After a bit of a slow start, this show had a pretty good run in syndication from seasons 2-7 or so…
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Friday Open Thread38 comments to Friday Open ThreadLeave a Reply |
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I’m bracing myself for a day of housework. Vacuuming, laundry, sweeping & mopping, etc. I need to catch up on some stuff because my daughter has all next week off from school. I’m hoping to be able to coerce her into helping me rearrange her room next week, but I suspect that may not happen. Ah well.
So I’m interested in response to something I’m about to propose to our school board: Year round school. My idea is to divide the year up into 4 quarters, with a 2-week break between each “quarter. Basically, each “quarter” would be 11 weeks long. The two weeks would allow families to schedule vacations, etc, at one of four times during the year. The longer year would also allow the students to retain more of what they’ve learned (hopefully) rather than forgetting it from non-use over the long summer.
What say you, Teachers and Advisors and Parents of Threedonia?
We need those kids off so they can work in the fields damn-it!
Seriously though, if we worked them year ’round we’d never hear the end of it from that same pack of teachers that whine about almost everything.
Tim, seems like a good idem, but people REALLY don’t like change unless you give them a reason to, good luck with that.
The teachers I know in that district also like cheaper travel in the “off” seasons, as opposed to paying top dollar in summer and at Christmas.
As you wrote, the current system is based on an agrarian lifestyle few modern families live, but it’s now ingrained in our culture.
The “bringing in the crops” is a popular explanation.
It is not entirely true.
I researched the topic back in the day when my Suns’ school district was debating the year-round schedule.
It’s now based on the stress levels bad/no parenting have heaped upon teachers. At least for me. That’s why I’m not working the summer. The districts prohibit us from saying boo to kids, or handling chronic bad behavioral problems the way we ought to. Those who’ve never taught school think back of when they were there, and how things were. That’s a complete fantasy world. If they would substitute teach for a week, under current district rules and regulations regarding reprimands and consequences, they wouldn’t make the end of the week. Especially after having your school’s windows shot through twice in two months … one was the library window while kids were in there, and two windows were mine during the Christmas break when we weren’t there (that one was hushed up to avoid bad publicity). All that for $35K without a raise in 7 years … I need my two months off to recuperate from those off-the-chart stress levels on a daily basis.
Helm, I don’t know how you do it. Public education is a travesty.
The year-round schedule has been implemented. I left the teaching profession right when my school district imposed it. I checked the district web site this morning and it appears that the year-round track has been abandoned. I saw problems with it. It had different tracks so that not all students were off at the same time.
The overlapping schedules raised the questions, “How will it effect families that have more than one child in the system? How can the families’ children be guaranteed to be on the same track when they are in different grades?”
The number of instruction days didn’t change. That would have taken an act of God to force the CTA move.
There is Here is the California paper on it:
Year-Round Education-California
Good luck with your daughter’s education and her room (the former is probably the easier challenge).
There isHere is the California paper on it:effectaffect(Don’t mind me. I’m just imposing a little self-discipline this morning).
affect
Quote: “Good luck with your daughter’s education and her room (the former is probably the easier challenge).”
Yeah……. no kidding.
Then there’s the raising of taxes to pay for the year round salaries. The same people who complain that schools should be year round, would complain even more if their property taxes were to go up to cover the extra two month salaries.
A district by me does it, and folks seem generally pleased. Dual income families especially. One side benefit; cheaper vacations. You aren’t forced to travel at peak season. One hardship, finding sporadic daycare when both parents work and the kids are too young to be alone.
I thought yall did homeschool? We did year round for a long time but switched to the Fall/Spring schedule that dominates our culture this year. With 2 in high school, the odds of them needing a class or two outside our home are rising, so we decided we’d just make the switch as a family, since we do everything else together. I never found the retention rate to be that great, but I have boys and their retention rate for things not Lego, Star Wars, or LOTR related can be measured in seconds.
I would think that eventually the day care system would flex with the school system, there is money to be made. We have several day cares and city programs that provide care on the random days the district is out but aren’t holidays for the parents.
I homeschooled the youngest through the Middle School, but she wanted to try out the High School experience, so I relented. So far so good. She’s a freshman, and has been recommended for 3 honors courses next year. Her grades are overall pretty good, too.
We’ve had that here in Vegas off and on for the last 20 years. The problem is that it has been predominantly in the elementary grades with middle school and high school on their so called regular tracks. High school starts early in the morning and lets out about 1:30 pm, and middle school starts later and lets out later. This is, I suppose to help keep the younger kids keep from being pounded by the older kids. All I know is the whole thing produced chaos for families with 2 or more kids on differing tracks. Babysitting problems, vacation plans unable to be made, parental work schedules all haywire, etc. The parents hated it…to the max!
I always liked the summer off/summer school option. Summer school has great advantages. For those who wish to take it seriously, they succeed. For those who just want the kids away from home, they succeed. It does not affect any permanent grades and is mostly harmless warehousing of kids. From these options the parents can apply whatever expectations they deem fit to their offspring from year to year.
Summer School in most areas means … you f’ed up. It’s not an option. They need to be there if they don’t want to be retained a grade.
Don’t forget that about one in seven years will have 53 weeks. You might want to factor that in. A bonus of sorts.
As for not having to work year round, I’d love to persuade my employer to let me have unpaid summers off. I used to do that when I was doing full time software contracting, until it became too hard to quickly line up a new job in the fall.
I thought the video was part of that Seinfeld episode:
The puffy shirt.
“But I don’t wanta be a pirate!”
Velasquez,Portrait of Juan de Pareja
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/v/velazquez/pareja.jpg
He was a manservant to Velasquez,I believe.
A descendent of a Moor, a Morisco.
That’s Moop! A Moop!
Apparently a student of Velasquez as well
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_de_Pareja
I said recently that I learn more about what goes on in this country from London’s Daily Mail than the so called papers here.Add this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2278928/Minnesota-high-school-placed-lockdown-cafeteria-food-fight-turned-huge-brawl-racial-tensions-black-Muslim-students.html
Any comment,Lars?Notice that the white students merely spectate.
It was not a race issue. Too much diversity, ya think?
People who don’t want to assimilate.
Statue of John Wesley,Bristol,England
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1006/853977849_cfae1ddff0_b.jpg
Chuck Schumer,King Of The Jews
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/new_hagel_horrors_VO1I5ivbhVbhI23FHDNIbI
Tough Dame
http://tracking.si.com/2013/02/13/golfer-black-widow-spider-finishes-round/?sct=obnetwork
Coffee, krullers, and…and…I’ve got nothing this morning! Make up the 3rd thought for yourself!
Asteroids?
Ah…close…comets! Thanks!
Hemorrhoids.
In another twist of cosmic irony, God was taking aim at the only country with an established active manned space program…
The Muslims invented the earth.
Like father, like son. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/16977324-jesse-jackson-jr-charged-with-misusing-750000-in-campaign-funds?lite