FCPS high school question - advisory/Study hall/non academic class period

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a disaster. This used to be the period to go get help in whatever class they needed it or do make-up tests. Now it's all structured and confusing and an absolute waste of time. Marshall HS, btw.

I'm the parent of a freshmen at Marshall so I don't have an opinion on what it was like before, but they rotate daily between Advisory, Return, and LEARN, and the last two are exactly what you are talking about - so 2/3 of the time can be used for academics.

It used to be an open period EVERY day for them to go to whatever class they needed to (and they had the choice of class) for catch-up, make-up tests and remediation. It was a wonderful gift of time and flexibility, particularly for upperclassmen with heavy course loads.

+1

I know. Someone decided it was important to manage and regulate every minute of their time, so now school feels a little bit more like a prison. I hate it, not just for me but for them. I would like for them to at least give the upperclassmen more flexibility and mobility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious. I have friends who have older kids at Madison and they are pissed because they don't get that free time to leave the school anymore. They would head off grounds. Or just dink around. Very few people actually use the entire time for study hall or getting work done. Even fewer to go talk to teachers. The return period could actually be useful. I say give it a chance before crapping all over it

Oh, you should hear the drama! -- just 3 days into school and certain parents are complaining that their kid can't meet with a teacher in the 25 min. allotted. Like what do you need to talk to a teacher about after three days in school???? My goodness.... just let it play out for a bit. So.much.drama.

I had students who asked me for a pass to come to advisory for help on homework on the first day, so actually it's not drama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious. I have friends who have older kids at Madison and they are pissed because they don't get that free time to leave the school anymore. They would head off grounds. Or just dink around. Very few people actually use the entire time for study hall or getting work done. Even fewer to go talk to teachers. The return period could actually be useful. I say give it a chance before crapping all over it

Oh, you should hear the drama! -- just 3 days into school and certain parents are complaining that their kid can't meet with a teacher in the 25 min. allotted. Like what do you need to talk to a teacher about after three days in school???? My goodness.... just let it play out for a bit. So.much.drama.

I had students who asked me for a pass to come to advisory for help on homework on the first day, so actually it's not drama.

Yeah, and we have this crazy complicated pass system at our school which moving classes more difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious. I have friends who have older kids at Madison and they are pissed because they don't get that free time to leave the school anymore. They would head off grounds. Or just dink around. Very few people actually use the entire time for study hall or getting work done. Even fewer to go talk to teachers. The return period could actually be useful. I say give it a chance before crapping all over it

Oh, you should hear the drama! -- just 3 days into school and certain parents are complaining that their kid can't meet with a teacher in the 25 min. allotted. Like what do you need to talk to a teacher about after three days in school???? My goodness.... just let it play out for a bit. So.much.drama.

I had students who asked me for a pass to come to advisory for help on homework on the first day, so actually it's not drama.

This. In one class a pretest was given based on material that was supposedly taught last year. 1/3 the class did poorly. Several of those kids want - and need- help ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a senior at West Potomac. We have had 3rd period split between homeroom and a remediation period for atleast the last 4 years. Remediation or Seriod (for silver day) has students return to a designated period each silver day. Attendance is taken but no new material is taught. Its solely for completing work, working with the teacher or test corrections. In Homeroom they do do some of the mental health stuff. As a group of parents we cant complain that our students are suffering with mental health concerns as a reason to reopen schools and then be pissed when the district attempts to address it.

I’m still so bewildered by parents who support this change. Do they honestly think that this will help kids mental health? Access to teachers is hugely valuable and something that was in short supply last year. I’m not a fan of a change that reduces teacher availability.

+100
The silly, cliched "mental health" lessons are completely performative - just something from a checklist so they can say they "addressed" them. What my kid - and her friends - are most stressed about - is having time to get help from teachers in the classes where they're struggling. That alone would alleviate a ton of stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a disaster. This used to be the period to go get help in whatever class they needed it or do make-up tests. Now it's all structured and confusing and an absolute waste of time. Marshall HS, btw.

I'm the parent of a freshmen at Marshall so I don't have an opinion on what it was like before, but they rotate daily between Advisory, Return, and LEARN, and the last two are exactly what you are talking about - so 2/3 of the time can be used for academics.

It used to be an open period EVERY day for them to go to whatever class they needed to (and they had the choice of class) for catch-up, make-up tests and remediation. It was a wonderful gift of time and flexibility, particularly for upperclassmen with heavy course loads.

Exactly this.

[Anonymous]

Our middle school across the river in MoCo used it to introduce CRT. The principal had every kid in the Scholl read Kendi and instructed the teachers to give lessons on the book as it was fact. Be on the lookout for this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Langley HS used the advisory period yesterday to have every single student test their laptop and make sure they can get onto Zoom. This was a great use of time as many students could not use Zoom on their devices and had to work with the staff to get it reconfigured.

I’m glad that that used this time productively. And I’m hearing from some teachers that they will livestream classes for quarantined students. I don’t know why this isn’t a county-wide policy at this point for HS classes. Many teachers are offering it on their own already.

Why do teachers not want to livestream? Because hybrid is shit and the split attention hurts the learning of those who are in the classroom and those who are online, and it is additional work for teachers.

In the beginning of school teacher shortage for the virtual school, FCPS asked teachers to livestream their current classes (hybrid teaching) for additional pay ($5k); AFAIK no one in my building took up that offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious who all the parents are who think it’s NBD. Are your kids geniuses who never need any help? My kid already has projects assigned, upcoming tests, and pages of HW. In the past, stopping by to ask a quick question was easy during Warhawk time, now it’s a lot more difficult. Teachers don’t want to hang out after school to answer questions. It’s going to be an even bigger pain when kids need to make up tests, which they used to do during Warhawk time.

As a teacher, I agree. It is a big deal. I often stay until 5 or 6 pm but i am trying to change that because it wreaks havoc on my own life and well being. I hate wasting time during school hours on stuff like this. It’s bad pedagogy and everyone hates it.

I know you care about the students but please do not stay until 6pm. Please do not stay until 5pm. This is admin walking over you, not you helping the students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a senior at West Potomac. We have had 3rd period split between homeroom and a remediation period for atleast the last 4 years. Remediation or Seriod (for silver day) has students return to a designated period each silver day. Attendance is taken but no new material is taught. Its solely for completing work, working with the teacher or test corrections. In Homeroom they do do some of the mental health stuff. As a group of parents we cant complain that our students are suffering with mental health concerns as a reason to reopen schools and then be pissed when the district attempts to address it.

I’m still so bewildered by parents who support this change. Do they honestly think that this will help kids mental health? Access to teachers is hugely valuable and something that was in short supply last year. I’m not a fan of a change that reduces teacher availability.

When my older sons were at West Potomac they had free movement for Wolverine Time when students could go to any class they wanted to. Some kids took advantage of the time to work with their teachers, but many did not. Kids left campus, went all over campus. Now attendance is taken in Homeroom and the rotating period. Homerol. Used to have 1 mental health lesson a week, and if school counselors came into to speak to kids about grade level information that used another block. I would say most of the time mu son was able to do his work, or just relax in 3rd period. Eventually if there was no new info students could get a pass to go see a specific teacher...this was also true of the assigned S period teachers. My advice as a parent if your child needs to work witj a specific teacher, have them speak with their teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is a senior at West Potomac. We have had 3rd period split between homeroom and a remediation period for atleast the last 4 years. Remediation or Seriod (for silver day) has students return to a designated period each silver day. Attendance is taken but no new material is taught. Its solely for completing work, working with the teacher or test corrections. In Homeroom they do do some of the mental health stuff. As a group of parents we cant complain that our students are suffering with mental health concerns as a reason to reopen schools and then be pissed when the district attempts to address it.

I’m still so bewildered by parents who support this change. Do they honestly think that this will help kids mental health? Access to teachers is hugely valuable and something that was in short supply last year. I’m not a fan of a change that reduces teacher availability.

When my older sons were at West Potomac they had free movement for Wolverine Time when students could go to any class they wanted to. Some kids took advantage of the time to work with their teachers, but many did not. Kids left campus, went all over campus. Now attendance is taken in Homeroom and the rotating period. Homerol. Used to have 1 mental health lesson a week, and if school counselors came into to speak to kids about grade level information that used another block. I would say most of the time mu son was able to do his work, or just relax in 3rd period. Eventually if there was no new info students could get a pass to go see a specific teacher...this was also true of the assigned S period teachers. My advice as a parent if your child needs to work witj a specific teacher, have them speak with their teachers.

Speaking to teachers is kind of the whole point. A lot of teachers leave right after school. Without some flexibility during Warhawk or Wolverine time, it’s really difficult to speak with teachers. I’m not a fan of punishing kids who want to make good use of their time because some kids use the time to goof off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our middle school across the river in MoCo used it to introduce CRT. The principal had every kid in the Scholl read Kendi and instructed the teachers to give lessons on the book as it was fact. Be on the lookout for this.

Lies. Name the school and the principal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our middle school across the river in MoCo used it to introduce CRT. The principal had every kid in the Scholl read Kendi and instructed the teachers to give lessons on the book as it was fact. Be on the lookout for this.

Lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our middle school across the river in MoCo used it to introduce CRT. The principal had every kid in the Scholl read Kendi and instructed the teachers to give lessons on the book as it was fact. Be on the lookout for this.

Lies. Name the school and the principal.

I mean, you have to admit the poster knew exactly what might trigger a hen yard brouhaha. 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Speaking to teachers is kind of the whole point. A lot of teachers leave right after school. Without some flexibility during Warhawk or Wolverine time, it’s really difficult to speak with teachers. I’m not a fan of punishing kids who want to make good use of their time because some kids use the time to goof off.

Goofing off may be a perfectly good use of time to destress, and would promote a lot more wellness than some stupid educational-fad-of-the-day powerpoint.