I haven't been an occasional teacher for long, but the last few weeks/months have been unreal. Unreal in the fact that kids have gone nuts. The nice weather is here, NOBODY wants to be in school allllllll day (teachers included).
I have a hard time understanding why North America is completely different from the rest of the world when it comes to education. I see test results showing Canada ranked 5th, and the US at 14. So basically, as I see it, we spend September and some of October reviewing the prior year's curriculum because we all know that most students forgot everything over the summer, and we all know that the last month, maybe month and a half students have completely checked out. That leaves us with 6 months of quality instruction. I've heard talks of the new Campbell Ave. site is going to be a year round school. My question is, what has taken so long for this to happen? I believe most schools not in N.A. use this format and their test scores show that.
The break up of the long break provides students with less time off and therefore (hopefully) able to have more material sink in and doesn't allow for students to lose interest, well as much anyway.
I am a firm believer that you need to adopt the best method of delivery, and if this is it, why aren't we doing it? it's like everyone is doing it...AND IT WORKS..so why not?!
I see this "check out" as well. As a supply teacher we get the most work in the last 20 days, however they are probably the most challenging. I wonder if we (OT, but more so permanent teachers) could make more of the last 20 days. Is there a way that they could use the time better? I think that they should use the time to consolidate what the students have learned throughout the year. Just because the whether is nice, that does not mean school is out - what about schools in hot climates? Twenty days are too many to throw away. Teachers should use the last month of school for work that can help students retain what they learned and prepare for next year.
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