• Ever thought it'd be cool to have your art, writing, or challenge runs featured on PokéCommunity? Click here for info - we'd love to spotlight your work!
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.
    Register

Obama has plans of lenghtening school hours...

~Momo Uchiha~ said:


so if he increases our school ours wouldn't middle schooler's have more periods in their scheldules then?.
Click to expand...

It depends what "more hours" may instigate, for all we know it could be like an extra hour at the end of the day, where students just do their homework, with the aid of the teacher nearby.
 
I like the idea of extending the hours. I could learn a lot more.

However, if the current school times here aren't changed in the process, I will cry. School starts for me at 7:15. That means I would leave school around 4 or 5ish. If the hours change, I'm all for this.
 
Mizaki said:
The problem is, half the kids don't do the homework.

I'm positive for this action, our generation of children and teens need as long as they can at school so that the future can look bright. The thing is though, more school equals more rebellion.
Click to expand...
You've got a point, but lenghtening the school hours won't make kids do their own homework. The kids have a choice to do it or not. Adding more school hours won't change anything.
 
t.A.T.u said:

Well, all the clubs and activities would be pushed back. It's not like they have a limited amount of time after school to do them. On top of that, clubs and practice can be put before school hours too.
Click to expand...
Oh I see now. You are right about that. I didn't even think about that. They will need to put them before school. Especially band practice. I did notice when I was a Senior in high school the band usually will practice during the mornings as well. So I guess this could work. :D But still the school need better teachers.
 
Oh I see now. You are right about that. I didn't even think about that. They will need to put them before school. Especially band practice. I did notice when I was a Senior in high school the band usually will practice during the mornings as well. So I guess this could work. :D But still the school need better teachers.
Click to expand...

No, schools need better equipped teachers. Colleges are trading field practicum for classroom nonsense. Some teachers have no clue what they're doing because they haven't had time to make mistakes in a controlled environment. u-u; There's also the fact that teachers are told they have to do this and that, they're not allowed to just teach, they've got all these limitations and restrictions and you've got the higher ups screeching for them to improve the test scores. :/ Teachers aren't allowed to be themselves, they're not allowed to connect with students. INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR MEANS NO MORE TEACHER/STUDENT FRIENDLYNESSPERIOD.

XD; uh, as a student teacher in training, I want longer hours/longer class days. You spend the entire first half of the year re-teaching what the kids forgot over break. I personally think we should go with the idea of Year Round Schooling with more frequent breaks as opposed to one long break. I mean you'd get a whole month off in winter, a whole month off in summer and a week off every other month.

I know you guys can whine about how much you love break but you get bored so easily after a month. u____u Besides, you learn more, you retain more, you excel more.

America has one of the shortest school days of any westernized civilization. We go to school for less days, for less hours. Why are you surprised then when your standardized testing scores suck compared to countries like Japan and China who have students at school from 8am to 4pm and from 6pm to 10pm? I mean seriously. xD; It's not just better curriculum. Working with 'behavioral special needs' students, I realized that my supervising teacher spent HALF her day disciplining the kids. If the school day was longer, it might actually tip the scales so more learning was done than classroom control. u-u;

As far as homework goes, there's just no real reason for kids to do it. It's not well balanced or it's not given enough or it's not well explained or the parents just aren't involved. Homework is to be done at home, whether the kid likes it or not. You wanna say 'oh just let the kid be a kid'. Since when does being young excuse you from hard work? When do you stop being young? I wrote a 15 page paper in high school and it has saved my ass constantly in college. There are people who want no more homework but want kids to succeed in college.

I hate to be the meaniemo but you've gotta start working hard when you're young or it's too much of a shock when you start to take baby steps into the real world.
 
Last edited:
Mika said:
No, schools need better equipped teachers. Colleges are trading field practicum for classroom nonsense. Some teachers have no clue what they're doing because they haven't had time to make mistakes in a controlled environment. u-u; There's also the fact that teachers are told they have to do this and that, they're not allowed to just teach, they've got all these limitations and restrictions and you've got the higher ups screeching for them to improve the test scores. :/ Teachers aren't allowed to be themselves, they're not allowed to connect with students. INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR MEANS NO MORE TEACHER/STUDENT FRIENDLYNESSPERIOD.

XD; uh, as a student teacher in training, I want longer hours/longer class days. You spend the entire first half of the year re-teaching what the kids forgot over break. I personally think we should go with the idea of Year Round Schooling with more frequent breaks as opposed to one long break. I mean you'd get a whole month off in winter, a whole month off in summer and a week off every other month.

I know you guys can whine about how much you love break but you get bored so easily after a month. u____u Besides, you learn more, you retain more, you excel more.

America has one of the shortest school days of any westernized civilization. We go to school for less days, for less hours. Why are you surprised then when your standardized testing scores suck compared to countries like Japan and China who have students at school from 8am to 4pm and from 6pm to 10pm? I mean seriously. xD; It's not just better curriculum. Working with 'behavioral special needs' students, I realized that my supervising teacher spent HALF her day disciplining the kids. If the school day was longer, it might actually tip the scales so more learning was done than classroom control. u-u;

As far as homework goes, there's just no real reason for kids to do it. It's not well balanced or it's not given enough or it's not well explained or the parents just aren't involved. Homework is to be done at home, whether the kid likes it or not. You wanna say 'oh just let the kid be a kid'. Since when does being young excuse you from hard work? When do you stop being young? I wrote a 15 page paper in high school and it has saved my ass constantly in college. There are people who want no more homework but want kids to succeed in college.

I hate to be the meaniemo but you've gotta start working hard when you're young or it's too much of a shock when you start to take baby steps into the real world.
Click to expand...

Studies have shown that what you are suggesting(year round school) only increased test grades by roughly 2%.
And it depends mostly on the country. You cannot expect much from a poverty infested African country in Chad unless there is really good teaching going on there.
Besides, countries like Japan and China are much more disciplined than the U.S.
 
Luck said:


Studies have shown that what you are suggesting(year round school) only increased test grades by roughly 2%.
And it depends mostly on the country. You cannot expect much from a poverty infested African country in Chad unless there is really good teaching going on there.
Besides, countries like Japan and China are much more disciplined than the U.S.
Click to expand...

Test grades maybe, overall efficiency the number's higher than that.

And remember, statistics aren't all what they seem. You have to just go into schools and watch kids in the different environments. XD;

And yes they're more disciplined, they're not afraid to be mean to sally and billy and tell them they need to shapen up. Their parents much more often take a role in their schooling [you don't see a kyouiku mama in america] and extra ciriccular activities are required. I mean you can whine all you like but a more disciplined environment is a much better learning environment when the teacher is in charge, not the class. We're much too 'child sensitive' in the US and we're leaving our kids in the dust because of it. :/
 
Mika said:
Test grades maybe, overall efficiency the number's higher than that.

And remember, statistics aren't all what they seem. You have to just go into schools and watch kids in the different environments. XD;
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but until there are contradicting statistics, I will follow what has been observed more.

Mika said:
And yes they're more disciplined, they're not afraid to be mean to sally and billy and tell them they need to shapen up. Their parents much more often take a role in their schooling [you don't see a kyouiku mama in america] and extra ciriccular activities are required. I mean you can whine all you like but a more disciplined environment is a much better learning environment when the teacher is in charge, not the class. We're much too 'child sensitive' in the US and we're leaving our kids in the dust because of it. :/
Click to expand...

If children only listened more, then there wouldn't be any need for longer school hours. It would be a win/win situation for everyone in the long run.
 
cookie ☆ said:
This is going to piss off the kids who go to college part-time, here. Some in this thread have said things about this being reasonable for lazy kids and kids who aren't disciplined, the like. So consider this:

What about those who are already hard-working and diligent? They devote their time and effort to school, and with this plan, it's sorta gonna add more stress and increase the unecessary crap they're gonna recieve, yeah?
Click to expand...

The thing is that more kids need help with school than kids who don't. Although I hate to say it in this case, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
 
I don't see how this can do anything positive. If kids are disenfranchised now, how is giving them more of the very problem going to benefit them? You could spend 24 hours in class. But if you just don't care and don't want to learn or have a crappy teacher then any extra time spent amounts to nothing.

Finland rules the education rankings. And you know what? Their students are given very little homework. Little time spent on standardized prep too. To quote the Wall Street Journal, "They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7. ... But by ninth grade they're way ahead in math, science and reading -- on track to keeping Finns among the world's most productive workers."
 
cookie ☆ said:
You have quite some significant truth in your post, good fellow. I just wish that this was something Obama would consider before thinking about something like this. See, let me further explain my troubles and the big flaws I find within this plan:

Take my school, for example. The majority, if not all of the teachers have generously offered the students extra time to stay after school for tutoring, so they could understand and comprehend more about the subject that they are having trouble with. But how many students actually stay afterschool for that?

Very little. Now lets say this plan is enforced. All it's gonna do is cause kids to groan and complain about it, and possibly be even less interested in school. Obama is making a generalized prediction and/or assumption that everyone needs extra hours to succeed. But not everyone in America is failing, y'know? So this will have some drawbacks. I mean, you can't force kids to learn; if they don't want to learn and succeed, that's their problem. I can't see why everyone else has to suffer.

This is not only concerning the rebellious students. Some that are in need of improving are included as well. They need to take every and any possible opprotunity they have(and that may arise) to rise above expectations and make the best of it.

That's my view.
Click to expand...

If it were directed at the students who really needed help, then it would count more as detention, wouldn't it?
My school has the worst detention ever. You do nothing but stay there for 2 hours. The kids could at least do their homework in their spare time.
 
Wow. My school board just reduced the county's school day by 40 minutes. Now, Obama wants to lengthen the school day? Gah, good thing I am almost done with high school.

Honestly, it does not matter if one spends every moment in school if he/she is being babysat, not educated.

So yes, I agree with Luck on how American schools need better teachers instead of longer school days. For instance, I used to go to public schools, and the teachers were lazy. Then, students became lazy. Overall, the learning environment was dreadful and detrimental to learning.

Just look at my twin brother; we are equally smart and had the same upbringing, but our academic performance is startling. I go to a magnet school and he goes to a neighborhood school. I am motivated and he is not. At my school, the enthusiasm is overwhelming and it motivates everyone to do better. We are very competive (usually slandered as elitist, but meh, we get the job done). Most of my teachers have degrees in their field, are taking more classes if not, dedicate their own time for before/after school tutoring, and heck, some even take cell phone calls about homework during the evening (not at 1 AM, when we all straggle with homework, haha). At his school, substitute teachers are plentiful and cannot educate sufficiently, normal teachers are difficult to reach (take my word for it, ugh >_<), and students fight and engage in inappropriate behavior everyday (I cannot mention anything unless it would be rated PG 13 at the minimum). AP/IB exams are greatly encouraged at my school and are often mandatory in grades 11-12. AP exams and other quests for learning are not encouraged at my brother's school. My brother's guidance counselor was so proud that he registered for the SAT, which is a step most of his peers do not take. His school is a typical public American high school. I am glad I got away from it. What a difference.

The level of sophistication of teaching makes the difference. Quality > Quantity, my friends.

How to solve this problem? Teach teachers how to teach, not babysit, aaaa. At least teach them how to break up fights or explain protection, aaaa.

Longer days, what a sad waste of money.
 
Seeing as how this thread is titled "Obama has plans of lenghtening school hours...", lengthening the school day might not be the worst idea.

Haha just kidding. I think the school days are too long and most of the time you're not doing anything productive. It doesn't matter how long you make the kids stay; if they're not learning, they're not learning.
 
Well if school times were rose where I live, I would hunt down Kevin Rudd and kill him. But I am against Obama's plan, but he should think of mandatory tutoring to subjects that a student is failing (no genius, but isn't that like a summer school based thing).
 
Darachu said:
I like the idea of extending the hours. I could learn a lot more.

However, if the current school times here aren't changed in the process, I will cry. School starts for me at 7:15. That means I would leave school around 4 or 5ish. If the hours change, I'm all for this.
Click to expand...


well you may like the idea of increasing school's hour by daylight. But, if that happens I don't think we have anytime to enjoy ourselfs. The more hour's also means more homework and well...at least he won't increase school days from Monday to Saturday. that be just too much.
 
Not all school curriculums in America are easy. It really depends on where that comment is coming from. My school, for example, has classes for all levels of learning. There's a class for self contained students, a general class, a class for those interested in continuing their education in higher education, a class for those who are considered to be giften in a subject, and advanced placement. Advanced placement is only available for the core classes (English, a foreign language, Science, History, Math, etc). For the most part, though, there's a level of difficulty in every course available in my school.

Lengthening school hours seems to be a decision that's really up to the government, I suppose. I mean, of course it is, but if they feel that American students would be better off with more hours in school, why would I argue with that? It's education, after all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top