Back then, when the internet was just developing, you couldn’t write on a forum to get answers to your Math problem. Or, you couldn’t search on Wikipedia for some information about a historical figure. All the information you could ever find was in books and libraries, so many students struggled to find time to do all their homework.

So, what did they do between lessons? They copied the homework off someone else. Sometimes that became a skill in itself if the homework was long and you had to finish copying it before the start of the lesson.

Things are pretty different nowadays. Even though the college and teacher’s expectations are higher than before, college students can still meet them. If they need to write an essay or assignment on a specific topic, one thing they can do is just buy an assignment and relax . The era of copying information on the internet ended, as now it is easier for teachers to identify those who did this. Why? Because assignments were similar as students got their inspiration from the same sources. Now, there are writing services with expert writers, ready to support students in their academic pursuits.

3. Gossip If nowadays you can gossip online, as there are many message applications, in the 90s things were different. You could write the message on a piece of paper and send it to your target friends. But until that piece of paper reached them, it sometimes had to go through the hands of many other classmates, some of whom even attempted to read it.

So, when the teacher was out of class, students gathered for gossip. They talked about that new couple in the school or news and updates on their favorite actors or singers. The excitement was real.

4. Sleep What do you do when you need to attend classes but you didn’t get enough sleep last night? You try to sleep between lessons. Even though it may seem odd, this may be among the habits that nowadays students have kept. You can still see some of them trying to sleep between lessons. And if you manage to fall asleep, it may turn out to be that power nap you were looking for. Just be careful that no-one does anything to you while you are asleep, such as drawing on your face or sticking something to your back.

5. Have a Snack Food supplies you with the energy you need. And when you are a student, you need a lot of energy to focus on the lessons and gain new knowledge. But breaks between lessons were not for that back in the 90s. They were for 90s snacks . Students shared snacks and some of them even continued munching on them during lessons. Because when the teacher is not paying attention, you could eat something and hope you won’t get noticed.

6. Go to the Toilet Even though this might seem obvious, back in the 90s teachers had a more obsolete view on how education should be done. So, even though a student might ask for permission to go to the bathroom during classes, they were often not allowed to. So some people might always rush to the toilet when the bell went.

Conclusion Things are different with smartphones, including the activities students engage in between lessons. Back in the 90s, real interaction with colleagues and friends was what ruled the breaks.

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Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today  sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

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Senior Contributing Editor

Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

She can be reached at [email protected] .

Comments & Discussion

Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.

There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

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We’re Nostalgic for Back to School…Only it (Literally) Looks a Lot Different Today self.__wrap_b=(t,n,e)=>{e=e||document.querySelector(`[data-br="${t}"]`);let s=e.parentElement,r=R=>e.style.maxWidth=R+"px";e.style.maxWidth="";let o=s.clientWidth,i=s.clientHeight,c=o/2-.25,l=o+.5,u;if(o){for(;c+1 {self.__wrap_b(0,+e.dataset.brr,e)})).observe(s)};self.__wrap_b(":Rcaha6:",1)

“Back to school” hasn’t looked the same for the last two years , and we’re all desperate for a good old fashioned first day. It got us thinking about our own first days in elementary school — and all the excitement and promise that a new school year brings. But things have changed since the days of Lisa Frank and colorful gel pens ( even if the ‘90s are so hot right now ). Think about it: That day, our parents probably took our “first day of school” picture on a disposable or digital camera (and printed doubles to send to family). Today, parents take approximately 78 pictures (photo-ready sign included) and have one posted on Insta before their kid even gets on the bus. 

We chatted with Casey Lewis, a youth culture writer and creator of the newsletter “After School” about some of the back to school trends that were “da bomb” in the ‘90s vs now. Don’t worry: Classics never go out of style.

The coolest back to school gadgets: 

‘90s : Tamagotchis (must. keep. it. alive.), fancy mechanical pencils, and a super portable (riiiiiight) CD Walkman (shoutout to the first NOW CD that came out in 1998)

Now: AirPods, everyone gets a laptop (Oprah style), but the cool kids also have an Apple Pencil and Nintendo Switch

Back to school fashion:

‘90s: Your favorite Limited Too outfit, butterfly clips (at least 20 in your hair, but who’s counting), platform shoes (pretty much anything inspired by the Spice Girls), slap bracelets, and a Baby-G watch

Now: Gender-free clothing (see: oversized t-shirts and hoodies), high-top Converse (the brand that will outlive us all) 

What’s for lunch:

‘90s: Lunchables, or brown bags filled with PB&J sandwiches and a mix of Frito Lay chips, Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Dunkaroos, and of course, milk (straight up)

Now: Chubby Snacks and Goodles (today’s healthy-ish versions of 90s ‘junk food’) 

Socializing:

‘90s: Passing notes in class and rushing home to AOL’s instant messenger (yOu KnOw YoU tHoUgHt LoNg AnD hArD aBoUt YoUr AwAy MeSsAgE)

Now: Texting and all the apps (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, BeReal)...we’re probably missing a few, because kids these days

After School:

90s: Homework, rehearsing the dance from your favorite MTV music video with your BFF, and playing Manhunt until it got dark

Now: Clubs, sports, streaming YouTube, filming TikTok, and homework (like we said, some things never change) 

Kids getting ready for their first day of school won’t experience the rush of finding out who their teacher is going to be (via mail) and running to their friend’s house to find they’re both in the same class (score). Or the dedication it takes to memorize their friends’ phone numbers. But they do have the luxury of using tablets at school and never having to worry about sharpening a pencil manually in front of the whole class. And don’t worry: Jansport backpacks and composition books are still on the back to school shopping list . 

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12 Things You Remember If You Went To School in the 90s

The 1990s brought us stackable lunch meat, creative school supplies and colorful EVERYTHING. Take a walk down memory lane as we revisit some of our favorite school trends from the 90s - and then learn how you can help school kids today make their own memories! 

1. Everything Lisa Frank

Image from craveonline.com .

How could anyone forget these psychedelic colors and cute but slightly creepy baby animals? From folders to lunchboxes to stickers, Lisa Frank was the brand to have.

2. Giant gym parachutes

Image from reddit.

By far the most exciting feeling of elementary school was walking into P.E. and seeing a giant rainbow parachute on the floor. It was a promise that gym class today would involve games, giggles, and too many children crammed under a piece of cloth.  

3. Lunchables

Image from oneresult.com.

These ready-made lunches automatically made you the coolest kid at the lunch table. Whether you got the mini nachos, chicken nuggets, or the undeniably superior make-your-own-pizza, you could be assured that your meal would be the envy of all of your friends.

4. Book orders

Image from a-warm-cup-of-jo.blogspot.com.

For kids who enjoyed reading for fun, the day that book order catalogs were sent home was the best day of the month. Printed on tissue-thin paper and crowded with dizzying amounts of books and toys, these catalogs were a young book lover's dream come true.

5. Magic Tree House

Image from magictreehousebooks.net.

Another higlight for 90s bookworms was the Magic Tree House series. With their alliterative titles and adventures through time and space, these books (all 52 of them) were both educational and fun.

6. Magic School Bus and Bill Nye

Image from badtadmd.com.

Speaking of educational and fun, no one who went to school in the 90s can forget the Magic School Bus or Bill Nye. When your teacher turned on the television and popped in a VHS of Ms. Frizzle or The Science Guy, you knew you were in for half an hour of awesomeness.

7. Scratch and sniff stickers

Image from alliandgenine.com.

Nothing says self-validation like a sticker that smells like strawberries. When your teacher stuck one of those suckers onto your homework assignment, you knew you had made it big.

8. Gel Pens 

Image from polyvore.com.

You couldn't have just one gel pen - you had to have a set of 300, each in a slightly different color.

9. Trapper Keepers

Image from shoplet.com.

Back when you didn't have any real important papers to keep track of, Trapper Keepers were the perfect way to keep all your homework together - and also perfect for doodling on with your multicolored gel pens.

10. Spacemaker pencil boxes

Image from amazon.com.

In retrospect, these were extremely bulky and not the most convenient way to store school supplies. But at the time, they were the perfect size for holding all your pencils, erasers, markers, colored pencils, crayons and glue sticks - and for making Elmer's glue bookmarks on the lids.

11. Superman S's

Image from allhonesty.com.

Learning how to draw one of these bad boys by starting with only 6 straight lines was the ultimate mark of coolness. These Superman S's could be found everywhere, from under desks to inside bathroom stalls to the back of your homework.

12. Slap bracelets

Image from nineteenninetyschild.tumblr.com.

Together with hair scrunchies, these accessories were the best way to make a fashion statement in the 90s. They may have been mildly painful to put on, but pain is beauty, isn't it?  

Help kids today create their own memories

Each generation of students will remember their school years in a distinct way. For us, that might mean Gelly Roll pens and Lisa Frank, but for others around the world, the memories aren't always as positive. For millions of kids, even attending school is a luxury. Help Opportunity International invest in schools and students so that all kids can create great school memories. 

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To all those who grew up in the 1990's, what was life like?

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Trapped in the ’90s

Dear Homework: Love our house, but it’s looking dated, very ’90s to us. We would love any input in changing siding, windows, landscape or anything else to make it look more modern. It’s too white from October to April. We aren’t attached to anything—in fact, I hate that second-floor porch over the door. Any suggestions are welcome. Sincerely, —Trapped in the ’90s

I think the problem with your house is not so much that it feels like ’90s, but that it is brought down by builder-grade details. The front porch and the center, second-floor windows are clumsily handled. The shutters for the arched windows and the less-than-lush landscaping also lower the tone of the whole presentation.

You will notice I have rebuilt the porch with a more classical feel and included a bold, round window and eyebrow attic window. The arched ground-floor windows now have appropriate arched shutters, and I have added a second-level window in the garage wing. These architectural upgrades give the home a more timeless feel.

The landscape enhancements include plantings to isolate the neighboring properties. A low evergreen hedge follows the curve of the circle drive and ties the whole façade together. Several flower beds add summer color, while teal shutters will add interest in the dead of winter.

To my eyes, your house now looks like an elegant estate rather than just another home on a street. —Homework

Homework is penned by Paul Doerner, Founding Partner of the Lawrence Group . If you would like your home critiqued, contact us at [email protected] .

7 Carrswold Drive

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1990s Technology Timeline: Massive Growth During the Decade of the 90s

• Categories : Homework tips , Education
• Tags : Education homework tips topics architectural engineering

Today, when we have advanced computers, highly efficient machines, mobile phones, and satellite mapping, the scope of technological advancement has only increased. Every day a new mobile device, a better and faster computer, or a smarter car engine is developed by engineers (and announced by marketing). The scope of improvement and growth remains exponential.

What were the major technology developments of the 1990s? Let’s browse through the timeline.

Achievements in 1990

The “ World Wide Web ” (originally all one word) was first proposed by Sir Tim Berners Lee of CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1989. By 1990, the proposal had grown to include a read-only system of distributed document linking called hypertext, which was based on a markup language called HTML.

Originally “markup” referred to conventions in the printing world in which manuscripts to be published were “marked up” to show formatting directions for the typesetting process, but invisible for the end user, the reader. In computerized typesetting and desktop publishing, systems like “LaTex” were already based on markup, but were more complicated than “what you see is what get” (WYSIGYG). Similarly, HTML was part of the invisible underpinning of web pages. The “Web,” as it became known, also brought the first host systems, the web servers, and the first client applications, the web browser.1

Revival of Electric Cars

In 1990, the American government passed the Clean Air Act, which among other things asked automobile companies to develop cleaner and more fuel-efficient cars. The energy crisis of 1970s was the basis for the fuel mileage requirement and environmental concerns about pollution (such as Los Angeles “smog”) forced the government to enforce clean energy rules. This resulted in the mass revival of public interest in electric cars. Although electric cars came into existence in the mid 1900s, they gained immense popularity in the last decade of the century. This was largely due to the energy act and regulations issued by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Nissan, Toyota, and General Motors started rolling out modern electric vehicles. The 1990 Los Angeles Auto Show became the turning point of the electric car industry.

Human Genome Project

The project was focused on identifying the sequence of chemical base pairs making up DNA. The project was completed in 2003, thirteen years after it was started, and its findings have helped scientists unfold many mysteries of genetic sciences and understand the DNA makeup of human beings.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

The HST was launched in April 1990 and it was a major step toward the study of extraterrestrial elements. It celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 24, 2010. As of now, the HST has undergone five service upgrades, which have enabled it to send better images that have helped scientists and astronauts to study our universe and its characteristics. 2

• The world’s first “webcam” comes into existence at Cambridge University. The actual camera remained in use for ten years (until 2001). It was invented by James Quentin and Paul Jardetzky.
• In 1991, Japan Electronic Industries Development Association produces the world’s first memory card.
• Fujitsu Corporation displays the world’s first plasma display screen in 1992.

The Ultraviolet Water Purifier - 1993

Ashok Gadgil, a Civil and Environment Engineering Professor, invented the method of using ultraviolet rays to disinfect drinking water. The project started at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. It worked on a 60-watt solar cell battery and weighed only 15 pounds. The whole purification system works fast and costs as little as five cents for every thousand gallons. This invention helped a great deal in controlling water-borne diseases in developing nations. The UN and WHO sponsored this project and helped in distributing UV filter units in developing and poor nations. 3

The Pentium Processor - 1993

The world was already head over heels in love with the World Wide Web and its magical abilities, but computers were not smart enough and fast enough to reciprocate the same feeling. Intel, which is now well-known as a technology giant of the world, entered the fray on March 22, 1993 when it launched its exclusive Pentium brand of microprocessors. The journey started with Pentium Classic and today it has landed into a completely new era, where Pentium is replaced by Intel Core Processors. However, the Pentium’s contribution to technological development enabled the types of computer applications that we take for granted these days. The Intel Museum in Santa Clara, California proudly showcases the Pentium as one of its greatest achievements. 4

The Glenn Anderson Transitway , part of Interstate highway 105, opened in Los Angeles, featuring a light rail train that runs in the median. Sensors buried in the pavement monitor traffic flow, and closed-circuit cameras were used to alert officials to accidents so that immediate rescue operations could be initiated.

The IBM Simon , the first smartphone, was released as a concept phone in 1993.

From 1995 to 1997

Java Programming Language - 1995

Prior to the invention of Java programming language, C and C++ were the only popular languages used by coders and software developers. Java made it easy for programmers to code because it was class-based, concurrent and an object-oriented language that had very few implementation dependencies compared to existing languages. For client-server web applications, Java was a tailor-made fit. The major features of Java were its portability, dynamic scope, and secure design.

VOIP - 1995

Vocaltec, Inc., a telecommunication company based in Israel, was the first company to start VOIP services in 1995. Within three years, the VOIP market became very popular and PC-to-phone solutions flooded the markets. 5

In 1995, the Boeing 777, a twin-engine airplane, became the first ever plane to be designed using CAD and CAM.

In the same year, the Kodak digital camera and DVDs also came into existence. Amazon and eBay, two of the biggest online shopping portals now, also started their operations in the same year.

The Trans Pacific Cable 5 Network ( TPC-5CN) was looped across the Pacific Ocean in 1995. It could handle 320,000 simultaneous telephone calls and it ran from Oregon to Japan beneath the ocean.

A group of seven companies including Intel, Microsoft, and Compaq produce the world’s first ambitiously named Universal Serial Bus in 1996. Within a few years, it truly became universal as the default connection type for devices such as keyboards, mice, and printers.

In 1997, Electrolux introduced the world’s first robotic vacuum cleaner prototype, the Trilobite . It went into production in 2001 and it went on to become one of the 100 “most innovative designs of the century,” but failed to stir up much dust in the vacuum cleaner market.

In 1996, Dolly , the first cloned sheep, was born. She went on to become the BBC World’s “Most Popular Sheep.” It was a huge step towards genetic cloning and nuclear transfer sciences.

In 1997 and 1998 respectively, Bell Labs introduced the smallest practical transistor and the optical router.

The Google Story - 1998

Arguably the biggest invention of all times, Google happened in 1998. It started as a research project by two PhD scholars at Stanford University in 1996. They introduced the concept of Page Ranking so that the search engines did not simply count the website hits while showing the search results on the WWW. During the initial runs at the Stanford University, Google or rather BackRub, the first name of Google, amazed many experts and professors. Two years after the commencement of the research project, Google was incorporated, and today it has become one of the greatest, and wealthiest, companies in the world.

In 1998, the first two modules of the International Space Station were joined together in orbit on December 5 by astronauts from the Space Shuttle Endeavour .

Apple Inc.’s iMac

iMac was launched in 1998 and today it has become one of the most popular desktop computers in the world. The iMac was projected as an “out of the box” computer experience, and it actually became one because of its unique design and cool looks.

The Windows 98 operating system was also launched in the same year.

The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge opened for the public in Japan in 1998. It is the longest span bridge of the world with a span of 1991 meters. The overall length of the bridge is 3,911 meters.

BlackBerry - 1999

The first BlackBerry mobile device was launched in 1999. Four years later, the BlackBerry smartphone was launched in Germany. BlackBerry ruled the business smart phone market for quite some time until Google and Apple stepped up.

Bluetooth 1.0 - 1999

Mobile wireless file sharing came into the picture with the invention of Bluetooth technology. File sharing without connecting cables and remote browsing were some of the main features of this technology. Unlike cable transfers, it was not fast, but it was a major step towards mobile data sharing and would prove immensely popular for wireless headsets. 6

The Decade of the 90s and Beyond

The technology industry of the 90s was dominated by computer science related inventions and discoveries with the rest of the electronics industry also contributed heavily. Smartphones, memory cards, and webcams were going to be part of the ever-expanding electronics and gadgets industry. Space exploration programs got a boost as NASA launched numerous spacecraft into near-earth space, and some far beyond, in order to study the earth and other planetary bodies. Some of the major spacecraft launched between 1990 and 1999 were the Ulysses, Yohkoh, Sampex, SOHO, and Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE).

Google and the World Wide Web made sure that the next ten years saw the world connected over the internet. The decade laid the foundation for the beginning of the information age, which saw the entire world growing closer together. As a result, the first half of the 2000s was dominated by the information technology sector.

4. 10 Years With Intel Pentium, Xbitlabs

2. The History of Cosmic Ray Studies, Nasa.gov

3. Reliable, affordable water disinfection for developing areas, Environment Energy Technologies Division

5. A brief History of VOIP, Joe Hallock

**Images **

World Wide Web by <em>jscreationzs</em> , Freedigitalphotos.net

UV FIlter, MIT.edu

USB 3D Design by <em>jscreationzs</em> , Freedigitalphotos.net

1.  w3.org: T. Berners-Lee and R. Cailliau,  WorldWideWeb: Proposal for a HyperText Project

6. HP, Understanding Bluetooth , HP.com

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