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Having a four-day school week is an ambitious proposal intended to help students work load. Those in favor of this shift believe that it will allow for more study time, and more time to go over the lessons for the week. Truthfully it will just add time onto the eight-hour school day a student already endures. As much as officials want to believe that a four-day week would provide more time to focus on the lesson it would only make students more exhausted. Kathleen Kingsbury reveals that “Parents also worry their children won’t have the time – or the energy – for after-school activities.” (3). Shortening the school week will not only add at least one hour to the typical school day, but also shorten breaks, and elective times, because of the
Most officials and some students agree that Friday is a waste of time anyway, because it is when most schools have pep-rallies, and other spirit days. They argue that taking Fridays off a student’s schedule would reduce absences by allowing students to make Friday appointments. However, Friday is important for not only students’ academic success, but their social development as well. Kingsbury writes that “Many experts believe that, if anything, American youth should be spending more days in school than they already are.” (2). In the laid-back Friday environment, a teacher has more opportunity to teach in a less conventional way that has a larger chance of sticking in a student’s mind. By taking Friday out of the school schedule officials would be furthering the chance of a student forgetting what they learned the previous week. When a student is out of school for three or more days they tend to forget what, they were taught the previous week. Despite the thoughts that students would use the time studying a student will find ways to avoid studying at all costs, Kathy Hedberg and Kendra Nordin report that “[student] Jordan Damron doesn’t mind rising a bit earlier each day if it means he can have Fridays to do as he pleases.” (3). When a student is on a break the farthest thing from their mind is what they learned in school, this
As I wearily sat in my seat, writing an essay on the importance of electricity in the modern world, I caught myself glancing repeatedly at the clock that was so carefully perched above the teacher’s desk. “Ten minutes, only ten more minutes left until school is over and I get to go home!” I told myself. In most schools, the average school day is about eight hours long. Eight hours of continuously sitting in a chair taking notes during lectures, doing classwork, projects, etc. During these eight hours of school, students deserve a short, outdoor break in which they can isolate themselves from the stress of working all day and just relax. Studies have shown that people who take short breaks throughout the day to do light, outdoor breaks are more productive than those who do not. A short, outdoor break will benefit students due to the fact that students will have time to relax; students will be able to focus more, concentrate, and be more productive; and teachers will have more time to prepare for the next class coming.
Silva, Elena. "Revising the Current School Calendar Has Many Implications." Year-Round Schools. Ed. Adriane Ruggiero. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Rpt. from "On the Clock: Rethinking the Way Schools Use Time." Education Sector Reports. 2007. 1-9. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 19 May 2014.
The United States has a long and proud history of providing public education to its citizen’s children. The fundamental idea behind the creation of this educational system was that it be available to all, regardless of geographical location or family status. In the era that this initiative was generated many of America’s families lived and worked on farms, and children were a vital part of this lifestyle. The founders of the United States’ public schools had to create a plan that included all children, even those who were expected to perform agricultural work in the harvest season. Thus, the nine-month school calendar was brought into use, allowing farming children a three month break from school in the summer to aid their families in the crop yield. In time, youth participation in farming became outdated and obsolete, and this arrangement slipped from necessity to simply being a tradition held on to through the years. In our modern era, a year-round school calendar would benefit the teachers, students, and finances of America’s public schools.
Students may need to nap to compensate for energy expended throughout the day. However, if schools were to start later, adolescents would not have to nap, allowing for a larger window of time to spend with their families after school, even with a later start time. Another opposing argument is that students would have less time to participate in extracurricular activities. However, this issue can be resolved by making practices for sports and club meetings shorter and more frequent to accommodate the schedule variation. Overall, the benefits of later start times far outweigh the drawbacks.
Whether or not to keep such a day has actually been a serious issue for years at Valdosta State University, and the ultimate decision of eliminating
Back in the early ages, the idea of year-round school would be thought as completely insane, because the farming families depended on their children to be home during harvest time. Now in modern times, the term year-round school is becoming more and more common in the United States of America. Slowly the schools are changing the way they teach, from giving the students a long three month break to a shorter one month break during the summer. The change of America’s high schools to the year-round schedule benefits both the schools and the students because they still get breaks throughout the school year, the children are less likely to forget information, the children would have more time with the teachers to learn, and the parents would not have to pay for childcare during the long summer break.
Family vacations, pool memberships, and corn de-tasseling; these have been the experiences of traditional Midwestern summers. For centuries young American children have attended school during the winter months, during farming off seasons when their families could afford to be without them. Families have grown accustomed to a traditional school calendar that provides time for bonding throughout the year. Students have grown accustomed to an eight week break during the summer months where they are allowed to refresh their minds before returning for a new school year. Unfortunately, these traditional experiences and practices are now in jeopardy. In today’s race to improve student achievement, traditional school calendars have become a point of contention. Today more and more school districts and parents alike have begun to debate the pros and cons of an alternative school calendar.
As a student, I am often troubled by the rigid routines of the school day, despite the fact that I am actually a very habitual person. The constant ringing of bells, lectures, bellwork, classwork, homework, and daily practice throughout the school year. Although all of these components promote conformity, which will ultimately support the balance of school and societal norms, they also tend to threaten each student’s own unique characteristics. This then poses the question: to what degree should schools encourage conformity versus individuality? Certainly, a level of conformity is required to achieve a balanced society; however, the overall structure of the school day and class, including the methods used to teach and mandatory classes, is depriving students of their sense of independence by not allowing them to think for themselves and destroying their natural curiosity; therefore I believe schools need to place more emphasis on the individuality of students.
After a long summer, the time has finally come for Sam and his classmates to return to school. Sam dreads going back to school, because he knows that the first weeks of school mean long, boring reviews. Despite the fact that Sam and his friends do not like to study topics they have already learned, they need to review because most students forget what they learned over the three-month break period. Many students can relate to Sam, wasting two weeks or more at the beginning of the school year. Parents, teachers, and students across the United States believe a better option exists that will waste less time. Many suggest the idea of a year-round school schedule. Almost all schools should adopt a year-round schedule because of the many advantages including higher academic
Relaxation could improve a students ability to think and therefore enhance their chance of excelling at their academics. According to an Indiana school,"Having one weekday off of school each week allows more flexibility for teachers and students." Students have an extra day to make sure that they do all their studies and still get extra time to do extra curricular activities. This also prevents homework and studying excuses students might make as a result of lack of time and abundant amount of homework. A five day week of school gives students a hard time as they have to adjust both activities and studies in 2 days. As a result of a five day school week students get less time to spend with their families, but with a four day school week they could spend more with family and still have everything finished and be prepared. Concluding from these chain of events, an implementation of a four day school week will result in a students academic growth.
Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Our world is fueled by knowledge of every person who lives, and who has lived. Now there is controversy over when our students should be learning, and when they should be on break. While many schools are switching to a year-round school calendar in order to try and increase student achievement, the traditional 10 month calendar should be the preferred format due to structure of school programs, organization, and higher academic results.
Students test scores are slipping because of 4-day school weeks.I believe we shouldn’t have a 4-day school week because studies have shown that schools with 4-day school weeks test scores have declined in 2012 and even more in 2013.Teachers from every school with 4-day school weeks say that kids don’t pay attention because they add 30 minutes to each class time during the 4-day school week.Courtney Fisher is a second grade teacher.She says that the students seem tired all the time and eat much more in class.
Dam, A. (2006). The four-day school week. Retrieved from ERIC Institute of Education Sciences and Colorado Department of Education website: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED497760.pdf
Today however, the role of the modern public school is beginning to change. The United States is no longer an agrarian society. As a result, people feel that the traditional school calendar is too old-fashioned a...
Most children attend school for about 6.5 hours per day. Some people argue that this is not enough time for children to master key concepts, while others say that children spend too much time in school and on homework, which leaves them little time for family or fun activities. “There are many benefits to year-round schooling—including consistency, less time spent relearning material, and the implications that year-round schooling has for closing the achievement gap” (Lynch, 2016, par. 1). The adage of the adage. Currently, more than 700 schools have extended their day.