Brian Cohen
  • Making the Grade Blog
  • About Me
  • Tutoring
  • Press
  • Resources to Share

The End of School Shuffle

6/13/2012

1 Comment

 
As my third year of teaching comes to a close I continue to recognize how amazing it is that no matter where you teach in the School District of Philadelphia, chaos rears its ugly head at the end of the year. Students do not heed their schedules, bizarre requests are made and early dismissals are given on a whim. It is as if the structure we took so long to take care of simply dies in the last few days.

Over my three years I will say that the situation has improved somewhat. In the 2009-2010 school year grades were to be completed a full 6 days before the "end" of the school year. In reality, once grades had been input, there was no reason for students to show up - so they didn't. In the 2010-2011 school year, we stil had four days between grades being due and the end of the year - a modest improvement but still difficult to pursue. This year, grades are due on the last day of school - even better for those of us wanting to give more chances (and more education) to our students.

Unfortunately, even this year there has been a breakdown of the rules as final exams were proctored over the course of the past week and if a student does not care about them (or has completed them), s/he may very well disregard the rules of the building and create headaches for the staff.

While I do not think that every suburban policy makes sense for urban school systems, I do believe that the end of year final exam schedule from Lower Merion has a lot of merit. When I attended LMHS as a teenager I found it relieving that we would have only two finals per day and that if we did not have to take a final, we did not have to come in. It made logical sense: do not force students to meander from classroom to classroom watching movies with teachers who have plenty of grading to do. 


I am hoping that with increased autonomy in schools next year there can be more flexibility of these schedules. Perhaps the end of the year can be more organized and joyous so that it is no longer a headache for many of us.
1 Comment
Anne Tenaglia
6/14/2012 05:04:49 am

I am glad for you that your grades didn't go in until the last day. However, our grades in the K-8 world had to be in on the 8th. After that, different textbooks were collected each day and shipped off to the bookroom, even as we were admonished that "We are directed to provide instruction until the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. Students will not watch movies, color, or perform non-instructional tasks during the instructional day." Elementary students react the same way high school students do when they come into a room where the bulletin boards are down, the books collected and grades are in. You can imagine how impossible it is to teach these last few days. This vacation coming up is well earned.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

    Picture

    Contact Me

    Picture

    Email Updates

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    March 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.