Is the week leading up to Memorial Day effectively the last day of school in FCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:6th grader is still being exposed to new things. School continues.

Same here. My 6th grader is still learning. Civil War in SS, U8 in Benchmark, health lessons, etc. the only thing they are done with is science cause they finished the unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL and finished the content. Teacher is keeping them busy learning. I know by the last five days it will be mostly cleaning up, EOY events, etc.

There is no Science SOL in 6th grade. They take a science test in 8th grade with that content.

Reread the post. I believe PP was talking about the math SOL. They said they finished the science unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL…

But the thread is about high school, likely about upper class students since the Oap is talking about the waste of time after AP exams.

Not elementary school which is a completely different ballgame

The question then becomes, why are high school teachers allowed to show movies and let their students just hang out after AP tests? Seems like an opportunity for extensions/enrichment. Work with kids on college essays if they are juniors. Do some career exploration with sophs/juniors. It seems there are different standards held for secondary teachers vs elementary school. That is the larger problem. I do think next year moving SOL testing and requiring kids to take the exam will help with this stupidity.

My high school is NY did testing the last two weeks of school. We didn’t have wasted instructional time in May. Even with IB courses, you gad to take the regents test.

We aren’t. We have been told many times that we are not allowed to show movies unless they someway are related to a standard. (English gets away with showing the movie adaptation of the book and having kids comparing contrast them.) No one should be watching Moana in math class.

If this is what is happening in your kids’ classrooms, please contact the administrator in charge of that teacher. As someone who is still writing and teaching full lesson plans each day, it is infuriating that my colleagues are checked out. It makes the behaviors and attendance in my class awful.

So, is administration clueless this is actually happening? Enough kids/parents are saying this has been happening daily, so obviously the admin does not care or is completely unaware.

Admin has been in my room for a grand total of 20 minutes all year. 5 minutes the first week of school when they try to get into all classrooms to “set the tone”, and 15 minutes to do my evaluation observation mid year. If there are no complaints, they never come in.

They have enough other issues they are dealing with (fights, drugs, vandalism, kids not on track to graduate, etc) that if it isn’t brought to their attention as an issue most won’t go looking for it. So whether they know it’s happening and they’re turning a blind eye because they’re tired or they truly don’t know it’s happening is moot. If you want something to change, bring it to their attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grader is still being exposed to new things. School continues.

Same here. My 6th grader is still learning. Civil War in SS, U8 in Benchmark, health lessons, etc. the only thing they are done with is science cause they finished the unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL and finished the content. Teacher is keeping them busy learning. I know by the last five days it will be mostly cleaning up, EOY events, etc.

There is no Science SOL in 6th grade. They take a science test in 8th grade with that content.

Reread the post. I believe PP was talking about the math SOL. They said they finished the science unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL…

But the thread is about high school, likely about upper class students since the Oap is talking about the waste of time after AP exams.

Not elementary school which is a completely different ballgame

The question then becomes, why are high school teachers allowed to show movies and let their students just hang out after AP tests? Seems like an opportunity for extensions/enrichment. Work with kids on college essays if they are juniors. Do some career exploration with sophs/juniors. It seems there are different standards held for secondary teachers vs elementary school. That is the larger problem. I do think next year moving SOL testing and requiring kids to take the exam will help with this stupidity.

My high school is NY did testing the last two weeks of school. We didn’t have wasted instructional time in May. Even with IB courses, you gad to take the regents test.

It's pretty obvious that high school and elementary/middle school are very different, developmentally, expectations, maturity, capabilities, freedom...

But of course, you know this.

The only question is why did FCPS create such a wasteful schedule that keeps students in school through late June,, and why did they make this week at the end of the year a 2 day week when they should have just offered excused absences for those who observed this holiday, kept everyone else in school and ended school 2 days earlier.

What does maturity have to do with teachers who stop teaching after a test? FCPS teachers should all be held to the same standard. No kid should be watching movies for 2-3 weeks cause the teacher can’t come up with a lesson plan due to testing being over. Even if the school year ended June 12th, which IMO should have been the last day, kids still should be learning.

The material for the year is completed with the AP exams.

When your kids are in high school you will realize how pointless the last 3 weeks of this school year are.

You do realize that not every high schooler takes ONLY AP classes, right?

[Anonymous]

This has been going on for the entirety of FCPS from elementary through HS. In elementary and MS, after the SOLs are over, lessons dwindle off and fluff projects and movies start up across the board. Even the art teacher and music teachers showed movies. In MS the science teacher showed Avengers for three days. This is nothing new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grader is still being exposed to new things. School continues.

Same here. My 6th grader is still learning. Civil War in SS, U8 in Benchmark, health lessons, etc. the only thing they are done with is science cause they finished the unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL and finished the content. Teacher is keeping them busy learning. I know by the last five days it will be mostly cleaning up, EOY events, etc.

There is no Science SOL in 6th grade. They take a science test in 8th grade with that content.

Reread the post. I believe PP was talking about the math SOL. They said they finished the science unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL…

But the thread is about high school, likely about upper class students since the Oap is talking about the waste of time after AP exams.

Not elementary school which is a completely different ballgame

The question then becomes, why are high school teachers allowed to show movies and let their students just hang out after AP tests? Seems like an opportunity for extensions/enrichment. Work with kids on college essays if they are juniors. Do some career exploration with sophs/juniors. It seems there are different standards held for secondary teachers vs elementary school. That is the larger problem. I do think next year moving SOL testing and requiring kids to take the exam will help with this stupidity.

My high school is NY did testing the last two weeks of school. We didn’t have wasted instructional time in May. Even with IB courses, you gad to take the regents test.

This. So many Disney movies even in HS (and at what is supposed to be a top school in Va — there isn’t a documentary or interesting activity you could do related to your subject?). Really wish we could do some of the things listed above, like career exploration or college essay writing so we aren’t having to fit all of that in after “school” gets out. What also irks me is when my middle schooler comes home and says all of her teachers were absent. Obviously the teachers have deemed it pointless to keep coming in after SOLs, too. Why does FCPS engage in this charade? This is not instructional time!

Thank you to those teachers who continue engaging students in meaningful activities! We see you and appreciate you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been going on for the entirety of FCPS from elementary through HS. In elementary and MS, after the SOLs are over, lessons dwindle off and fluff projects and movies start up across the board. Even the art teacher and music teachers showed movies. In MS the science teacher showed Avengers for three days. This is nothing new.

Then teachers need to stop complaining about having to teach to the test. Now is their time to demonstrate all of the passion they have for their subject: do the field trips, show the documentaries, assign the interesting work that lit a fire under them when they started teaching. By giving up and showing Finding Nemo, they show us that they only care about doing the minimum. And this is why standardized testing must still occur to measure outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Do you all complain like this when colleges you actually pay for end in mid may?
Makes sense that ap classes are lighter after the big exam.
I’m glad my kid is getting free college level material.

When college end in May... they end.

They don't make students attend classes for 4 weeks just to watch PG movies or sit in a classroom playing on their phones, holding them at school a month after the material and classes are complete.

Your college kid doesn’t come home and sit around for a couple of weeks playing games on their phones awaiting the start of their internships? All the college kids I know have this same plan, but at home while spending money “going out” with their friends. This is AFTER you pay 30K+ for room and board for 5 months.

At least they are on their phones on the wifi at school with an adult in charge of them not spending more money.

Go see the “what about the CALENDAR” people who moan about needing free daycare.

Sorry, but this argument is crazy.

The high school kkds should not need to be babysat at school after their AP exams end.

The calendar should not have a 2 day week Memeorial Day week. It should either be a 4 day week with excused absences for students with religious observances, or school should have ended on the Friday prior to Memorial day. Putting a 2 day week 3 weeks before school ends, after testing, and after all the materials have been covered for the year, then expecting the students to return to school for 2-3 weeks of babysitting, is a performative waste of everyone's time.

Whether a student is jumping into an internship, job, the pool or their phones, it doesn't matter. School should end after testing.

What FCPS has put together is a complete joke.

You would rather have them sitting at home doing nothing like college kids spending money on lunch with friends. Got it. That doesn’t make sense to me at all, but you do you.

As far as Memorial Day this year, you clearly should have taken a relaxing vacation and didn’t. This will never happen again. Eid will not be connected to Memorial Day in this way any time in the near or far future.

Relax, things are tough out there, do you best to enjoy it.

Yes, most high school parents would rather their young adults are at home mamaging their own time vs sitting in a classroom for a full month after the AP exams when all work is completed, playing on their phones and watching PG movies.

Why do you mamaging them? Aren’t they old enough to manage without mama? Or is that the point? You need them to be “productive” all the time and mamage their time when they are home. I have a freshman who is taking APs.

Looking busy and doing easy projects as well as harder ones are part of work life as well. Sometimes you get handed an easy case and are given busy work, sometimes you get a challenging project and really have to put in the hours to get something down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grader is still being exposed to new things. School continues.

Same here. My 6th grader is still learning. Civil War in SS, U8 in Benchmark, health lessons, etc. the only thing they are done with is science cause they finished the unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL and finished the content. Teacher is keeping them busy learning. I know by the last five days it will be mostly cleaning up, EOY events, etc.

There is no Science SOL in 6th grade. They take a science test in 8th grade with that content.

Reread the post. I believe PP was talking about the math SOL. They said they finished the science unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL…

But the thread is about high school, likely about upper class students since the Oap is talking about the waste of time after AP exams.

Not elementary school which is a completely different ballgame

The question then becomes, why are high school teachers allowed to show movies and let their students just hang out after AP tests? Seems like an opportunity for extensions/enrichment. Work with kids on college essays if they are juniors. Do some career exploration with sophs/juniors. It seems there are different standards held for secondary teachers vs elementary school. That is the larger problem. I do think next year moving SOL testing and requiring kids to take the exam will help with this stupidity.

My high school is NY did testing the last two weeks of school. We didn’t have wasted instructional time in May. Even with IB courses, you gad to take the regents test.

It's pretty obvious that high school and elementary/middle school are very different, developmentally, expectations, maturity, capabilities, freedom...

But of course, you know this.

The only question is why did FCPS create such a wasteful schedule that keeps students in school through late June,, and why did they make this week at the end of the year a 2 day week when they should have just offered excused absences for those who observed this holiday, kept everyone else in school and ended school 2 days earlier.

What does maturity have to do with teachers who stop teaching after a test? FCPS teachers should all be held to the same standard. No kid should be watching movies for 2-3 weeks cause the teacher can’t come up with a lesson plan due to testing being over. Even if the school year ended June 12th, which IMO should have been the last day, kids still should be learning.

All the class material is complete once the AP exams happen.

Most school districts in the country realize this and end school by Memorial Day weekend.

FCPS pointlessly extended the year over religious holidays and cultural holidays observed by fewer than 5% of ffx county.

They could have finished by the end of May like the majority of the country if they didn't throw in all these extra holidays.

The majority of the country does not end in May. Most school districts end in June either the first or second week. Some end the third week.

[Anonymous]

Yes, making all the days off furing the year even more of a drain on actual learning. Equity the enemy of education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has been going on for the entirety of FCPS from elementary through HS. In elementary and MS, after the SOLs are over, lessons dwindle off and fluff projects and movies start up across the board. Even the art teacher and music teachers showed movies. In MS the science teacher showed Avengers for three days. This is nothing new.

No ES teacher is completely done teaching after SOL. Are there way more fun activities during this time? Absolutely! As it should be. But they are woven in during instructional time. I teach 6th and I will be done teaching new content June 11. June 12th is field day and the last three days are used for team-building activities, reflection, yearbook signing, cleaning and promotion. But my kids are leaving ES and they need the time to be together with their friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has been going on for the entirety of FCPS from elementary through HS. In elementary and MS, after the SOLs are over, lessons dwindle off and fluff projects and movies start up across the board. Even the art teacher and music teachers showed movies. In MS the science teacher showed Avengers for three days. This is nothing new.

No ES teacher is completely done teaching after SOL. Are there way more fun activities during this time? Absolutely! As it should be. But they are woven in during instructional time. I teach 6th and I will be done teaching new content June 11. June 12th is field day and the last three days are used for team-building activities, reflection, yearbook signing, cleaning and promotion. But my kids are leaving ES and they need the time to be together with their friends.

+1
Principals make sure that their teaching staff understands this IME. It’s still pretty much school as normal. We aren’t even allowed to start taking things down or packing up until June 16. Also, keep in mind that progress reports need to be done ~June 11.

[Anonymous]

My high schooler has finals and projects in all classes, including his AP class (he still has a final even though they already too the AP test). His projects are comprehensive, too (requiring them to incorporate what they learned the whole year).

[Anonymous]

My senior's teachers are all trying to keep the kids engaged. There was a movie/party in AP classes the day after the exams, but then tangentially related activities and projects resumed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:6th grader is still being exposed to new things. School continues.

Same here. My 6th grader is still learning. Civil War in SS, U8 in Benchmark, health lessons, etc. the only thing they are done with is science cause they finished the unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL and finished the content. Teacher is keeping them busy learning. I know by the last five days it will be mostly cleaning up, EOY events, etc.

There is no Science SOL in 6th grade. They take a science test in 8th grade with that content.

Reread the post. I believe PP was talking about the math SOL. They said they finished the science unit for the quarter and grade level standards in math since they took the SOL…

But the thread is about high school, likely about upper class students since the Oap is talking about the waste of time after AP exams.

Not elementary school which is a completely different ballgame

The question then becomes, why are high school teachers allowed to show movies and let their students just hang out after AP tests? Seems like an opportunity for extensions/enrichment. Work with kids on college essays if they are juniors. Do some career exploration with sophs/juniors. It seems there are different standards held for secondary teachers vs elementary school. That is the larger problem. I do think next year moving SOL testing and requiring kids to take the exam will help with this stupidity.

My high school is NY did testing the last two weeks of school. We didn’t have wasted instructional time in May. Even with IB courses, you gad to take the regents test.

We aren’t. We have been told many times that we are not allowed to show movies unless they someway are related to a standard. (English gets away with showing the movie adaptation of the book and having kids comparing contrast them.) No one should be watching Moana in math class.

If this is what is happening in your kids’ classrooms, please contact the administrator in charge of that teacher. As someone who is still writing and teaching full lesson plans each day, it is infuriating that my colleagues are checked out. It makes the behaviors and attendance in my class awful.

So, is administration clueless this is actually happening? Enough kids/parents are saying this has been happening daily, so obviously the admin does not care or is completely unaware.

Admin has been in my room for a grand total of 20 minutes all year. 5 minutes the first week of school when they try to get into all classrooms to “set the tone”, and 15 minutes to do my evaluation observation mid year. If there are no complaints, they never come in.

They have enough other issues they are dealing with (fights, drugs, vandalism, kids not on track to graduate, etc) that if it isn’t brought to their attention as an issue most won’t go looking for it. So whether they know it’s happening and they’re turning a blind eye because they’re tired or they truly don’t know it’s happening is moot. If you want something to change, bring it to their attention.

NP and the last time an admin was in my room was for about 2 min for a walk though, right before the bell on Halloween. This is a HS class. I remember because I was in a costume.

[Anonymous]

The school year effectively ends earlier than Memorial Day. It ends after the last SOL in ES and MS. The movies started the very next day.

[Anonymous]

My 11th grader is doing nothing- took 4 APs and nothing now