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My son's school recently proposed a change to the school schedule- early dismissal on Fridays (directly after lunch) in order to allow the teachers to attend training and other faculty activities/meetings. This bothers me, and I would like to hear the opinions of others- educators and parents- on the pros and cons of this practice.
On one hand, I do think that the faculty and staff should be well-supported in their duties, but on the other hand, I fail to see how chopping out an entire afternoon of instruction a week is beneficial to the kids. (And it also seems that there is enough wasted time in the school schedule that losing an afternoon a week is acceptable...?)
I would be okay with it (as a parent). It would help morale with the teachers, give them time to take care of prep and IEP meetings and whatever. They could even pull in kids for tutoring during that time and do all of the teacher in service time.
Or maybe they are doing it because the teachers and admin want to only work a half day on Fridays. I think most people who work the M-F grind would love that.
I don't think it makes any difference as far as kids losing educational time. So much time gets wasted as it is and doing this may make the whole thing run more efficiently.
I'd probably do it a semester and then re-evaluate it. See if it was working or not.
I wouldn't mind either. I could scheduale all the dental appointment for Fridays. Also it would be nice to get a head start on weekend getaways, like camping.
One of the school systems here does it - Wacky Wednesdays. However, IIRC the new school board ruled they won't be doing them anymore next school year. Apparently they got a lot of complaints.
How does that qualify for a full school year? Here it is required a certain number of days the kids are at school. There are a set number of hours that qualify a full day. A half day doesn't cut it.
I would have a problem with kids off from school just to give the teachers and admin some time to play.
I think that having a half day every week is a waste of time. I would not like to lose half a day of instruction every week.
We have 6 early release days and 10 planning days. One of our early release days is the last day of classes. One one of our planning days is the day AFTER classes end and five are the week BEFORE classes start.
I have to stress that we ARE expected to be at work on planning days and we ARE expected to be in school until our regularly scheduled day ends on early release days. Sadly, there is no play for us on those days. We have meetings, finalize grades (we have planning days the days before grades are due), attend training sessions, etc...About the only thing we can do on planning days that we cannot do when students are in class is go out to lunch.
I am not sure why a school would need to have 40 planning days (45 if you include the week before classes start). Our planning days are useful and give us a chance to attend to schoolwide business but I don't understand why teachers would need a planning day every week.
Wake makes up for the short school days on wacky Wednesday by extending the school day. Remember, the school districts only count instructional time. All the other school day time, such as lunch, changing classes, etc. does not count. Depending on how much non-instructional time is in a daily schedule, it is possible to squeeze that time out to make up for instructional time lost on early release days.
But, is it worth it? Are teachers able to take avantage to get caught up on all the paper work, take classes for continuing education classes, meet with parents, etc? If they are stuck in meaningless meetings, then the hassle is not even close to being worth it.
Wake makes up for the short school days on wacky Wednesday by extending the school day. Remember, the school districts only count instructional time. All the other school day time, such as lunch, changing classes, etc. does not count. Depending on how much non-instructional time is in a daily schedule, it is possible to squeeze that time out to make up for instructional time lost on early release days.
But, is it worth it? Are teachers able to take avantage to get caught up on all the paper work, take classes for continuing education classes, meet with parents, etc? If they are stuck in meaningless meetings, then the hassle is not even close to being worth it.
I just can't see the need. The days we have are productive, but I would rather have the time in class with my students. I teach HS.
I just can't see the need. The days we have are productive, but I would rather have the time in class with my students. I teach HS.
I agree. If the inservice time was truly well spent and we had the same time (or more) with our students, then I would support it. However, that has not been my experence.
I wasn't defending the practice, just explaining instructional time verses time spent in school. At least here in NC it is the instructional time that is counted, not the length of the school day. That is how Wake is able to have wacky Wednesdays while only adding 10 minutes each on the other four days.
Personally, I wish I had about double the time to really get into topics and let the students do more hands on activities. (I teach middle school math.)
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. However, IIRC the new school board ruled they won't be doing them anymore next school year. Apparently they got a lot of complaints.
