What do you think about a 4 day school week? - Page 10

LTT1 · ‎03-09-2010

I'm quoting what you posted: "Teachers need to teach, not recite facts"

Yes this is true and I ageee. Picture this: I attended several math workshops when I was teaching. The hope was that the students would be taught by using "math manipulatives" for a "hands-on experience". [my most difficult class was last period on B days. There were 14 desks in my very small classroom. The scheduling counselors placed more than the classroom could hold b/c other teachers did not want these "rowdy kids" in their classes (I taught HS Special Ed).
It was a "zoo" ... it was chaos.
Had we needed to use manipulatives, there would have been no surfaces available for them to "work".

'I'm not making excuses! I got up at 3 am every day and worked at the school until 4:30 pm. That was my life for about 15 years!

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~

LTT1 · ‎03-09-2010

To add: talk about "junk culture!"

Go to YouTube and listen to the song "Friday Night" by Katy Perry.

I missed this song when it came out. I certainly won't let my grands watch it.

And THIS is what our kids are doing Friday nights?

I'm sure this production was created in "good fun" ... but it's not "good fun"

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~

Twins Mom · ‎04-03-2016

@cjm61

I guess there is a certain segment of students who can thrive in four day week, but I can't help but worry about families where parents don't have flexible hours. These children need supervision and structure. This seems to be hard to get. Parents of preschoolers who hear of days when preschool closed are frequently heard saying: what am I going to do with my kids!!

Twins Mom · ‎04-03-2016

@LTT1

When our district when to A/B days they found longer class periods don't work for math and PE but there was no changing just those. Learning a new concept needs practice in math, then checking for accuracy before moving on. When subbing I noted silent reading most often a part of Language Arts day. Isn't this a homework activity. How much time was spent going to lubrary, picking out book, etc. Drove me crazy.

Polarbearluvr · ‎03-21-2020

As a Social Worker in the inner city, I am conflicted about 4-day weeks. It gives us more learning time each day but I have kids that are unsupervised or don't get fed on weekends or long weekends/holidays. I have so many kids who school is the safe space .

Lakelife62 · ‎05-09-2023

@LTT1 wrote:
To add: talk about "junk culture!"
Go to YouTube and listen to the song "Friday Night" by Katy Perry.
I missed this song when it came out. I certainly won't let my grands watch it.
And THIS is what our kids are doing Friday nights?

I'm sure this production was created in "good fun" ... but it's not "good fun"

The song is not about kids. Its about adults.

LTT1 · ‎03-09-2010

@Twins Mom

Hi and thank you for giving input, especially because it is more up-to-date than mine certainly!

Well, the length a student can "endure" a "sitting-still-and-concentrating" class period varies. Note my students were SPED. Very few of my students could endure 90 minute class periods.

Now in my classes which had very few students (an autistic class was one of these) the students could sit still and concentrate on math.

And I think of students who had ADHD, these were not capable of that. I imagine classes these days are more tailored to the students' needs?

If you subbed for classes in which the students really wanted to learn, then what you saw is a great "barometer" of our schools (in general) adapting to current needs.

~Have a Kind Heart, Fierce Mind, Brave Spirit~

RetRN · ‎10-01-2013

@Mersha wrote:
Some of the replies here are truly frightening about children and education.

Why? Because some of us want the best and brightest in our future society.

If you prefer dumbdowned, lazy workers and leaders there really are no words for that kind of thinking.

songbird · ‎03-21-2010

Reading this reminded of public schools in Europe. In Italy kids go to school 6 days a week. From 8:30 to 1:30pm. Higher grades were a bit longer. Also most students stay in the same classroom. The teachers are the ones changing classrooms. Also Italy is a theocracy. There are crucifix on the walls of public school. All elementary school kids are also taught catechism. Obviously if you weren't a Christian....you went to another kind of school. I went to Hebrew School. We didn't go to school on Saturday. Rather we went on Sunday, but still 6 days a week. Also religious classes were not mandatory there, but voluntary.