Saturday, July 26th, 2008...11:07 am
Summer Vacation?
Since I have been in my present position as a 12 month person, I’ve given a bit of thought to the summer break enjoyed by teachers. I took this position in the month of February (more than 10 years ago), and didn’t give much thought to my summers off until that first summer came along. I can’t say I miss it entirely, but there are times when the relaxation and pace of those summers long ago, bring a sense of nostalgia. Lately my thoughts have been on the learning I enjoyed during those long summers, the planning and organization of my classroom and the leisure time to write and read. Though I am no longer afforded the long stretches of time off in the summer, I am attempting to refocus some of my energy to the reading and writing I used to do. Part of that will be this blog.
There are many parts of the country that have year round school. My niece and nephew in Las Vegas spent a few years in a year round setting and it seemed to make sense. Of course, their motivation was space. They didn’t have enough schools so there was a group of kids off at all times to accommodate the number of students. My sister didn’t like it much, she was pleased when they were ‘lotteried’ out of the option. It seems to make sense for the students in many ways, though. They had quite a few two week breaks throughout the year and then were off the month of June. I have a friend who teaches in a year round setting in North Carolina and she loves it. For her, the two week breaks throughout the year are used for (optional) professional development. She said it gives her the opportunity to learn strategies and pedagogy and then try them out with her students. Sounds like a good plan! Of course the cost of year round education makes it prohibitive for many places. You would have to consider salary increases, busing, and the cost to maintenance. There would be more opportunity for innovation with scheduling and continuous progression though. Consider the possibility of students passing on to the next level in their own leaning time! It’s pretty tough to do that wih the system as it is now. We’ve been talking for years, in eduation, that we have to retool an antiquated system, but it doesn’t get very far. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation seem to be making some progress with the Big Picture School. It’s a good fit some areas, but we are far from meeting the needs of our present student population. No matter what experts recommend, the politics and beuacracy always seems to win out. Research and the experts tell us repeatedly that educating our kids is the answer to lower crime rates, poverty and even becoming more globally powerful, yet…it doesn’t change much.
It certainly gets discouraging, but I do think there is hope. I spent a few days this summer at the High Schools New Face conference with over 200 local educators and their enthusiasm and commitment tells me there is hope. Check out what HSNF Leaders blogged about during the week. It’s inspiring! The conversations I took part in and the ones I heard tells me there are still great possibilities. Ken Kay suggested we must start a ground swell by advocating for 21st Century Skills. He’s right.
I read a great blog post this morning on why someone became a teacher. It’s called “think, think, think” and it’s worth the read. Summer has always been a time for reflection and renewal in education, I guess. It’s our “New Year’s Resolution” time of the year. What’s yours?
4 Comments
July 26th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
You are right about summer vacation being a time of renewal and reflection.With the economy the way it is and the pay that teachers get, many teachers work during the summer for extra income. Myself and many other teachers take graduate college classes over the summer to continue learning ourselves and renew their certifications. The summer is also a time to organize your classroom and plan for the next years classes. I feel fortunate to have this time. Towards the end of July (about the time the back to school advertisements come out) I get excited thinking about starting fresh with new classes in just a few short weeks.
Personally, I love the idea of year round school for a few reasons. I think it makes sense especially for the primary students because 10-12 weeks off is a long time. By mid May the students are done learning and need a break. By the beginning of July the students are getting bored and are ready to come back to school.
Young students especially, lose some of the skills in reading and math that they have learned from the previous year. Most teachers spend the first few weeks reviewing and assessing their students to see what they have gained or lost over summer. In a year round school, this would not happen.
All of us need a break from whatever our jobs are. Year round school addresses this much better than our present school year. Perhaps one of the places that you mentioned in your blog could become a model for more school districts. I for one would be very excited to give it a try.
*Heidi Pence
http://hpence.blogspot.com
July 31st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
When I was in High School I worked. I really learned a lot from working. I gained a pretty good work ethic in an environment that, well, really counted. I learned how to have a good conversation with customers, make change, organize information and earn money. I had new responsibilities that I never really learned in school. I also feel I learned a lot of problem solving skills from my job. Much of what we call 21st century skills, I learned at my high school summer job in the 20th century. Unfortunately, much of my high school experience was focused on learning facts. It is kinda a “chicken and the egg” kinda argument, but I can not recommend year round school for high school students until schools change. The thing is, I believe they can change.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Thanks for the comments, Rick. Very good points! Hadn’t thought about it in that way. I, too learned a lot during high school jobs and would not want to change that. Changing the system would allow that to still occur. I look at the MET School model where kids really do get into real jobs/careers.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Summers are neat and when I was spending more time in a classroom I got more time off. As my position as a technology director evolved I got less and less time off. Supporting K-12 technology in any school district is a 12 month position. Most school districts haven’t realized this yet.
I appreciate a more flexible schedule in the summer. I also use it as a time to get more training. I don’t know if year round schooling is really going to happen, but with the advent of Web 2.0 and what comes after that might invite some new models of year long learning.
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