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To get more sleep, they simply need to go to bed earlier. What is so difficult to understand about that?
So how do you propose to get people who are wide awake to fall asleep on cue? I've spent over 30 years trying to find out.
Ever since I can remember, back to early childhood, I have been unable to fall asleep like other people apparently do. Going to bed earlier just resulted in lying awake longer. I quit taking naps when I was two, and can remember counting sheep when I was four. As a teenager, I began trying to meditate to help me fall asleep.
Now, I take medication. I am a night owl by nature, doing my best thinking between midnight and 4 AM. I have not been able to change my nature, so I adapt the best way I can. For most of my life, I would go to sleep after midnight and get up at six. This resulted in a chronic syndrome related to my inability to get enough sleep, particularly deep sleep. I get tired, but if I don't take my medicine, I never really get sleepy.
BTW, our district runs the buses in reverse--the elementary schools start early and the high schools start late. Our classes start at 8:35 and we dismiss at 3:30. It doesn't seem to interfere with our athletic program, and we don't have teenagers unsupervised for as long before parents get home from work. The elementary schools have after-school programs that offer snacks, activities, and supervised homework sessions. It works for us.
So how do you propose to get people who are wide awake to fall asleep on cue? I've spent over 30 years trying to find out.
Ever since I can remember, back to early childhood, I have been unable to fall asleep like other people apparently do. Going to bed earlier just resulted in lying awake longer. I quit taking naps when I was two, and can remember counting sheep when I was four. As a teenager, I began trying to meditate to help me fall asleep.
Now, I take medication. I am a night owl by nature, doing my best thinking between midnight and 4 AM. I have not been able to change my nature, so I adapt the best way I can. For most of my life, I would go to sleep after midnight and get up at six. This resulted in a chronic syndrome related to my inability to get enough sleep, particularly deep sleep. I get tired, but if I don't take my medicine, I never really get sleepy.
BTW, our district runs the buses in reverse--the elementary schools start early and the high schools start late. Our classes start at 8:35 and we dismiss at 3:30. It doesn't seem to interfere with our athletic program, and we don't have teenagers unsupervised for as long before parents get home from work. The elementary schools have after-school programs that offer snacks, activities, and supervised homework sessions. It works for us.
You and me both. I either can't fall asleep or I wake up 4.5 hours after falling asleep and can't fall back asleep. It's like I can't turn off my brain. My husband is very annoying. He's asleep before his head hits the pillow no matter what time he goes to bed. People like him should not be allowed to be married to people like me.
You and me both. I either can't fall asleep or I wake up 4.5 hours after falling asleep and can't fall back asleep. It's like I can't turn off my brain. My husband is very annoying. He's asleep before his head hits the pillow no matter what time he goes to bed. People like him should not be allowed to be married to people like me.
I've always been envious of people who can fall asleep. Then the whole trend of power-napping came along. As one who can lay awake tired for two hours trying to take a much-needed nap, I covet the ability to fall asleep on demand and waking up refreshed fifteen or twenty minutes later. It obviously works, however, because I have had students come to me at the beginning of a block and tell me that they have worked late the night before. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, they are wide awake and functioning beautifully.
If an administrator comes by, could I just explain that I was differentiating the lesson by accommodating all learning styles and student behavior modalities?
"Oh no, we can't blame the kid for sleeping all day through class; it's just biology!"
"Oh no, we can't blame the kid for texting to his girlfriend throughout the entire quarter of Algebra 2; it must be my fault as the teacher for being too boring! I must construct new ways to entertain the kids all day long!"
"Don't wake up that poor sleeping student; that would be so heartless! Give them a pillow and a warm bottle of milk instead."
I see from the responses in this thread that liberal "blame-ologies" have done a great job of brainwashing our culture.
Look, let's cut the bull**** here. I was a teen once, too. I know puberty does a lot of things to your body in a short timeframe, but I also know from experience - and from observing a lot of teens around me - that it isn't like it violently inhibits you from assuming some modicum of responsibility for your own behavior.
From what I recall, it was simply a hell of a lot more fun to stay up late watching TV, partying with friends, etc. than it was to train oneself to go to bed at a reasonable hour and actually care a bit about school. Call me crazy but that, to me, is a lot more telling than blaming it all on puberty. Here are some case studies from my experience:
1. When I was in high school, no kids slept in class - and I'm not that old at 32. Then again, I went to a privileged private school for rich kids (my family wasn't rich, but I was fortunate to get in via scholarship) where a greater proportion of parents who sent their kids to school actually cared and where teachers were actual teachers, not spineless liberal babysitters. Of course there were kids who slacked off in various ways and didn't do as well as they could have, but they came to class knowing what to expect as far as certain things being off limits. There was at least some sense of discipline.
2. My parents went to high school in a Soviet era Eastern European school. I asked them, and they never recalled kids getting away with things like sleeping all through class. They also recalled an environment where much more was expected from them and where they were called on to solve math problems publicly on the chalk board in front of other kids. And they knew their math; when my sister, a valedictorian in an American school, went on exchange to that same country some generations later, she required extra math and science tutoring to catch up to her classmates.
3. I spent a year as an exchange student at a high school in Switzerland as well. I did not witness any kids who fell asleep during class. Sure, kids will be kids and some slacked off in various ways or played a prank or two during class - but teachers insisted on more from them, and exams were tough. And they knew that university exams were around the corner, which were no easier. There was a much stronger performance level there than what I witnessed in my few visits to the public school in my home neighborhood.
Are you beginning to see the picture here? The problem is not nearly as much puberty or whatever novel new teaching method as it is adults collectively not insisting on a growing standard of accountability and performance of the maturing adolescent.
Here in America, teachers seem almost desperate to hide behind the latest elaborate pseudo-scientific liberal dogma that reassigns blame from the student to the teacher's instructional methods, the environment, not enough money, puberty, the internet, the sun cycles, etc. - anything but the students, teachers, and parents themselves. It's become almost ingrained in our culture to the point where we're shocked that a teacher actually insisted on waking up a sleeping student. That's a big part of the reason why American kids fare so abysmally on many international standards of achievement.
At some point growing kids have got to start taking some responsibility for themselves and for their future. And adults have to insist on it. If you keep making excuses and reassigning blame for an adolescent's poor behavior, he/she is likely to walk all over you. Irresponsible adults who refuse to hold anyone accountable breed irresponsible kids who refuse all accountability for anything.
This is the truth behind American educational failure, and no amount of money or new mushy liberal "blame-ologies" are going to fix it. The mere fact that there was a necessity for this thread to exist shows just how far our failure has seeped. In my opinion, teachers who do not insist on some basic level of discipline in their classrooms are failing their students and should be pushed into a different line of work.
People often give the examples of educational systems in other countries when trying to say that American schools are doing something wrong. The thing is, private school and other countries don't have to educate EVERYONE the way ours are committed to doing. If American teachers could kick out sleepers and poor performers, sure--no one would be sleeping any more. Our schools are committed to educating everyone to the best of our abilities though.
Oh, and I went to bed at 9pm every night during high school. (My parents made sure I was in bed, lights out by 9 until I went away to college...) It was still painfully difficult to wake up for school every morning. I slept until noon on Saturdays, despite having gone to bed at 9 Friday evenings.
It's anecdotal, but my personal experience tells me there is a huge increase in the need for sleep during the teen years.
Oh, and I went to bed at 9pm every night during high school. (My parents made sure I was in bed, lights out by 9 until I went away to college...) It was still painfully difficult to wake up for school every morning. I slept until noon on Saturdays, despite having gone to bed at 9 Friday evenings.
It's anecdotal, but my personal experience tells me there is a huge increase in the need for sleep during the teen years.
We've been working 14 hour days at work for the past month. Many times at lunch, I'll head out to my car and snag a 30 minute nap instead of going out for food...
Perhaps "nap time" should be an elective instead of study hall
We've been working 14 hour days at work for the past month. Many times at lunch, I'll head out to my car and snag a 30 minute nap instead of going out for food...
Perhaps "nap time" should be an elective instead of study hall
One thing a lot of Americans don't realize about the "longer school day" in other countries, is that the only thing that is longer is the difference between the start and stop times. Students in France, for example, have a 90-minute lunch break. It's fine to go home, eat lunch, and have a short nap afterwards if your pm homework was done.
I don't know about these days, but I've heard lots of stories of French teachers doing much worse than embarrassing their students in class. And parents are likely to support the teachers rather than their children.
BTW, School tends to start and end rather late in France. Elementary school kids only go to school on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. They dropped Saturday mornings for elementary students only. Older students still attend on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.
French students are focused on exam results for matriculation from one level to another. You could argue that they really do educate everyone, as students are not forced into a college prep program as they are in so many US schools. They may choose from interesting vocational apprenticeships if they like, at modest cost, and there are technical and professional schools for those whose exam results exclude them from more competitive programs. Whereas here in the US, 30-40% of our students routinely drop out of formal education, and trade schools are limited to those who can pay or qualify for loans.
People often give the examples of educational systems in other countries when trying to say that American schools are doing something wrong. The thing is, private school and other countries don't have to educate EVERYONE the way ours are committed to doing. If American teachers could kick out sleepers and poor performers, sure--no one would be sleeping any more. Our schools are committed to educating everyone to the best of our abilities though.
Bingo. And I would say that this is part of the problem once you get to the latter part of high school and beyond. As lhpartridge put it:
Quote:
Originally Posted by lhpartridge
French students are focused on exam results for matriculation from one level to another. You could argue that they really do educate everyone, as students are not forced into a college prep program as they are in so many US schools. They may choose from interesting vocational apprenticeships if they like, at modest cost, and there are technical and professional schools for those whose exam results exclude them from more competitive programs. Whereas here in the US, 30-40% of our students routinely drop out of formal education, and trade schools are limited to those who can pay or qualify for loans.
You're one of the lucky few who enjoys your job. There have been times - most of my career, actually - when I have enjoyed my job, but right now is not one of those times. For me, working is an exercise in futility, shoveling sand against the tide. I get no sense of accomplishment. Success means preventing a catastrophe, not moving ahead or solving any problem in a true sense. I need to find a way to get back to the way I used to feel.
Oh heck--I'm ready for it to be Friday already--and I've only worked one day this week.
But my job has a beginning and end, and I can measure what I've accomplished that day. I've worked this many cases, or this many pallets, whichever.
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