Our school system is currently using a balanced calendar this year allowing teachers and students to have a week long vacation about every six weeks. Many say that this type of calendar is getting closer to a year round schooling format. Some parents and teachers feel that the students are in a constant pre-vacation or post vacation mode and therefore are not retaining as much knowledge. Others feel that it gives educators a time to recharge. What are your thoughts about year round schooling? What do you feel are the pros and cons regarding its implementation? Here are some links that may help with your thoughts:
Year Round Education
National Association for Year Round Education
Monday, March 21, 2011
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I am in the camp for recharging the staff. I even appreciate the odd holiday!
ReplyDeleteDue to economics (of course!), our district put all schools on 9-month schedule this year. Previously, we had 9-month or year round, depending on the locale student population. The comments about year round that I heard from the teachers included the difficulty in getting kids back into the learning mode and re-teaching. As a support staff, it was tiring, because we only had the traditional winter and spring breaks.
I like the concept of the balanced calendar. Switching back to 9-month has put pressure on "getting things done" and put a load on special ed activities toward the end of the year.
I do know that the number of days that teachers have been absent has dropped dramatically since we switched to an almost year round school. It's also great for high school kids that need to visit colleges. On our old calendar, you could only visit universities when there were no students on campus, defeating the purpose.
ReplyDeleteI did not vote for the balanced calendar we have this year with the numerous breaks. However, I have seen the benefits for the students and teachers. I defiantly think we should have kept it for three years to see if it made a difference in student scores.
ReplyDeleteI think tha year round or balanced calendar because the nearly three month vacation that students/staff have when using a nine month school year is too long and leads to boredom and loss of momentum among students. Special education students are often signed up for extended school year because a three month lapse in education would be especially detrimental to them. I agree that the breaks during a balanced calendar may cause students to get restless, just as they do with summer vacation and holidays, but I think the benefits of increased consistency in the educational schedule outweighs the disadvantages.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking as a mom with kids currently in elementary and middle school, I'm happy that our year round school went to 9 months. For my son in elementary, although he welcomed the frequent breaks, it was difficult on him. He would be so excited anticipating the upcoming vacation, that hardly anything stuck in his mind as far as the lessons went. Then after vacation, there is that week again of trying to get the kids focused on "learning". On another note, I prefer the 9 month calendar for selfish reasons....I don't have to pay for child care when my 3rd grader is out on break and I'm not, plus the school schedule is now the same as my middle school child. Vacations are easier to plan since all our schedules are the same.
ReplyDeleteI had heard from my niece who teaches in Cherokee county that most teachers did not like the balanced calendar. Last year, I had a new student who was from Cherokee county and even she stated that it is so hard to get back into the routine. Most people benefit from a structured routine so the balanced calendar makes that extremely hard. From a teacher's standpoint, I think I have needed the breaks. It has been ideal to have doctor check ups scheduled during this time frame. It has been very nice having it during our Lesley grad classes. I wish Cobb had kept it long enough to see if test scores were affected.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you comments and you have made some very valid points. Our school tried it this year. However, we had an unusual winter and ended up with an extra week off due to snow. This gave us all an unrealistic view of the balanced calendar. I also think that they should give it another try and see if the test scores are affected.
ReplyDeleteAs a working mom, I loved the year round schedule. I was on track 4, my first break was the month of November. Usually, I was not ready for this break, I felt like we had just gotten started. However, every other break was nice. Other schedule though, I can see feeling choppy. Now that it went to nine month, I am glad, because now with 3 kids, it will be nice to be on the same schedule as my husband!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all these comments, I agree with almost everyone. This is the first year of being a school nurse that I will have a summer off. I am looking forward to it although the pay loss was significant. I see my granddaughter looking forward to the summer off but she is always ready for the fall. She gets bored and misses her friends. As for me I am struggling to get everything done by June 9. I would be interested to see if test scores are better or worse for each group of students.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the positive comments Jill on my blog. Yes, it really is a sgraffito method. I just didn't go into that on my blog.
ReplyDeleteJill, I am posting my comment on this section, because I was unable to open the comment section under the ipadio section. Anyway, I am very interested in the ipadio concept. It sounds very user friendly and has dozens of applications. Great article.
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