Topic: How do we consider time differently to rebuild school schedules and calendars to maximize learning?

Sometimes, when I’m out and about on the roads early in the morning, I see a school bus and think to myself, “Why on earth do we make kids start their school day so early?” It wasn’t too long ago that I was one of them, I can remember how torturous it was to get up before the sun rose and try to get my brain out of hibernation mode.

Many times I’ve wondered what it might do to our education system if we just pushed back the beginning of school by an hour or two. I suspect it would improve focus and, by extension, learning and knowledge retention. I’m sure there have been more than a few studies on the subject, although the fact that we still are doing things the same way suggests that either the correlation between later start times and better student performance just isn’t there or that we just don’t care to change the status quo.

Either way, my thinking on adjusting school schedules never extended beyond pushing the start of the day back a bit. This week’s #edchat, however, went much deeper than that. It was amazing how quickly the community spat out more suggestions in a single hour than I would have been able to come up with in a week. Of course, that’s what I expect when I sign on to #edchat these days.

Ideas ranged from the realistic to the radical; from the small tweak to the complete overhaul. I fear that even some of the simpler suggestions will go completely unheard thanks to the rigid administration that seems so prevalent in public schools these days. But at the same time I have some hope that teachers can make some of these new ideas work on their own – or maybe they can bring them up in a private school setting, where things aren’t set in stone.

Change may come slowly, but it is encouraging that there are so many good teachers (and other school staff members) out there who are working on it every day.

Main themes from the discussion:

• What do we want to do: extend the school day or restructure the current school day? This is a central question that needs to be answered, and carefully. Do we think that we need students to spend more time in school (kids in other countries often do go to school longer and for more days every year) or do we think we can do better with the time we have? We also need to consider how homework plays into this. Do we want to effectively extend the school day “unofficially” by giving more homework or by flipping the majority of classrooms?
• Should we extend the school day? It seemed like there were a good number of teachers who favored extending the school day. Most of these folks admitted that they wouldn’t just focus on academics if they had more time, however. They wanted more time for extra-curricular activities, sports programs, and tutoring to help those students who were falling behind. There was some discussion over whether participation in “after hours” activities should be mandatory or optional. I think convincing cases can be made for both sides.
• If we extend the school day, won’t that cost us more money? No #edchat discussion would be complete without a discussion about how we plan to pay for all these brilliant ideas. It certainly seems logical that if we extend the school day we’ll have to be paying a lot more salaries and hiring quite a few more people. But what about volunteers, such as parents or older students? What about private tutors who wouldn’t get paid by the school system but would be compensated by the parents who decided to enroll their kids in their programs? And what about renting out the school building during off hours to various organizations as a way to defray some of these extra costs?
• Restructuring the school day is the way to go. There were just as many folks who preferred to rearrange the school day as wanted to extend it. I think that makes sense (and is itself an argument in favor of making an extended school day optional). Tom Whitby had an interesting idea to teach students five subjects per semester and to have each subject meet once a week all day long so that teachers could go really in-depth. David Wees suggested making the school day more “fluid,” allowing teachers to bargain amongst each other for extra time when necessary. And Jerry Blumengarten (better known as the Cybraryman) wondered if we should try to combine subjects a bit more. Each of these suggestions is a way for teachers to have the time to go deeper into their subject matter, and I think each one deserves some consideration. Unfortunately, they’re all a bit on the “radical” side.
• What about just focusing on not wasting so much time? This, I think, is one of the best and simplest suggestions from this week’s conversation. Every school (and teacher) should, on an annual basis, reexamine their general practices to see where time is being spent inefficiently or completely wasted. For example: do all students need to sit and listen to the announcements for every grade level every morning? Or couldn’t announcements be made via email or other social networking services? The possibilities are probably endless.

My favorite tweets from the discussion:

<> Great questions:

birklearns Is there a need for a longer school day, or is the solution restructuring the day that we have?

cybraryman1 How do you feel incorporating more self-directed http://t.co/HtLsFiGC and blended learning? http://t.co/cgTtePy9

cybraryman1 How do you feel about combining some subject areas?

<> In favor or rearranging the day:

davidwees We need to examine our school schedules and ask ourselves, where does this schedule come from?

bjnichols Time cannot be segmented into blocks. It should be around projects or problems. Life is integrated, not isolated.

mikevigilant Just let each team decide–if nothing’s going on in science and math is blowing up, shift a little time around.

davidwees @drdouggreen Ever been in the middle of a deep learning activity with students and been interrupted by the end of class?

tomwhitby Teaching 5 periods a day for 5 diff classes: How about each class one day a week for 5 periods? Result: more continuous project time.

<> In favor of integrating the school day more:

DoeMiSo As a music teacher, I’m integrating other subjects all the time. Why should it be so hard for others?

MertonTech @rliberni @TestSoup Give the kids social time with their emotional peers, and learning time with their intellectual peers.

stumpteacher @cybraryman1 There are so many natural connections in learning that teaching in isolation no longer makes sense.

<> Challenges to integrating the school day more:

mikevigilant @cybraryman1 Combining subjects would be great IF we weren’t accountable for test results on *our* subject. Would you give up time?

<> In favor of a longer day:

Loldsteach My son’s high school stays open three hours after dismissal to allow students access to the resources. It’s a start.

rliberni Think of all the art, drama, and sport that could be done at school!

cybraryman1 @rliberni I would like to see more choice given to students after academics of areas (arts, sports, etc.) to explore.

mr_isaacs Open the school for more activities. Let students stay because they want to stay.

MertonTech @TestSoup Keeping the building open can be a revenue generator.

<> Challenges to extending the day:

birklearns For students who are not fond of school, more school would be awful. Eating more brussel sprouts doesn’t make me like them…

davidwees @PrincipalPC @tomwhitby ’It will cost too much’ is an excuse to continue to do what we always do; it keeps us ‘safe.’

rliberni Does an extended day need to have teachers? What about parents? They have expertise too. I think we often underestimate the skills that others have (parents and other people attached to school).

<> Great miscellaneous comments:

tsocko @jswiatek I’ve found that time isn’t wasted if teachers are properly prepping and recreating lesson plans, not just extending old ones.

PrincipalPC @drdouggreen @ShiftParadigm We should not worry about gaps — we should worry about maximization of capacity.

TeachPaperless One problem is that we tend to think that if a student isn’t learning in our classroom, they aren’t learning.

Mamacita My own memories of elementary school are mostly of waiting, waiting, and waiting. And being punished for working ahead.

To follow the complete discussion, look for the full archive here.  They’re usually posted up by the end of the week.

Looking to discuss #edtech in depth? Check out the LinkedIn group: Edutech Trends, Visions, Passions.

###

New to #EdChat?

If you have never participated in an #Edchat discussion, these take place twice a day every Tuesday on Twitter.  Over 400 educators participate in this discussion by just adding #edchat to their tweets. For tips on participating in the discussion, please check out these posts:

• Edchat: Join the Conversation
• Using TweetDeck for Hashtag Discussions

More Edchat

• If you would like to join others in transforming the discussion into action, please feel free to join the Edchat group on the Educator PLN ning.
• Jerry Swiatek does an incredible job of posting each archived transcript on the #edchat wiki created by Steve Johnson. This way you can look back at your favorites!
• Find previous summaries here on this blog – see #edchat category on right sidebar
• Follow other Edchatters and make sure you are on this Twitter list if you participate in #Edchat!
• Read summaries of the 7pm EST/1 am CET Edchat discussions.

Challenge:

If you’re new to hashtag discussions, then just show up on Twitter on any Tuesday and add just a few tweets on the topic with the hashtag #edchat.

What do you think? Leave a comment! We would love to hear from you.

guest written by Mark Molloy of My Town Tutors

guest written by Suzanne Shaffer of Parents Countdown to College Coach

It’s hard. I know. I’ve been there. You want your kids to have the BEST education available. You want them to want it as much as you do. You see them making some choices that you know they will regret. You hover over them, ready to swoop in and rescue them from their poor choices. As hard as you try, you find yourself pressuring them to make the right choice and the battle lines are drawn. They dig their heels in. You dig your heels in. And the tug of war begins.

What’s a parent to do when they feel their college-bound teens are making the wrong choices related to college? Here are my suggestions based on past parenting experience and observing other parents in these predicaments:

Your college-bound teen tells you he doesn’t want to go to the college that is hard to get into, and is opting for what you consider to be sub-par.

Don’t panic or overreact. It’s possible he is scared. Try and ascertain the reasoning behind the decision. Don’t do this by badgering him or constantly asking him why. The best way to figure out what is wrong is to LISTEN. Listen to him talk about his day, about college, about how he feels. If fear is not the reason, perhaps he feels the other college would be a better fit. If that’s the case, do yourself a favor and back off. The worst thing you can do with a teenager is force him into a decision he feels is wrong. Sometimes the best lessons we learn are the ones that come from making our own decisions (right or wrong).

Your college-bound teen tells you that he simply MUST go to Private College A, even though she knows it comes with a high price tag.

Don’t let her bully you into sending her to a college you can’t afford AND one that will require a tremendous amount of student loan debt. Sit her down and explain to her the dangers of graduating in debt. Use the college repayment calculators if you have to. If she truly wants to go to Private College A, she needs to do the work (good grades, good SAT/ACT scores, great essay) to be awarded scholarship/grant money from that college. If not, there are always other options and choices. It’s your job as a parent to help her to see those other options as viable.

Your college-bound teen is not interested in college, deadlines, studying for the SAT or any other path that leads him toward higher education.

If there is one thing I learned with both of my kids (and clients), if they aren’t invested in the college process they won’t be invested in college. Save yourself some time, money and heartache and wait until they are. If not, they can learn from the college of hard knocks — minimum wage jobs are the BEST motivator!

Your college-bound teen misses deadlines, panics and comes running to you at the last minute to fix it.

The simplest way I know to avoid missing deadlines, is to get yourself a huge wall calendar and a fat red marker. Put it in a place that they have to pass by every single day. In addition, with all the smartphones and calendar apps available today, missing a deadline should be a thing of the past. At some point (hopefully when they go to college), they will have to fix their own problems. Let them do it now, while they live at home, and it will be easier for them once they are gone. Rescuing your kids all time only makes them into dependent adults and colleges aren’t impressed with those types of students or the parents that come with them. Admissions officers can spot these students a mile away, and their applications end up in the reject pile.

Your college-bound teen suddenly announces she is not ready for college and wants to take a year off.

First of all, wait. Don’t react. Just listen. Odds are the mood will change with the wind and once all her friends are making college plans, that desire that she once had will kick back in. If not, let her know that it won’t be a “free-ride” year. She will be expected to work and save the money she makes for college. Or she will be expected to work at an internship to help her determine career goals. There are so many gap year options available now that help parents breathe easier and help students prepare for college. Most colleges are also receptive to deferring admission, allowing your student to enter college the next year with all their financial aid in place.

About the author: Suzanne Shaffer counsels parents in the college admissions process and the importance of early college preparation. Her Parents Countdown to College Coach blog offers timely college tips for parents and provides parents with the resources necessary to help their college-bound teens navigate the college maze. She is also the College Prep Expert for CollegeParenting.com, a member of the Unigo Expert Network, a College Money Insider Expert and the College Coach for Galtime.com.

It seems like only yesterday that I was writing a blog post announcing the swingin’ party that TestSoup will be co-hosting at the ISTE 2011 conference in Philadelphia at the end of this month.  But that impression is entirely mistaken.  In fact, I wrote that post over a month ago now — back when our free karaoke tweetup only had something like a hundred pre-registered attendees.  Last I heard, which was over a week ago, we have around 400.  So if you haven’t done so already, I strongly encourage you to head on over to our Eventbrite page and reserve yourself a spot.

“But what if I’ve already registered?” you might ask.  A very good question, to which I have two answers.

First of all, don’t forget that you need to find one of us during the ISTE conference to claim your free VIP badge, which you will need to turn your attendance from pipe-dream to actual, factual reality.  We shouldn’t be that hard to find, really.  I mean, there are six of us co-hosts, and each of us will have multiple people on the ground, mingling with the crowd and attending various events for our own edification.

If you want to reach any of us during ISTE 2011, probably the best way to do that would be to @reply us on Twitter and establish a meeting place so that you can claim your pass to what promises to be one of the highlights of this year’s conference.  In case you need a refresher on who we are, our handles are as follows: @Collaborize, @SchoolTube, @Edutopia, @symbalooEDU, @findingDulcinea, and (of course) @TestSoup.

“But what else can I do?”  In my own humble opinion, I would suggest that you start getting excited for ISTE right now, and don’t stop until you are there, reveling in the magic of so much Ed Tech so close together.  This is TestSoup’s first conference ever, and from what we hear this one is absolutely a blast.  I’m sure our massive karaoke blowout on Tuesday night (the 28^th) won’t hurt.

Speaking of which, are you aware that SchoolTube has created a custom channel on their site for people to upload their own videos of past karaoke exploits?  Well they have, and although so far there haven’t been any takers, I’m optimistic that we’ll see something before the conference starts.  You can’t tell me that out of all those people who will be attending our tweetup that none of them have ever sang karaoke, or that no one has ever been filmed doing karaoke before.  Preposterous!

So unleash your wild side.  Get excited.  But above all, start planning your trip to ISTE 2011.  We’re getting closer every moment.

I have said it 100 times and I will say it again. The only difference is…I mean it this time.

Summer is really coming to an end. You are going back to school, if you have not gone already. Are you ready? Have you followed the expert advice? Have you performed  the suggested steps? As if I have not offered you enough advice already…I have yet some more: Get your goal on. Decide RIGHT NOW what you want to accomplish this semester, let alone this year. Ask yourself these final questions:

1. What clubs do you want to be a part of?
2. What is your target GPA?
3. How soon will you start preparing for entrance exams like the GMAT or GRE…etc.?
4. How are you planning to balance/alter your work and social life/experience?
5. How will you plan your days? (I hope you already bought your 15 minute planner!)
6. How will you allocate your free/my/relax time? (Perhaps you have done some serious research this summer and found a new tv show?)
7. How will you handle/cope with the new stresses of the upcoming semester?
8. Have you planned your next summer vacation or something to look forward to?
9. Are you as prepared as you can  be for school? For example, packed? Schools upplies? Toiletries? Bedding?
10. When was the last time you spoke to your roommate(s)? (Recently I hope)!
11. Do you know the exact time and date when you are moving in?
12. Have you planned out when you are coming home?
13. …your choice.

Above all, are you ready to transform your student style from what you have learned this summer? Have these blogs been helpful to you? Have you seen an increase in your motivation and organizational skills? Do you feel prepared and more confident?

As a closing note, from all of us at TestSoup, we wish you a successful academic year and encourage you to take our advice. We wish you the best performance and preparation for your standardized tests and hope that you find our product effective.

Yours in testing,

K. Ryan

TestSoup Blog