Yeesh...that's so EARLY! Why do so many schools (and not just California) go longer (starting earlier, ending later) without any measurable improvement?
Schools start earlier in the year (for sure) and end later (maybe) than we did 40-50 years ago because back in the 1970s we didn't get a whole week or more off for Thanksgiving, 2-3 weeks at Christmas, and a week of spring break. We got Thanksgiving Day and its Friday off. For Christmas, we got maybe a week, and for "spring break" we got maybe Good Friday and/or Easter Monday.
Anonymous, it's a treat that you go out of your way to come to a teacher's blog just to make an insult. (hands doll to Anonymous) Show me where the bad teacher hurt you.
When I was in school in the 70s and 80s we *did* get 2 weeks off at Christmas, Wed-Fri off for Thanksgiving, and a week off for Spring Break. AND the school year was 5-10 days shorter.
Do you know why we now get a week off for Thanksgiving? Parents saw the school days of Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week and thought, "My kid could miss just those two days and we'd get a week to go visit grandma." So they took those days off and the school districts didn't get state funding for those unexcused absences. In response, the districts just included those days off as holidays and tacked them on to the remainder of the year.
One of my favorite breaks is Ski Week, officially Presidents Week. Two 3 day weekends in a row for Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays, parents would see their kids missing only 4 days of school to get a 9-day break. Same problem, same response.
That's why the school year is so much longer now where I teach than it was when I was a teenager.
9 comments:
Typo? Do you return on Aug. 8?
Thx for the correction. Yes, I return August 8th, students on Thursday the 11th.
Yeesh...that's so EARLY!
Why do so many schools (and not just California) go longer (starting earlier, ending later) without any measurable improvement?
That seems early. We start on the 31st.
U-WA doesn't start until the last Wednesday in September, which is the latest start date I've ever heard of.
-- Ann in L.A.
Schools start earlier in the year (for sure) and end later (maybe) than we did 40-50 years ago because back in the 1970s we didn't get a whole week or more off for Thanksgiving, 2-3 weeks at Christmas, and a week of spring break. We got Thanksgiving Day and its Friday off. For Christmas, we got maybe a week, and for "spring break" we got maybe Good Friday and/or Easter Monday.
Teachers are lazy, overpaid losers.
Anonymous, it's a treat that you go out of your way to come to a teacher's blog just to make an insult. (hands doll to Anonymous) Show me where the bad teacher hurt you.
Previous anonymous:
When I was in school in the 70s and 80s we *did* get 2 weeks off at Christmas, Wed-Fri off for Thanksgiving, and a week off for Spring Break. AND the school year was 5-10 days shorter.
Do you know why we now get a week off for Thanksgiving? Parents saw the school days of Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week and thought, "My kid could miss just those two days and we'd get a week to go visit grandma." So they took those days off and the school districts didn't get state funding for those unexcused absences. In response, the districts just included those days off as holidays and tacked them on to the remainder of the year.
One of my favorite breaks is Ski Week, officially Presidents Week. Two 3 day weekends in a row for Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays, parents would see their kids missing only 4 days of school to get a 9-day break. Same problem, same response.
That's why the school year is so much longer now where I teach than it was when I was a teenager.
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