No posted grades until interims

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oof, I do feel badly for English teachers, they do have an incredible amount of papers to grade.

Not just English teachers these days. Due to curriculum changed, there’s an enormous amount of writing in other subjects as well. I think only math was spared.

Content planning is probably a bit easier for English but grading is tough. Content planning for science takes a lot of time to do well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet teachers don’t want to move away from a traditional school schedule towards some version of a year round schedule.

Have you asked us? I’m all for it. I would LOVE a year-round schedule. I assume, of course, that you’ll pay me accordingly.

Yes I have talked with some teachers about this and they were not in favor. They thought it would just be more work. That research hasn’t indicated it’s better for kids learning. Didn’t want to start the school year earlier. Etc. Meanwhile I know teachers in other states who have year-round schedules or a modified version of the year-round schedule and most of them would never go back to a traditional calendar unless absolutely forced by a move to somewhere that didn’t have school districts with options. Why? Because they all agree it’s better mentally for them and the kids as it gives everyone needed breaks.

So if teachers here would actually like a year round or a modified version of year round, I would recommend talking to your colleagues and union.

An extended calendar is not up to teachers. It is up to the school superintendent and county leaders. They do not listen to what teachers want but they may be more responsive to what parents want. You should get parents to lobby the school board if you want a year round calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And yet teachers don’t want to move away from a traditional school schedule towards some version of a year round schedule.

How would that work for families who travel to family for extended periods, divorced families where one parent only gets summers or teens with summer school, work or speciality camps? It might be good for those who need child care but two schools did year round. One school wanted to keep it, the other did not and was cut. Teachers cannot take off during the school year so this could also hurt them too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oof, I do feel badly for English teachers, they do have an incredible amount of papers to grade.

Not just English teachers these days. Due to curriculum changed, there’s an enormous amount of writing in other subjects as well. I think only math was spared.

We have very little writing in English class and only two books this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oof, I do feel badly for English teachers, they do have an incredible amount of papers to grade.

Not just English teachers these days. Due to curriculum changed, there’s an enormous amount of writing in other subjects as well. I think only math was spared.

English still does far more essays, and English teachers are responsible for content as well as mechanics.

One AP English paper can take me over 30 minutes. Comments take a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet teachers don’t want to move away from a traditional school schedule towards some version of a year round schedule.

Have you asked us? I’m all for it. I would LOVE a year-round schedule. I assume, of course, that you’ll pay me accordingly.

Yes I have talked with some teachers about this and they were not in favor. They thought it would just be more work. That research hasn’t indicated it’s better for kids learning. Didn’t want to start the school year earlier. Etc. Meanwhile I know teachers in other states who have year-round schedules or a modified version of the year-round schedule and most of them would never go back to a traditional calendar unless absolutely forced by a move to somewhere that didn’t have school districts with options. Why? Because they all agree it’s better mentally for them and the kids as it gives everyone needed breaks.

So if teachers here would actually like a year round or a modified version of year round, I would recommend talking to your colleagues and union.

An extended calendar is not up to teachers. It is up to the school superintendent and county leaders. They do not listen to what teachers want but they may be more responsive to what parents want. You should get parents to lobby the school board if you want a year round calendar

This! If you want change, it HAS to come from the parents. Nobody will listen to the requests (or needs) of the teachers.

You may be surprised to find that many teachers would be in favor of year-round scheduling. Sign me up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet teachers don’t want to move away from a traditional school schedule towards some version of a year round schedule.

Have you asked us? I’m all for it. I would LOVE a year-round schedule. I assume, of course, that you’ll pay me accordingly.

Same. I would LOVE year round. More breaks off during the year would be great for everyone. We could actually teach the entire curriculum spaced out and have more time to grade and plan effectively. But it would never happen here. I feel it’s a pipe dream.

This does not jive with teaching staff at Roscoe Nix who OVERWHELMINGLY were against their year-round school calendar and successfully petitioned the BOE to discontinue it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And yet teachers don’t want to move away from a traditional school schedule towards some version of a year round schedule.

Will it still be 180 days of school? If so, most teachers I work with wouldn't be interested. A lot of us rely on the money we make in the summer at second jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet teachers don’t want to move away from a traditional school schedule towards some version of a year round schedule.

Have you asked us? I’m all for it. I would LOVE a year-round schedule. I assume, of course, that you’ll pay me accordingly.

Same. I would LOVE year round. More breaks off during the year would be great for everyone. We could actually teach the entire curriculum spaced out and have more time to grade and plan effectively. But it would never happen here. I feel it’s a pipe dream.

This does not jive with teaching staff at Roscoe Nix who OVERWHELMINGLY were against their year-round school calendar and successfully petitioned the BOE to discontinue it.

Ok so they tried this with just a couple of schools. OF COURSE they don't want to be on a different schedule as everyone. Especially for little ones. Failed experiment. Duh.

[Anonymous]

A year-round schedule would hypothetically still be 180 days, just distributed differently. The year-round schedule some schools had/have in MCPS was an additional 30 days (210, I believe). If the entire system went to year-round, the schedule for 180 days could look something like this: 4 week summer, 1 week off after 1st quarter, 1-2 weeks for winter break, 1 week off in February, 1 week for Spring Break and 1-2 weeks off in May. You basically distribute the other 6 weeks of summer throughout the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet teachers don’t want to move away from a traditional school schedule towards some version of a year round schedule.

Will it still be 180 days of school? If so, most teachers I work with wouldn't be interested. A lot of us rely on the money we make in the summer at second jobs.

I'm a teacher and I want this. I don't want a 2nd job. I want ONE job with enough time to complete the tasks I am required to do. Right now, it's not enough. The teachers on an 11 and 12-month schedule made more. It won't happen because MoCo hates change and the loudmouths with a bit of money and way too much time on their hands will complain. MCPS is also terrible at budgeting so I do not foresee this happening due to budget constraints. It would save everyone the hassle of summer scheduling and longer breaks means you can take all the vacations you want. Unless of course, you are one of the parents who do not prioritize education and are more concerned with your vacation time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A year-round schedule would hypothetically still be 180 days, just distributed differently. The year-round schedule some schools had/have in MCPS was an additional 30 days (210, I believe). If the entire system went to year-round, the schedule for 180 days could look something like this: 4 week summer, 1 week off after 1st quarter, 1-2 weeks for winter break, 1 week off in February, 1 week for Spring Break and 1-2 weeks off in May. You basically distribute the other 6 weeks of summer throughout the year.

Exactly. There are different ways the schedule can be setup to achieve the goal of more breaks throughout the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And yet teachers don’t want to move away from a traditional school schedule towards some version of a year round schedule.

How would that work for families who travel to family for extended periods, divorced families where one parent only gets summers or teens with summer school, work or speciality camps? It might be good for those who need child care but two schools did year round. One school wanted to keep it, the other did not and was cut. Teachers cannot take off during the school year so this could also hurt them too.

Do you think the people who live in other states or countries where other school schedules exist have not dealt with these items??? What do you mean teachers cannot take off during the school year, of course they can and do. And surely they would like the opportunity to be able to schedule their lives into other times besides summer.

And of course when only two schools have a different schedule from everyone else there will be problems. Especially when one of the schools was only a K-2, and the corresponding 3-5 school was on a different schedule.