Reply to All these days off...

Forum Index » Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)

Reply to "All these days off..."

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think schools should actually look at peer- reviewed research and data on what schedules promote (get ready!) the best learning.

Young kids need consistency, repetition and routine. They do not need a different schedule every week between early release and a billion holidays. I don’t know what makes the most pedagogical sense at the middle and high school levels but I bet the data exists.

Be guided by the idea that the job of the school is to educate children, and then set the schedule from there, while sharing the data with parents so you can start rebuilding the trust thats been lost by lying in 2024 about why the schedule “needed” to change. [/quote]

Agreed and this is what all the "school isn't childcare" people are missing. School isn't able to effectively teach with 4 day weeks. [/quote]

Both PP's are right!

I was just getting ready to comment about what is the best for education of the children.

I was a teacher.  While, as a teacher, I really enjoyed the occasional workday or snow day, that does not translate to great education.

Kids thrive on routine.  We all do.  It's fine to have deviations from time to time, but we all like to know what to expect.  
Repetition is also important.  Teaching a concept and repeating the instruction the next day is helpful.  
  
Can we go back and think about what is best for the education of our children?

It is not four day weeks.  And, it is certainly not early release Wednesdays.
It is also not having elementary school students in school at 4:30 or later.
It is not a county wide boundary study leaving neighborhoods upset and worried.  If there needs to be a boundary adjustment because of extreme overcrowding, then do it ad hoc.
It is not lockstep homework policies.
It is not following a strict script when teaching.
It is not turning down federal funds in order to support a social experiment.

Go back to the basics and teach the kids.

[/quote]

Your response is a bit simplistic.

There’s a lot a school needs to consider when we say what’s best for students. Right now, we are in a climate in which teachers are crashing and burning. Teacher retention and job satisfaction absolutely has an impact on students. (Notice you say you used to teach. Each year, more people “used” to teach.) A teacher strapped for time can’t curate a lesson to meet the needs of students. A strong, rested teacher can do more in 4 days than a stressed, flailing teacher can do in 5.

And yes, repetition is important. But so is targeted, thoughtful, purposeful instruction. That’s what we don’t have time to produce right now. In a perfect world, 5 days is ideal. We aren’t in a perfect world.

(And I don’t think I “enjoy” days off. They are simply work days with pajamas on.)[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics