180 Days to fill with a yearlong curriculum. And field trips. And fire drills/intruder in the building drills. Don't forget assemblies. And ASK testing. There's also the half day prior to Thanksgiving.
The theory of 180 class days is just that, a theory. Don't get me wrong, I whole-hearterdly agree with the importance of a field trip, an assembly or two. But I do feel that occassionally classroom interruptions get out of hand. For instance, for each of the past three years, our district has spent big money on bringing in children's book writers for the students to hear about the writing process [side note: Ben Mikaelson, http://www.benmikaelsen.com/ really reached the kids well.] Alright, I get the reasons for it, they can help motivate students to write, to read, etc. But do the same group of kids need to see this same assembly three times in three years?
I think, as an administrator, it is important to include every possible learning scenario for our students. I do think that there comes a time for administrators to try to cut down on some school year interruptions to allow focus time on curriculum.
There is one particular field trip that we spend three days at with our sixth graders. It is a community building trip where students work on social skills and independence that I believe is imperative to their growth as young adults. I think if they were to lose this experience, some would struggle with their introduction to our school and not feel that they would be able to perform as well in their new environment.
7 comments:
Some childen see the same assembly year after year. The first year the children think that the assembly is great, but after the fourth of fifth time the assembly has lost all of it's umph. I agree with you that certain assemblys benifit our children,but how many times do the same children need to see the same assembly? I think administrators need to rethink their idea of what constitutes as a benifical assembly.
In my blog I mentioned how there are a few extra-curricular activities that should be considered part of the curriculum. I believe that is what is happening with field-trips,visits, etc, There are some activities that prove to be a benefit to the students. In our district we have assemblies a few times a year where the inmates from the gang unit come and speak to the kids. These are essential due to the potential gang risks in our district. Even if we had the assemblies after school, how many students can we convince to stay after the school day.
How do we decide which of the extra-curricular activities really benefit our children? Who make those decisions? I agree with you that it is important to include all types of learning activities to motivate students. Our school has recently lost our Pep Rallies because the administration says the students have no school spirit anyway so why waste educational time? However, I think a Pep Rally is a great opportunity to get out of class, show support for our school and students. How far is too far?
You all are considering the questions that need to be asked. Essentially how are we spending our time now, and how SHOULD we be spending our time for the greatest benefit for the students.
Interruptions, at times, can be rewarding. Todays child loses focus very easily. Field trips, guidance offerings, such as college fairs, schedule assessments, testing, any reason to bring diversity into education is worth while. We might think that safety drills are an inconvenience, but the one time it is used, it would seem to be all worth it.
Your are practical. You states very good points. Too much time out of the classroom is a problem. But don't you think that all of these other experiences are also part of the student's education?
When we shorten a schedule, a lot of the extracurricular activities are the first to go. When we ask former students what they remember of school, extracurricular activities are often the first to be mentioned. We should exercise caution in streamlining our schedule that we do not eliminate meaningful experiences that seem like "extra" to us. A quality schedule should be built around such activities.
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