Longer School Days???

[churchyreal]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090928/ap_on_re_us/us_more_school;_ylt=Am5wELhsBvv1tzcHQ1XPB5as0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTMwOGk3dGRlBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkwOTI4L3VzX21vcmVfc2Nob29sBGNwb3MDNwRwb3MDNARwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5lX2xpc3QEc2xrA21vcmVzY2hvb2xvYg--

Do you agree or disagree with this proposal coming from the president?

[LaylaMonroe]

I support this.

[churchyreal]

I support this.

Continue please....lol!

[SirTJ]

DA DEBIL!

[churchyreal]

DA DEBIL!

?...lol

[LaylaMonroe]

Continue please....lol!

From 5th to 8th grades, my daughter went to one of those "extended day" schools. She was in school from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. They also only had 8 weeks off (June and July).  The school year ended the last day of May and started the first day in August.  If I could've found a high school like that for her to go to, I would've surely enrolled her. It worked very well for us.

A friend of mine has his daughter in a charter school in Atlanta that is also a part of the extended day programs, but hers is way more intense. It's a year-round extended day program. They are in school from 8-5, and go to school two Saturdays each month from 9-12. They go to school all year long and have 2 weeks vacation in June and 2 weeks in July (plus the regular winter and spring breaks).

I love the idea of extended day schools.

[Hasmonean1]

I'm going back into the classroom soon and I hate the idea of extended days.  We got our work in with shorter days and longer summer breaks when we were young.  These parents better spend some time with their kids and give the teachers a break.  It's tough enough since they took beatdownz out of school.   That's what got must of us bad kids through to the promised land.

[under13]

I disagree. Its like nowadays the teachers are expected to raise the kids.

[sjonathan02]

DA DEBIL!

Agreed.


Extending the school day will do nothing for the child who has no support at home in the first place. It'll merely give them more time to get suspended from school. 


I'm all for it with proper parental support. Other than that, it's not da business. 

[kodacolor]

1.  Where would they get the money to pay the teachers and what incentive will they use to make the teachers want to stay longer?  (I know if this goes into effect they won't have a choice, but still...what are they getting for giving more time than normal because I know it won't be overtime pay)

2.  What about the students with jobs?  Most of them may just be making money so they can buy their own stuff, but some of them may actually be working to help support their family.

3.  How will this effect after school activities?  When I was in school I was on the volleyball team and I would get out at about 5pm.  Hopefully no creepers get any ideas....just saying.

4.  I wonder how this will effect how much homework is given and I wonder if kids will be allowed to sleep in study hall.  (I'm just sayin'...it's a pretty long day)

5.  I wonder how those who dictate what the teachers teach (BOE?) will adjust to this.  I'll bet they'll have to put stuff that they took out of for the past 5-10 years back in to accommodate the longer classes

6.  My lil' cousins will be MAD!  LoL!

7.  I like the idea of the school being open on weekends so that the kids will have some place safe to go, but where are they going to find teachers who will give up their weekends to babysit?  Would the school hire a whole other set of people to work on the weekends?  Do you think that they could get college students (edu majors) to do this as a paid internship?  And if kids who are feuding with each other are in the school at the same time doesn't that defeat the purpose of the school being a safe place?  If it's just kid_group1 vs kid_group2 with some random students and teachers around that's not safe.

[churchyreal]

Agreed.


Extending the school day will do nothing for the child who has no support at home in the first place. It'll merely give them more time to get suspended from school. 


I'm all for it with proper parental support. Other than that, it's not da business. 

And to me at the end of the day, what I bolded is the foundation to a lot of problems in school: inadequate home raising. Instead of making school prolonged everywhere why not have after-school programs specifically for at-risk students versus everyone.

[sjonathan02]

And to me at the end of the day, what I bolded is the foundation to a lot of problems in school: inadequate home raising. Instead of making school prolonged everywhere why not have after-school programs specifically for at-risk students versus everyone.

Even then, without proper home supervision and guidance, a lot of at-risk youth are still a hand full, getting in trouble and getting suspended.

[B3Wannabe]

I'm for it. I wanted it WHEN I was in school!

Maybe I was a geek, but I hated summer vacation, and chose to do summer school.

Two weeks vacation is all they need. There is little you can do to help those that are "at-risk", but you should give those that want to learn as much time as possible.

I haven't read the article yet, but if this was approved, I would expect them to increase teacher wages 1 to 1.5 times for each extra hour.

[Salvador]

1.  Where would they get the money to pay the teachers and what incentive will they use to make the teachers want to stay longer?  (I know if this goes into effect they won't have a choice, but still...what are they getting for giving more time than normal because I know it won't be overtime pay)

This is the first thing I thought when I heard about this.
There is already a teacher shortage as is. If this goes into effect without a significant increase in pay I see a lot of teachers changing profession.

[jivejong]

As a former educator, I'm against it.

It's as simple as diminishing marginal returns. It's hard enough to get kids to pay attention and learn in a 6 hour day, and I don't see how an 8 hour day will benefit most kids. I'm sure that for some it will be a advantage, but I don't believe it will be for most. Teachers work alot outside of class, and adding 2 hours to their workday isn't going to improve their productivity. School districts are already underfunded and under supported, and I don't see where they will get the support for 2 additional hours of instruction. And if you are going to take the instruction out of it, then school is just daycare/parenting. We already let the schools "parent" our children enough as it is.

One of the key elements for child development is play time outside of adults. With a 8-5 day, sinner, homework, etc. where does a child have time to play with their friends in a less structured environment? I guess on weekends, but with play being a part of child development, I feel they need more than a couple days a week. Play may seem trvial, but it's where were learn to interact with peers, have accountability to them, take personal responsibility for conflict, learn problem solving, the creation and adherence to rules, calculating risks, etc. There's so much development in something that adults may see as "wasting time". But if all a child's activities are those structured by adults, where do they learn personal accountability, independence, creativity, etc.?

[sjonathan02]

As a former educator, I'm against it.

It's as simple as diminishing marginal returns. It's hard enough to get kids to pay attention and learn in a 6 hour day, and I don't see how an 8 hour day will benefit most kids. I'm sure that for some it will be a advantage, but I don't believe it will be for most. Teachers work alot outside of class, and adding 2 hours to their workday isn't going to improve their productivity. School districts are already underfunded and under supported, and I don't see where they will get the support for 2 additional hours of instruction. And if you are going to take the instruction out of it, then school is just daycare/parenting. We already let the schools "parent" our children enough as it is.

One of the key elements for child development is play time outside of adults. With a 8-5 day, sinner, homework, etc. where does a child have time to play with their friends in a less structured environment? I guess on weekends, but with play being a part of child development, I feel they need more than a couple days a week. Play may seem trvial, but it's where were learn to interact with peers, have accountability to them, take personal responsibility for conflict, learn problem solving, the creation and adherence to rules, calculating risks, etc. There's so much development in something that adults may see as "wasting time". But if all a child's activities are those structured by adults, where do they learn personal accountability, independence, creativity, etc.?

Add to that, when does an educator take the time to improve themselves and further their career?


8-5 and only two weeks off in the summer? A teacher can't attend a grad school class forget a grad school program.

[jivejong]

But, I'd also like to add that although I'm against longer school days, I am for year round school. There's just too much lost in the summer months, and as a society we don't require a summer break like we did when most folks were farmers. A few breaks in between quarters is plenty. I don't think it's best for kids to have three months off where they lose some of the 9 months spent in instruction, especially when these kids have not developed the mental capacity to retain information without repetition.

FWIW, when my Mom went to school in Korea, they went year round. 8-4, including a 1/2 day on Saturday.

[sjonathan02]

But, I'd also like to add that although I'm against longer school days, I am for year round school. There's just too much lost in the summer months, and as a society we don't require a summer break like we did when most folks were farmers. A few breaks in between quarters is plenty. I don't think it's best for kids to have three months off where they lose some of the 9 months spent in instruction, especially when these kids have not developed the mental capacity to retain information without repetition.

FWIW, when my Mom went to school in Korea, they went year round. 8-4, including a 1/2 day on Saturday.

While there's still the grad school problem with which to contend, a lot of educators, myself included, agree that a longer school year could serve our students a whole lot better.

[lordluvr]

I'm totally against it.  Kids have to be allowed to be kids at some point in their childhood.  My older kids are all in advanced, AP, or IB classes that are but-kicking enough and require a lot of time at home doing homework.  Add to that their daily chores and they're lucky if they see any daylight.  Knowing this, as their parent, I have the flexibility to adjust their schedules to accomodate at least a little fun on a daily basis.  If the school day is extended, that flexibility is gone. Nah mane, let the kids be kids.

[sjonathan02]

I'm totally against it.  Kids have to be allowed to be kids at some point in their childhood.  My older kids are all in advanced, AP, or IB classes that are but-kicking enough and require a lot of time at home doing homework.  Add to that their daily chores and they're lucky if they see any daylight.  Knowing this, as their parent, I have the flexibility to adjust their schedules to accomodate at least a little fun on a daily basis.  If the school day is extended, that flexibility is gone. Nah mane, let the kids be kids.