Community Chat

[Oznell]

Love your wisdom and thoughtfulness about these issues, @phoenixbrd , proposing practical, achievable measures.

[We rescue cats]

Our school system is in dire trouble, our students are being not left behind, but actually pushed behind by a system that does not pay attention to the needs and parents that either do not have the time, talent or interest to devote to their children. My parents/grandparents spent time with me, making sure I understood my classwork and if I did not they worked with me until I did. Parents simply do not seem to put the proper emphasis on the importance of learning today. It is much more than excelling in sports to get a scholarship, the students need to be able to think things through and figure things out. 

Teachers need to teach, not recite facts. Young minds need to be molded and ready to accept learning, I think this starts at home. When we were young if we failed a test or were held back our parents did not blame the system nor the teacher, we were held responsible and studied until we learned it. If we were in sports or extra curricular activities they were forfeited until our grades warranted our participation. Teachers met with our parents, explained their concerns and often laid out a plan to aid the child's learning and understanding. 

I fully agree with @phoenixbrd , the system is broken. Cutting the time spent in school is NOT the answer, the opposite is needed. We must educate our children, they need to expand their minds and learn. That starts at home. Parents and teachers need to be partners in educating our most precious commodity, our children. They are the future of this country.

[Linda0215]

I like a 4-day work week better. 

[febe1]

As much as 60% of students entering Community College must take remedial Math 110 and English 101. Does that sound like a good idea?

[Trailrun23]

School children have already missed far too much instruction; taking away an additional day each week just adds insult to injury. I think a 4 day week is a terrible idea. Far too many elementary kids will be left at home unsupervised if the parent can't afford childcare, and older kids will have a day unsupervised as well....maybe on the streets. I think we are doing our children a terrible disservice. I especially worry about those special needs students. We are showing all kids that education isn't important since coid. It's more important than ever!

[bonnielu]

Agree with you.  Parents have enough going on these days. I am a grandma so my days of taking care of my four daughters are a thing of the past but my memory is still in tact and the situation was hard enough for a five day week.  

I am also a retired teacher.  What are they planning to do with the extra day.  Let teachers stay home or come into work with a whole day of meeting after meeting?  

No idea why anyone would want to make changes these days. 

[reiki604]

Given that teachers need to relearn the meaning and history of slavery and arming teachers will require massive training and practice, there might only be 4 days left to teach children if that much. 

[mimomof4]

Throughout the school year you would be amazed that the number of 4 day school weeks we already have.  I hope that any district that chooses to go to a 4 day week uses that extra day for Teacher professional development.

Looking at the calendar for my kids this year in the first 9 weeks of school there are 3 weeks in which all of my kids will go to school for 5 days.  The rest have days off or half days.

[LTT1]

@Goodie2shoes 

I have mixed feelings about this idea.

My granddaughter had distance learning during Covid and the outcome wasn't good. Parents were working out of the home and so their attention was on work, not on the children's learning experience.

At a high school where I used to teach and retired from, the class periods were 90 minutes. This is too long for most subjected and most students, imo.

Taking this into account, it looked to me like the scheduling of classes need a total re-do.

As probably most teachers would agree, the homelife of children these days does not lend itself to success in school. So students arrive to the classroom having no intention of learning and their parents often have no intention of stressing school and learning at home. This lack of discipline regarding school leaves most teachers with no clue as to how to require classroom participation.

Then, I begin to wonder about the importance of the three R's... reading, writing and r-ithmetics are unimportant in many everyday endeavors.

So, everybody in this scenario is foisting the accountability for learning square onto the shoulder of "others".

🤷🏼‍♀️ "not my fault!" say the students

🤷🏼‍♀️ "not my fault" say the parents

🤷🏼‍♀️ "not my fault" say the school personnel 

By changing the school week, the schools are putting the responsibility for learning right back into the parents' hands?