No School On Fridays

Jun 2, 2006 8:31 AM

Lynn Byrne :

Before I comment on the Friday issue, I have to say first that this was a great article. Both pros and cons were presented. Nicely balanced.

As for the topic--I'm floored. No school on Fridays? And a previous article in the E&C section dealt with short days on Mondays. So... now its 3 1/2 instructional days per week? And we wonder why students in U.S. public schools typically perform poorer than students in other developed countries.

Jun 2, 2006 10:05 AM

Barbara Pytel :

I believe the number of hours spent in class would be the same. Some local schools tried this alternative plan when the school budget did not allow for the jump in gas prices a few years ago. I think the reason it was not done this year is because schools set aside extra funds for gas as a precaution. Of course, this means that something else didn't get funding. By the time you budget for health insurance increases and fuel, the leftovers go for books, computers and learning. The half days come from the state legislatures mandating in-service days. Teachers would rather teach a full day.

Jun 2, 2006 2:14 PM

Irene Taylor :

Wow - flex time for schools! Now I've seen it all, but I think it makes sense. I'll bet teachers also like the day off from traveling, but I wonder how they like teaching those weary tykes at 4:30 p.m.! I know the last hour was always a challenge for my students - now that last hour will last for 2 hours!

As to half-day in-service days - I would rather be teaching a whole day any day! Trying to fit in the important "stuff", most likely lunch, and dismissal all before noon and then spending the afternoon in a workshop isn't my cup of tea. I guess my "last hour" is also a challenging one when I'm the student!

Great article!

Irene

Nov 10, 2008 10:43 AM

Guest :

I live in kentucky and I'm making a bill to make all schools in ky to go to a four day week. I'm really excited

Nov 24, 2008 6:21 AM

Guest :

Here are a list of pros and cons on the situation.

Pros
• Possible early graduation. By taking mini-term classes, you may be able to graduate early, especially if you start taking them early in your college career. If you take one mini-term class each year for four years, you could be ahead 12 credit hours, which may mean graduating a whole semester early.
• Smaller classes. Mini-term classes are usually smaller in size, which could give you more interaction in class discussions and more of a one-on-one interaction with your professor.
• Easier professors. Even though you have to work extra hard to learn information in such a short time period, many professors will take this into consideration. They understand that a lot of information is coming at you fast. So, as long as you work hard throughout the short term, some professors will be more lenient with grades during mini-term than they are in a regular semester.
Cons
• Accelerated learning. Professors have to cram a lot of material into a short time frame, which means you have to pay close attention during each class meeting and not fall behind on assigned readings.
• Long class times. Depending on how many weeks a mini-term class is at your college determines how long the class meeting time is. A mini-term class that is only 3 weeks long will have a longer class meeting time than a class that is 8 weeks long. Therefore, mini-term classes may not be for students who have a short attention span.
• Homework every night. Because mini-term classes only last for 8 weeks or less, you have to go to class every day as opposed to two or three times a week during a regular semester. So, since you do not attend class only two or three times a week, you will not have homework only two or three nights a week. Most professors have to assign homework every night during mini-term in order to get through their whole lesson plan.

Nov 25, 2008 8:19 AM

Guest :

I am a student in Iowa, and I think it would be really good if we went to a 4 day school week. That day off could be Monday or Friday, both days would work fine for a lot of people. plus less gas.

Nov 26, 2008 8:03 AM

Guest :

I am a student from iowa also. I think a 4 day school week would be GREAT! more sleep and more time to spend time with family and extra time to study. It would save schools a lot of money from electricity and not so much gas for the buses. More money to schools would be great so we could get new and improved technology and equipment. Our school has been closing down schools because they couldn't afford to keep that school open. With some more money they should be able to keep open schools that we need for our education. It would be great to have a four day school week for us students, and teachers. Thank you!

Jan 15, 2009 11:43 AM

Guest :

this is tyler i think there should be only 4 days too go too school.

Mar 11, 2009 8:32 AM

Guest :

i think that would be stupid because people who are in sports in september befor school starts it will be dark out

Mar 17, 2009 2:24 PM

Guest :

This would work great!!!

May 19, 2009 8:20 AM

Guest :

i think that it is a great idea for the 4 day week

Sep 22, 2009 3:05 PM

Guest :

I agree with Lynn. Come on now jus 3 1/2 days of school? Are you guys like tryna promote flunking studenst with this idea because that jus may well happen. If you're not in school the full week then you wouldnt be able to keep up with the curriculum, which means everyone wouldnt learn what they need to pass the perspective grade, which means everyone fails. Then look at this the teachers are gone to be trying to rush everything or drill the whole lesson into the kids heads and everyone learns at their own pace so it would def be a train reck. I mean its good to do this to save money and all but think about the effects this is gonna have on everyone. One more thing how many of those students do you think would actually use that extra day or so off to study? Then to extend the hours is even worse. Families have set times for their children to eat dinner, or go to some kind of scheduled practice or rehearsal. This is gonna jack everybody's schedule up. How do you expect the kids to stay up that late? I'm sure some take naps as soon as they get home and if thats a regular thing, thats what they are gonna want to do in school. Think about it.

Oct 23, 2009 9:32 AM

Guest :

i wish it can happen in california

Nov 8, 2009 6:16 PM

Guest :

There are many pros to a situation like this, but a major con is the decreased intelligence. A perfect example is the comment made by Tyler:
"this is tyler i think there should be only 4 days too go too school."
Now, I know that the internet is a place where grammar is not all that important, but misspelling "to" as "too" as well as not transitioning his introduction of "This is Tyler" to the rest of the sentence by adding the word "and" are mistakes that shouldn't be mistakes. In my opinion, I am for this 4 school days per week plan, but people like Tyler make me question that.