comment on DCPS calendar for 16-17

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The draft is out.

http://dcps.dc.gov/page/proposed-key-dates

Most notably, Winter break is not a full two weeks. Christmas and New Year's both fall on a sunday, which means Monday Jan 2 is the official federal holiday. So kids won't go back to school until Tuesday Jan 3. The Break is proposed to start Thursday Dec 22. (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday are full days).

Spring Break is tied to Easter.

From an instructional standpoint, the winter break will be LONGER than 2 weeks. Anyone really think the teachers will be doing any real work Dec. 19, 20, 21? I'd bet that most teachers plan to be out those days to further pad a too long break. So, it will be all subs that week. What a joke. Parents should be protesting this.

[Anonymous]

As a teacher, 10 PD days in late August is a joke of a proposal. And what, no PD during the rest of the year? By day 3 of consecutive PD, everyone is overloaded and nothing is going to stick.

Does any industry or profession expect their professionals to take all their PD in 2 straight weeks? No, Continuing Education is most effective in small doses at regular intervals.

Comment to have the PD through the year, please!! It's helpful to us to have days to reflect and think. Without that reflection and planning, lessons are going to be less effective and tailored to your child and his/her classmates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, 10 PD days in late August is a joke of a proposal. And what, no PD during the rest of the year? By day 3 of consecutive PD, everyone is overloaded and nothing is going to stick.

Does any industry or profession expect their professionals to take all their PD in 2 straight weeks? No, Continuing Education is most effective in small doses at regular intervals.

Comment to have the PD through the year, please!! It's helpful to us to have days to reflect and think. Without that reflection and planning, lessons are going to be less effective and tailored to your child and his/her classmates.

There is only one week of PD in August (except for new teachers).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, 10 PD days in late August is a joke of a proposal. And what, no PD during the rest of the year? By day 3 of consecutive PD, everyone is overloaded and nothing is going to stick.

Does any industry or profession expect their professionals to take all their PD in 2 straight weeks? No, Continuing Education is most effective in small doses at regular intervals.

Comment to have the PD through the year, please!! It's helpful to us to have days to reflect and think. Without that reflection and planning, lessons are going to be less effective and tailored to your child and his/her classmates.

There is only one week of PD in August (except for new teachers).

One of the proposals in the survey was 2 weeks before school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, 10 PD days in late August is a joke of a proposal. And what, no PD during the rest of the year? By day 3 of consecutive PD, everyone is overloaded and nothing is going to stick.

Does any industry or profession expect their professionals to take all their PD in 2 straight weeks? No, Continuing Education is most effective in small doses at regular intervals.

Comment to have the PD through the year, please!! It's helpful to us to have days to reflect and think. Without that reflection and planning, lessons are going to be less effective and tailored to your child and his/her classmates.

There is only one week of PD in August (except for new teachers).

One of the proposals in the survey was 2 weeks before school

Oh, ok. Ten days at the beginning of the year could be helpful for schools that do home visits.

[Anonymous]

Home visits are considered PD!? What are you saying, PP? Two straight weeks of PD is a joke idea. And of course that would mean 2-3 days of PS and 7-8 days of setting up classrooms and decorating bulletin boards. No, allow teachers a week of PD and classroom planning at the start of the year and allow for a few days during the school year when they can learn new, emerging things, focus on identified weaknesses, make the most of unanticipated opportunities, etc.

[Anonymous]

can any teachers comment on the concern of half days being a waste? or the last days before a break a waste? i wish that were not the case, but do understand why some posters are very concerned with those issues. why is learning not the same for a half day as a full day?

looking for responses from teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, 10 PD days in late August is a joke of a proposal. And what, no PD during the rest of the year? By day 3 of consecutive PD, everyone is overloaded and nothing is going to stick.

Does any industry or profession expect their professionals to take all their PD in 2 straight weeks? No, Continuing Education is most effective in small doses at regular intervals.

Comment to have the PD through the year, please!! It's helpful to us to have days to reflect and think. Without that reflection and planning, lessons are going to be less effective and tailored to your child and his/her classmates.

No every other profession requires people to do professional development on their own time when they are not being paid. Stop your whining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, 10 PD days in late August is a joke of a proposal. And what, no PD during the rest of the year? By day 3 of consecutive PD, everyone is overloaded and nothing is going to stick.

Does any industry or profession expect their professionals to take all their PD in 2 straight weeks? No, Continuing Education is most effective in small doses at regular intervals.

Comment to have the PD through the year, please!! It's helpful to us to have days to reflect and think. Without that reflection and planning, lessons are going to be less effective and tailored to your child and his/her classmates.

No every other profession requires people to do professional development on their own time when they are not being paid. Stop your whining.

I would have said 'most' not every but agree with PP on this one.

[Anonymous]

The start date is one week too early. Sports teams start tryouts and training two weeks prior. Many kids are working all summer and need some time off before school starts. Would like to see aug29 start date at the earliest, cut other days off.

[Anonymous]

The 10 half days is a non-starter for us. Strongly opposed. 1/2 days are just more days where parents either have to take off work or make complicated arrangements. Having more of them is a huge pain.

Also, I think the DCPS survey is incorrect. The "follow up question" on Option C (the 10 1/2 days) talks about how the school year will need to be COMPRESSED as a result. But taking 10 1/2 days instead of 5 1/2 days should result in the school year being LENGTHENED. So we need an extra week of school rather a week less. Hopefully it is just a mistake for the survey rather than a major mistake in DCPS planning.

[Anonymous]

Really like the current early start to the school year. Camps have all stopped at that point in time, so starting later means taking a week off of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really like the current early start to the school year. Camps have all stopped at that point in time, so starting later means taking a week off of work.

I agree. And starting a week later would mean later dismissal in June, which I really dislike.

[Anonymous]

why are they so into changing everything all the time? why not stick to a schedule long-term?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher, 10 PD days in late August is a joke of a proposal. And what, no PD during the rest of the year? By day 3 of consecutive PD, everyone is overloaded and nothing is going to stick.

Does any industry or profession expect their professionals to take all their PD in 2 straight weeks? No, Continuing Education is most effective in small doses at regular intervals.

Comment to have the PD through the year, please!! It's helpful to us to have days to reflect and think. Without that reflection and planning, lessons are going to be less effective and tailored to your child and his/her classmates.

There is only one week of PD in August (except for new teachers).

One of the proposals in the survey was 2 weeks before school

The other important point to consider is that if you have 2 weeks of PD before the start of the school year (instead of just one), that results in an extra week of summer vacation for the kids. The summer break is already too long, adding another week is just going to be expensive for the parents and will mean more of a loss in academic progression from the year before.