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Benefits of a flexible work schedule
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Across the nation, it is very common for students to be assigned a summer reading assignment. Many educators believe that this is an important part of their education and helps students retain their knowledge and reading skills. However, this is not the case. It is very unfair to give students an assignment over their break after they just completed an entire year of stress and work. Summer reading also prevents students from finding their own personal, more meaningful enrichment because they are forced to read a book already chosen for them. Although it makes sense to have children continue their studies over the ten week period, it is just inconsiderate.
Many educators argue that by reading over the summer students gain continued reading skills and grow intellectually. They believe summer reading will prevent a ‘summer slump’ and will prepare them for the following school year. However high
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This, also, may be somewhat true, but it is much more enriching for students, and humans in general, to read material that they find interesting and important to them. People gain more enrichment from doing things they love than things they do not care about. Kids should be able to learn and read about things that actually matter to them, unlike the boring books that are assigned by schools.
There are many reasons why summer reading is not worth students’ (nor teachers’) time. One big reason is because students have faced an extremely stressful previous year and schoolwork is the absolute last thing on their mind. After completing nine months of an unbearable workload, why make it worse? Why add more work to a time where kids are trying to relax? In addition to this, summer reading limits students from reading items of their own choosing and finding enrichment on their own terms. There are many detrimental factors to summer
On October 10th, 2017 at Springhurst Elementary School, I conducted a “Reading Interest Survey” and the “Elementary Reading Attitude Survey.” These surveys were conducted on a 1st grade student, Jax, to determine what his feelings are towards reading in different settings, what genres he prefers to read, and interests. It was found that Jax doesn’t mind reading, but prefers a few different topics. This was evident through his raw score of 30 on recreational reading, and a raw score of 31 on academic reading.
...s and classrooms should have a wide variety of books available with varying styles of writing and art work. In addition to the books, the children should be given a variety of ways in which to express their thoughts and feelings about these books, either through discussion, writing, or their own art work. I agree because this could only allow children to enjoy reading more and lets them feel like their opinions matter and are appreciated. Having books readily available only increases a child’s desire to read and creates in him or her a love for books that, hopefully, never goes away.
As school comes to a closing, children start to get excited. They get to play outside, sleep in, and also not have to worry about tedious school work. But for some, summer vacation isn’t such a good thing. In Anna Quindlen's essay “School’s Out for Summer,” she explains how summer can be a struggle for some families. When school is in session, kids get lunch and if they come to school early, breakfast too. When school ends, families that can’t afford to feed their kids, have to find different way to get food. Quindlen does a great job persuading the readers as to why summer break isn’t such a good thing. In her essay she uses statistics, provides solutions people are trying to do, and she also uses pathos in her essay.
Ideally, extending the school schedule into the summer equals more learning. Because students are not dedicated to their studies, often they do not retain the information they learned over the school year during summer vacation. According to the article “Will Longer School Year Help or Hurt US Students” Smyth notes that, “Proponents argue that too much knowledge is lost while American kids wile away the summer months apart from their lessons” (Smyth). Smyth argues that students clearly do not retain their lessons over the period of their summer break. However, opponents of the extension of the school schedule say, “summer breaks are needed to provide an academic respite for students’ overwrought minds, and to provide time with family and the flexibility to travel and study favorite subjects in more depth” (Smyth). Smyth’s observation not only protests taking summer away from families but also describes summer as a time needed to rest student’s minds.
Although this may be true and the students may be increasing their intelligence, the absence of a true summer can be a negative for all concerned. Summers off have long been a light at the end of the tunnel for teachers after an intense school year. And students need time to relieve themselves from a constant social setting where bullying and harassment can be hard to get away from while still at school (Pros and Cons of Year Round School). Summers are very beneficial to everyone. Teachers and students get a break, but also parents get more quality time to spend with their
...orld. If students are deprived of reading books that contain different ideas than their own, they will become close-minded. What is the point of knowing how to read if students are not going to be permitted to do so? As Mark Twain once said, “The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”
Have you ever began a book only to find that after a few chapters into it a more important task comes up that must be given attention to and you don’t make it back to the book for some time. The ensuing matter has been taken care of and now it is time to finish that novel that thought was so great you just couldn’t put it down but, where did you exactly leave off and what character are doing what now? Often it is required to skim a few previous chapters to get a sense of what is going on to give the full focus to the new events taking place. As the summer ends, the leaves begin to change and our school children return to the classroom to begin this very similar task. Instead of rereading a few pages, teachers must review with every student were they are scholastically and every student is very different. Almost a month into the new school year last year’s material is covered and reviewed. Our traditional school calendar may be to blame for our failing schools systems. Can schools attending year round with smaller gaps of time off from learning benefit the student learners? Better retention of material, higher graduation with college enrollment increases and safer downtime alternatives are a few reasons why the traditional education plan should be done away with.
Perhaps, better choice of books that students can familiarize themselves with would be aid to grab the students attention. Throughout the years in schools, the choice of reading has only become books flustered with similes, metaphors, alliteration etc. As Francine Prose declared, “In fact, less and less attention is being paid to what has been written, let alone how; its become a rarity for a teacher to suggest that a book might be a work of art composed of words and sentences, or that the choice of these words and sentences can inform and delight us.” In other words, not much appreciation is given to the what the book is actually stating or conveying. More attention is being given to unnecessary things such as the authors opinions. For instance teachers think of the students education as only a paycheck, rather than elaborating the meaning of the book which refers to the students education. Teachers have the students discussing why the author has written a certain sentence or in many cases why has the author written particular sentences next to each other. In present day classroom settings, the majority do not pay attention due to the book choice and the few who do are not learning the importance of the story. The majority of english teachers teach the students values through the novels that are being read. For example as Francine Prose preached, “Its
“According to some experts, nearly 50 per cent (of boys) describe themselves as non-readers by the time they enter secondary school.” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2004, p. 5) Thomas Newkirk says in his interview with James Preller in In the Classroom, Interviews & Appreciations, The Gender Gap in Reading, “Reading well is so tied to school success — and to liking school — that it is unethical to write off a big percentage of boys as non-readers. It may have been possible in previous times to drop out or barely finish school and go on to good jobs. But that is not the case now.” (Preller, 2011) Evidence of the need to deal with this locally can be found in the test scores of middle school boys and circulation statistics at my middle school library. Me Read? No Way! suggests strategies to engage boys in developing literacy skills by engaging them in reading: be mindful of boys’ reading preferences; give students a voice in choosing the books you acquire; encourage boys to recommend their favourite text; and establish web-based clubs in libraries…to review books. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2004) Michael Sullivan makes it clear that “if we want to transform boys into lifelong readers, we need to discover what makes them tick.” (Sullivan, 2004, p.36) Boys’s reading preferences are itemized by Michael Smith in Reading don’t fix no chevys. Boys are more inclined to read: informational texts, magazine and newspaper articles, comic books and graphic novels, escapism, humour, science-fiction and fantasy. (Smith, 2002, p.11) Simply put, “Buy books that the boys want to read.” (Jones, 2003, p.11)
3..2..1.. summer the yearlong torturer of another school year is over and summer has begun but what do we forget during our break, students traditionally return to school to repeat the process of acclimating to new teachers, new classmates, and a new classroom. Students struggle to remember lessons and assignments they have not been taught for months. The summer learning loss, many schools have implemented year-round schooling. The Association for Year-Round Education reported that in 2007 that 3,000 year-round schools enrolled more than 2 million students in the United States. But does the research show that year-round schooling really pays off? Students in year-round schools do as well or slightly better in terms of achievements than students in traditional schools.
Saunders, M. (2004, September 7). Try year-round school: The lazy days of summer may hurt children who struggle in school the rest of the time. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, pp. 14A, Retrieved November 6, 2004, from Lexus-Nexus.
"The only ones who don't lose are the upper 10 to 15 percent of the student body. Those tend to be gifted, college-bound, they're natural learners who will learn wherever they are" (Smyth 7). This is a statement from an article written by Julie Carr Smyth about how much knowledge is lost over summer because of the amount of education-free time during the break. Smyth's article also state so that "The National Summer Learning Association cites decades of research that shows students' test scores are higher in the same subjects at the beginning of the summer than at the end" (Smyth 6). If the National Summer Learning Association already has research showing that knowledge is lost over summer break, why do we still have such a long break in between school years? All students would agree that every school year goes on the same as the one before: you start the school year reviewing everything you previously learned, then you spend the rest of the year learning new lessons just for them to slip out of your mind again when you get back to school the next year after summer break. It seems as if the only activities that students remember from their summer breaks are the parties, vacations, and Netflix series they spent their time on. That is not how it should be. Shortening the gap between the summer school months will in turn strengthen student education. It won't allow them to lose as much previous education as a long summer break would. A longer school year will in turn decrease education loss, increase productivity year round in students, and provide the simple necessities of daily life such as food for some unfortunate students.
While I believe every child is a reader, I do not believe every child will be enthralled with reading all the time. All students have the capability to read and enjoy reading, but just like any other hobby, interest will vary from student to student. The students in my classroom will be encouraged in their reading, be provided with choice, taught how books can take you into another world but, my students will not be forced to read. This paper will illustrate my philosophy of reading through the theories I relate to, the way I want to implement reading and writing curriculum, and the methods I will use motivate my students to read and help them become literate.
Nowadays, many people think reading is not necessary, since there are so many sources of information and types of entertainment, such as TV, cinema and the Internet. I believe they are wrong because reading is very beneficial in many ways.
Summer vacation is legendary. An integral part of American culture, it is loved by students and loathed by parents. Its influence stretches as far as the economy and media of the country. Nevertheless, such a famed part of American educational customs is unnecessary and even detrimental to students. Its institution hinders learning and it can have a damaging effect on the families and students involved.