In Governor Chris Christie’s recent State
of the State address on Tuesday, January 14th, the Governor proposed
a longer school day as well as a longer school year. The governor’s main goal is to increase New Jersey students’
competitiveness. As a future teacher, I am not quite sure that I agree with this idea. I can understand
wanting to use the additional time to teach students but I fear that this extra
classroom time would be focused on teaching the material for the standardized
tests. As a child, I attended a private Catholic school and I was always
jealous of my friends who went to the public schools who had a shorter school
day. The article attached provides an interesting look at both sides of the
argument as to whether or not New Jersey should have an
extended school day and school year.
As
a future teacher how do you feel about the idea of a longer school day? How do
you feel about a longer school year? Do you think that New Jersey public schools
should begin to follow the model of charter schools that have a longer school
day (by about 50 minutes) and have a longer school year? The state requires a
school year of at least 180 days.
Generally speaking, charter schools have a much longer school year? If you believe that we should
have a longer school day and a longer school year then what area of the
curriculum do you believe should be stressed in those extra hours?
I had seen this on the news last week and I decided to do some research into it. I found a similar article that explained that Christie wants a longer school day and a longer school year. If this were to happen he has to realize that there is a lot of things he has to take into account before implementing this drastic change. Teachers are going to have a bigger salary statewide because they will be working more hours. If the students are going to be going to school in the summer all the classrooms would need to have AC. These are just some of the "simpler" problems he will face.
ReplyDeleteIf the school day were to be extended the class time should not be used to continue to teach to the test. This way of teaching does not allow the student to deeply explore concepts and just gets them to do well on tests. If anything needs to be changed in a school system it is not teaching to the test. Another thing I would like to see is the return of home ec and wood shop classes. I learned a lot from both classes with measurement and how to sew. These are both important life skills that my 14 year old brother missed out on. He cannot sew at all because he was never taught. Teaching to the test takes away such valuable skills and it should not be continued if the school day is extended. Education needs a change but I do not think a longer school day is the solution.
DeleteI do not think it is right to extend the school day or year. If the school day was extended we would be taking away from family time. Children need time to interact with their parents and siblings. I think supporters of this idea are overlooking children’s outside interest. If the school day were extended children would not have time for extracurricular activities. This would make it harder for children to play sports or explore their talents. Children need time to be kids. Education is needed, but so is play. Sports keep children in shape and hobbies help children find their interest. Extending the school day would disturb all of these things.
I think teachers do a fine job teaching a six hour school day.
As many of us know, it is not easy to keep a child’s interest too much longer after lunch.If we are loosing our students attention after lunch how do we expect to keep it for longer than that? It would be a long day for both the teachers and students. I think we also need to consider that teachers never really stop working. A teachers job never really ends. Many teachers go home from school and grade papers, plan lessons, and take care of their own families. If the school day was extended we cut into the time that teachers take to better themselves. I just do not think it is a good idea. I think if there is a problem with the regular school day, we need to find ways to fix it not extend it. I think educators should better what they have first, and then go from there.