Thursday, March 29, 2012

What is the focus of school?

When I initially made a decision earlier in the school year to limit the amount of time that students were going to miss school for a program because I believe that it was more important for the students to be in the classroom, quite a bit of criticism was directed my way. And quite honestly, no one from outside the building agreed with me, and not everyone on the inside thought I had made a good decision. I am talking about the matinee of the musical in which I decided that taking what amounted to a nearly a full day off of school for those students involved in the play, as well as about three hours for everyone else, did not make much sense when it comes to priorities. My justification was that those in the cast had already had a “run through” in front of their parents earlier in the week to work out the kinks, and that there were three performances over the weekend with plenty of seats available. In some respects I questioned whether it made economic sense to “give away” the musical to high school kids who could be paying customers. And people argued that something like this might be the only cultural experience that some of our kids ever get, which I countered with “most will still see five or six plays and musicals” over the course of their school career with my original proposal, which was a lot more than I saw growing up. But alas, a compromise was worked out and while I did not like the amount of school some kids missed to put on these performances, there are a lot worse reasons that students miss a day.

But this points to the bigger issue that I was focused on – what is the focus of school? In other conversations about other things educational, people (me included) have said, “They want us (school) to do everything.” We have a captured audience of people that most of us are very interested in: children from pre-K through age 18. When someone or some entity wants something done for or done to kids, “tell the school to do it!” After all, that’s where the kids are. When laws are passed about child workers and the Department of Labor has to enforce them, they push their responsibility off on school principals to assure that proper forms are completed when a child under 16 goes to work. When the government makes the decision that students need to be formally taught how to drive, one would think that would fall on the Department of Transportation. Nooooooooooo! That becomes the responsibility of the schools. Not only that, we have to certify that students meet requirements for a school permit on a form that has Department of Transportation right on the top of it! When the oil industry wants kids to know about the multiple uses of petroleum, they send materials to teachers asking them to teach that content to kids, as do the pork producers, corn growers, conservationists, and many, many others. Dental checks, eye checks, and the list go on and on and on. And the funny thing – none of that is included in the Iowa Core or the Common Core!

Public education has been the whipping boy for the past ten to fifteen years. The critics loudly run down what goes on in our schools, misusing all sorts of data to push their various agendas. But those are all big picture issues. Closer to home people have developed their own lists of important things that they want to see happen at school. The matinee is one of those things. When you do the math, if we did not have any interruptions in our school day, we have 135 hours at most to teach a student math, or English, or any other subject. That is just a bit more than three regular workweeks for someone in the labor force. Three weeks! Now, take away six or seven hours for the time taken away for the shortened schedules due to early releases and late starts for whatever the reason. Do you see where I am going with this? It may seem no big deal for the kids to miss a couple of classes to watch the matinee, or to miss because they have to leave early for the track meet, or because they are going on the band trip, or physical therapy, or orthodontist appointments, or to go and read to 3rd graders, or to do a service project, and on and on.

We have to have time to focus on our purpose, which is to teach students the curriculum that will align with the Iowa Core. That is the purpose of school. And, our top priority must be those essential standards that are included in the core. There has to be shift in the mindset, as I know that for many, music, athletics, and some of the other programs hold a higher priority. The reality is that it can’t. We are not accountable to our political leaders and our taxpayers for football success or all-staters. We are accountable for the academic performance of our students. Therefore, I have a moral obligation to protect class time. It is what we are here for.

16 comments:

  1. Well you really attacked the play there!

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    1. It wasn't mean as an attack. The kids and directors did an awesome job with the musical. It was a hot-button topic in the fall because I announced that I was going to limit the matinee. The point was missing school, and all of the reasons kids are drawn away from class. I believe we need to question all of the reasons we pull kids out of class. Why not have a free matinee for kids on Saturday so they don't miss class?

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  2. Yes, the school is asked to do too much with too little these days. The pressure is on for schools to receive higher test scores and are being judged by just a handful of statistics. This is not fair, and the schools are being asked to take on too much.
    At the same time, there is more to life than the academics limited to the classroom. You have to look at the underlying value of the activities you discussed in your post. There are some very purposeful lessons that can't just be limited to the classroom. Take the play, for example: what is more cool to a young boy than to see their role-model-football player singing and dancing on stage?? So, it CAN be cool to go out for drama, even if you are a male athlete! What a message for our youngsters. Theater, field trips, and outside activities are a window to the world---and believe it or not, learning is happening in those moments. Children follow along with the story line as they watch a plot unfold on the stage. Students learn the social cues of society as they walk the streets of a city on their way to the museum. Kids get the idea that there is something "out there", outside of the walls of their school building, a place where they are going to be expected to behave a certain way, know certain things, and be provided the opportunity to do more than they could have ever imagined in their sheltered little minds. Our brains were built not to be limited to simply words on a page, but thrive more from multiple senses, tapping into art, music, movement and real experience. There is true value to the experiences outside of the classroom for the young mind.

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  3. Pause before you post.

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    1. Well said. Mr.Blue... or in this case, "posted"

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  4. I want to thank the folks above for their comments, and I certainly agree with points that are made, particularly regarding the value of the arts and for kids to be able to experience them. I am as frustrated as the next person in regard to some of the recent changes that the federal and state governments have enacted that we have to do. I hope people understand this point: we are being held accountable for performance on math, literacy, science, social studies and 21st century skills with some pretty strict guidelines. If our students do not perform in those areas, then consequences will come our way, which may include having to make a lot of decisions none of us want to make. We are asked to do a lot and are finding it increasingly difficult to do all that is expected. This is not the way it was even ten years ago! I love the idea of sharing things with students, like any of the productions we put on, but can we still afford to do that? Many in the community say, "yes." But will they be saying yes when we don't "make the grade" with math, science, or something else that lawmakers have determined are priorities? If so, I strongly encourage you to communicate with those folks making the laws because some of the change coming down the pipe will put us in those situations.

    I also want to reference some of you to the statement in the left column toward the top under Comments Policy. I make it pretty clear that I am not a fan of anonymous statements. I participate in a number of blogs and threads and always sign my name to my comments, many times catching the wrath of those who disagree with me. I did include an anonymous statement above because frankly, I was really happy someone commented! It has been a long time! So, unless you are willing to include your name, from this point forward I will choose not to include your comment.

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  5. In you last comment you talked about 21st century skills. Well I would like to add one that you missed, and is a major skill to have, public speaking! Your response to that will be "we have a class that is just that". Well as I am finding out, it is tougher and tougher each year to fit classes such as that in our schedules. So if we cannot get that class to teach us public speaking, where else can we get it. Activates such as FFA and the Fine Arts are great places that teach us just that, and give us an opportunity to use it. These activities teach us skills that we WILL use throughout our lives! These are things we should be taking advantage of, not killing. Now, lets say the state and or federal government decides "alright we need to stick to what needs to be going on in the class rooms" you know as well as i do, that the first thing you cut will be the fine arts. Why? Well it is at the bottom of your totem pole. Then you will go onto FFA and maybe at the very end change sports around, but you will never get rid of them. You don’t want the musical during the day. Well then you better stick to the small sentence in the ton of bashing against the musical that says that sports shouldn't leave early for sports. The day that you do not let sports leave early for an event will never come. And that is because you stand behind the sports. And probably your biggest reason for that, even though you won’t admit to it, is because, for instance, football brings in a lot of revenue (even though the football account was in the red a majority of the year). Money money money. Not to pick on football or sports in general, but what skills are they teaching you? Compared to fine arts and FFA and other activities along those lines, they don’t teach you a whole bunch. So, when you start cutting things, I hope you prioritize the activities that make a real difference in people's lives. But again I am not against sports. They too are good for students. They are all better than sitting in a class room.
    Thanks for reading!

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    1. Speech/speaking is one of the five components of literacy in the Iowa Core, and as you say, very important. I cannot agree more! We have great opportunities here for students to develop that skill. Within the 21st century skills are others that support the things you discuss.

      I was not bashing the musical. It is a great event. I used it as an example as I had brought it up this year and met resistance. It has nothing to do with the musical or the dedicated people that are involved. It is all about school time. I do not like the fact that we release students early for sports, and I have insisted that we cut down on the time missed. But, we don't control those things. Just like we don't control when they schedule All-State. We have not choice but to live with that.

      To set the record straight, football was not in the red this year. Gate revenues exceeded costs and football fund a lot more than football. Besides, my point had nothing to do with money. It has to do with time.

      Let me pose another question: with the new proposed evaluation system from the governor, if teacher evaluation must include a component on the performance to students, how many math, science, English, and social studies teachers are going to want kids missing their class because of this reason and that reason? Not my idea, but a reality like the issues that I addressed earlier.

      By the way, thanks for your input. Nice to know that at least this time people are reading the blog!

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  6. As a senior know there are ways of makeing up your classes when you are not there... Thanks to the wonderful yet dangerous thing the internet I can get notes and examples from my teachers online. Therefore when I miss school I find ways to keep intouch with my teachers and get the notes. if the teacher cares enough they will help you understand and get a passing grade in there class all students really have to do is talk to them they are willing to help you understand. My question is why do we have study hall? If we come to school to learn then why have 45 min to catch up on the work you didn't do the night before at home?

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    1. For many students, I don't think a study hall is necessary. In fact, some schools do not have them, but they are either block schedules or six-period schedules on a trimester. I do think you are going to see more flexibility with scheduling in the future. We are talking about some hybrid classes that are kind of a combo online-in-class type of arrangement. I can see that coming into play sooner than later. That would be a real shake up to the traditional school day!

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  7. I want to say that high school is the most important times in a students life in creating social skills as well as educating the mind. These are the prime years for people to spend the last years with their childhood friends whom they may never see again and these ideas you are proposing will turn it into a prison. School is here to learn, i know but also people enjoy coming to school to see their friends and spend time with people they may not have the opportunity to see outside of school. These activities further the knowledge that a classroom can teach and help people to create bigger and better opportunities for their future. and for the study hall cut, that is bs. Students need study hall to get work done. Yes some use it to mess around but it is very helpful in many aspects of finishing work. Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully you will listen and understand the student body and on campus faculty.

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    1. Absolutely! School is a very important time to develop social skills. I want to clarify something, I AM NOT proposing anything! I am giving people something to think about and consider. A lot of critics of public education hammer us because those core courses are not emphasized enough! We, you, me teachers and others at school are accused of not taking school serious enough. One of the brutal realities is that if young people in our country do not learn at a higher level, they are going to be lost in the race to success because of all of the competition in this new global economy. I care about this and I am scared to death! You are right, people need to learn to get along and develop good working relationships, They need to show up every day. These are things employers tell us. And they also need to learn the concepts and skills that are being taught.

      For the record, I am not advocating that study halls be taken away! With an eight period day I know that a lot of students need them. When I was a student, I needed them. It is different on a block schedule and that was what I was pointing out earlier.

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  8. I think people who post anonymously should have a right to view their posts because its their own freedom of speech. But on futher note, this school system was so much better before all these changes became a law, many students here feel like they are in a prison and thats an honest opionion. School should be a place where kids and older students should feel comfortable to come to everyday. Not someplace where they dread coming. Look at the drop out rate in the past few years. With all the changes you are putting into place some people have difficulty adapting and thats why they act out. It seems as if you are expecting us high schoolers to adapt to your styles and not letting us be ourselves. For example, what about German? Let the kids take the classes that make them happy. We all need a class here and there that will enlighten our day. School should be fun. Along with that--You have to take into consideration what the student(s) go through in there home life too, what happens there will affect them in school to, also other changes to, some people do not learn as well as others either. Not all kids have the help of parents either, some Have to work in order to take care of themselves so when you said that kids push off studying, not all students have time and sometimes they dont have parents that support them with money and other things they have to work, no kid should have to live like that. Some kids do though. I know as we All know that school is important but its hard to when you have to support your own self and work all the time.
    I think our school should have a opionion box in the office directed towards you with the student body's own opionion because in order to make this school function more properly everyone should let their voice be heard. Because WE all feel ignored.

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    1. The beauty of free speech is that you have a right to express your thoughts, just like you have. But with freedom comes responsibility and that is why I don't believe in publishing anonymous statements. I stand behind what I say. When I write something or say something you don't agree with, you know where it is coming from and you can direct your comments to the source. When people post anonymously, they hide behind secrecy and can throw out anything they want. They can't be held accountable. When you put your name to something, you are.

      I appreciate your comments and there has been change, but if you think that I have had the power or authority to make all of them, you are overestimating what I can and cannot do! It makes me feel bad when people don't enjoy coming to school and I worry about all of the demands that are placed on students today. It is a lot more than it was when I was your age. However, it is a reality of our times. Authorities much higher than me, far beyond the local school districts have made decisions on what needs to happen at schools. That was one of the points I tried to make, and yet it is my job to adhere to the law and do what has to be done. It is a difficult balance to maintain.

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  9. Everybody who commented is not looking at the big picture. He is not critizing anything he is just giving examples on what he means. He was not judging the play at all or anything else. All he wants is to make this place a better learning place. And i agree. But i also agree that we do need breaks and he does give them to us. For example: have perminent pass, spring fling, homecoming week, ect. We should be happy with what we get. We come here to learn not play.

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  10. 3rd hour Reading ClassApril 3, 2012 at 1:18 PM

    There is not enough fun time right now, like field trips. High school should be fun but sometimes it feels like we’re in boot camp. Middle schoolers look forward to coming to highschool for the activities, plays and musicals. They will feel like they’re going to bootcamp! We feel more like working on our school work if we have some fun days too! Why are we paying so much money for computers and worrying about how much papar we use if it means we have to sacrifice the things that make the days we work hard tolerable. If we can’t get to see the play, all the people in the play get to miss three hours and we don’t? Sometimes there are just as many of them as there are of us! NOT FAIR. Thant’s what we think. Sports get to leave ALL THE TIME to go to meets and games, but us kids who are not good in sports and are good in speech and plays and music get a bad deal.

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