Professional Learning and Growth

April 10, 2017April 12, 2017 Will Gourley Constant Learning, General, Mental Health, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

The stretch

It’s April. Phew! We made it through Winter.

It’s official because geese are honking on the playground. There’s more daylight, the snow is not staying on the ground, and my classroom is buzzing from the promise of Spring. Students’ activity levels are coming to life as the weather warms; even though, they’re prohibited from using the grass(mud/chance for grass to grow)or running on the tarmac(overcrowding).

Energy levels range from abundant to absent, as any teacher would attest. Our class is making excuses to learn outside. I love it when they ask and am happy to shift instruction and inquiry to outdoor mode. A sort of”Education on la Grande Jatte” with apologies to Seurat. There’s movement happening in the halls, and it’s not only the students this time. It’s educators too.

An annual migration of staff is in full flight. One that can only be equated to something akin to the trade deadlines in professional sports. Teachers and administrators are being moved, receiving their teaching assignments for the new year, or are actively seeking new opportunities. Whether it’s a move to a brand new grade, a new school, a new role in admin, or retirement; thousands of educators will find themselves in new spaces come September. Or is it a rut? So, like death, taxes and dishes left in the staff room sink – change is inevitable.

In March, teachers were told of their teaching assignments for the year ahead. Like the birds returning from the south, administrators were tasked with considering staff requests, future growth/decline, fit, and a host of intangible staff dynamics. Some teachers have discovered that the nest has been blown out of the tree. Some are learning, with a measure of surprise and uncertainty, how a change has happened which was contrary to their absolutism of choice(s). Yes, there are people who would go out of their way to avoid change. They have their reasons and are respected for them. However, there are still others who will be welcoming new opportunities with excitement.

It’s always a good time for a change when the dust in your classroom is older than the students.

By Stromcarlson (Originally uploaded to en as PD by Stromcarlson) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Let’s consider a sample scenario that could playing out right now with a veteran teacher in the same grade for 5 or more years. Add to this fact, s/he has been in the same physical space for that long. Now, think of the upheaval and umbrage that might underscore the news they’re being shifted to a new grade, a new room, and maybe even a new teaching team?

Some might think that this educator was being shifted as a form of punishment. While in fact the move is the breath of fresh air. Yes, there is uncertainty and people hate that, but there is also freedom. Think of it like changing the air filter of your furnace. You would never keep the same one in place for a year let alone 5 or 6?

So this Spring, choices can be met with acquiescence or anticipation. Whichever view you choose will shape your thoughts and practice for the coming year. Will you stretch beyond your walls or will you barricade yourself behind your dusty desk?

Now before any harsh replies, keep in mind that the goal of our job has never been to become the comfortable automatons of education, but to stretch as lead learners in our schools. It is the very idea and excitement of change that should set us a light in our teaching practice.

Last year I wrote a piece entitled Time for a Change where I share advice and encouragement about stepping out of our comfort zones as educators if you want to read more.

and something else

There is another side to this thought that reflects the turnover of educators in struggling/poorer schools in England. This two page graphic made me wonder whether this might correlate to our inner-city or First Nations Metis and Inuit communities are facing the same issues of teacher turnover, and therefore are creating an educational vacuum in our own country? http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/cmpo/migrated/documents/howlongteachersstaying.pdf I’d love to know your thoughts about this.

March 23, 2017October 13, 2018 Will Gourley Challenging Topics, General, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

Am I teaching in a rut?

It’s March, and things are changing – again. The birds now welcome me to school most mornings with their spirited songs. Not to be outdone, Winter still attempts to poison as many perfectly sunny seasonal days with its cold, wind, and snow. Preparing for outside supervision has required that I keep all outdoor gear at the ready for another March meteorological maelstrom. I am beginning to wonder whether I’ll make it through another outdoor supervision at -15 C or colder.

It’s been tough on our students too. Many times finding themselves cooped up in their classes due to frigid temps. Imagine learning, working, having your breaks, and eating your lunch in the same space as 25 other people? At least teachers can excuse themselves to the staff room. So it’s no wonder that, at the first signs of Spring, energy levels go from sedentary to bristling the moment the mercury rises above 0 C.

Yet, for all their energy, students find themselves confined to hardtop for recess while the weather changes its mind daily. The once snow covered fields are wet and look like pallid straw waiting for the sunlight to warm up its roots with the promise of growing greener. With it, a well worn patch of the mud and muck that has become the current site of a, “I dare you to jump this,” long-jump pit.

https://pixabay.com/en/earth-wet-earth-mud-ground-1280278/

Recently, something stuck to my mind like mud on a shoe. It came after seeing this newly christened jumping pit on the school yard. It was a mucky/dirty patch of exposed earth full of tracks/footprints left behind by the brave who tried to clear it, but fell far short. Indeed, Spring’s official arrival comes with its share of magnificent and messy moments at schools.

the thought process

Those footprints made me think of how difficult it is to extricate a shoe or a car that is stuck in mud. That led to think about the expression,”a stick in the mud”, and how it relates to inflexible attitudes. Then I wondered, am I being inflexible? Could I be in a rut in my practice as an educator? Was I able to avoid the ruts and muck in my professional practice to stay in the groove moving forward, or was I already wallowing in it without knowing? Did I want to know? After all, some people pay big money at the spa for mud baths.

rut or a groove?

Are there ever signs to tell us we’re in a rut? I have been teaching grade 6 in one capacity or another since starting my career in 2009. The Junior Division is, definitely, one with which I am very comfortable as a teacher. But it’s that word comfort which concerns me because it might be keeping me in a rut and hindering my growth as a constant learner? Let me ask you. How long have you been teaching in the same classroom, subjects, grade or division? If you answered more than 3 years for any of these, you might be carving out quite a rut.

When you’re in a rut you can still roll along without an issue unless you try to get out. Climbing out is dangerous if ever attempted, and leaves one feeling exposed or vulnerable. Yet, if we move our students along from grade to another, why are we not seeking the opportunities to grow into new experiences as well by changing our routines in for some new ones? Sometimes a rut maybe so high that it is more like a canyon where sunlight seldom hits the floor. This means that perspectives become narrowed our hyper focused.

…we are certified to teach much more than we do. We spend tens of thousands of dollars to be certified to teach multiple grade levels, but we are put in a position, or are resistant to being any other position, of teaching one grade level for multiple years. Some teachers teach the same grade level for decades.

At some point, that does not foster growth. It fosters comfort. ” Peter DeWitt, 2015

Have you ever wondered why educators move schools? I know from experience that moving to a new school brings an infusion of enthusiasm, and ideas into a new learning space. We can’t help, but learn from one another when we engage in new situations and with new people. Many of us feel entitled to teach the same grade each year even when we are qualified to teach a range of grades and panels. We have to remember that assignments are not guaranteed for life and that change is ultimately better for our practice.

What about the argument that a rut is really a groove? In my next post, I will share about how we can escape or smooth out the ruts in our practice and get into a groove of our own.

I’d love to know your thoughts about this post. Please take the time to share in the comment section below.
Thank you for reading.

February 6, 2017 Mike Beetham Classroom Management, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Literacy, Professional Learning and Growth

Anchoring Learning

Anchor charts have long been identified as a high-yield learning tool. What exactly is an anchor chart? Why use them? How do you determine what should be on an anchor chart? These are common questions faced by teachers as they try to establish optimum learning environments for their students.

I have heard anchor charts best described as the ‘third teacher’. The following is a quote from Scholastic’s Literacy Place – For The Early Years, 2010. “ To promote literacy skills and encourage independence, you will want to make strategic and purposeful use of print resources such as posters, signs, lists, charts, and student/teacher writing samples in your classroom. One tool in particular, the anchor chart, is very effective in promoting student success. An anchor chart outlines or describes procedures, processes, and strategies on a particular theme or topic and is posted in the classroom for reference by students. Examples of anchor charts include: what to do in an interview, tips on using commas, what readers need to do when they infer, how to choose just right’ books, or how to write a literature response.”

This of course aligns perfectly with the visual learner. Visual learners learn through seeing, observing and anchor charts allow them perpetual access to critical information and not just when instruction by a teacher is occurring. They can return to the key ideas or concepts when they need to and as often as they need to.

One lesson that I have learned is that not everything can be an anchor chart even though it is all so valuable. If the visual scene in your classroom becomes cluttered the benefits of this tool diminish as they just become part of the scenery and no longer a tool for the students. In my class we have a large variety of anchor charts positioned around the classroom with different colours, fonts, sizes, shapes and almost any other way I can make them unique and stick out. I did an experiment with my students one day where I gave them post it notes and asked them to go around and put them on the anchor charts they used most often and felt were most helpful to them. Prior to that I had made my prediction of what might occur. Needless to say, what I thought was most important did not align with their view. Sooooo from that point on, my anchor charts became a mutual task created by my students and myself. I still do all of the finish work, but the content and positioning in the room is a shared decision. One final change in my practice as a result of that data collection was that I am constantly changing the visual cues so that they stay fresh as learning tools and not just become a regular site in the room.

Another feature of this great tool is that I also have personal anchor charts around my desk that help me as I learn new pedagogy to add to my practice. I am able to return to them throughout the day to evaluate my growth and development progress.

December 27, 2016 Will Gourley Celebrating Success, Constant Learning, General, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

2016, seems like we were just getting started…

https://www.flickr.com/photos/orvalrochefort/2992146699 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ — https://www.flickr.com/photos/orvalrochefort/2992146699
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

It’s too late. Whatever you wanted to share or teach in the classroom will have to wait until next year. I’d have liked a little more time. Was this the case for you too? Fortunately, a return date is just around the corner. Conversely, time away from routines can also restore mind, body, and spirit.

A break like this provides me with time to think about teaching and other pursuits. Usually, it’s catching up with family, over-caffeinating, reading, and blogging. With the school year already 40% complete, our time off serves as both restorative opportunity and cathartic challenge.

This December’s end, I wanted to reflect like it’s June. Think of it as part of my own personal development. I am trying to make sense of things now – in the moment. A resolution, pep talk, or plan of action if you please. This means there are a lot of questions to which the answers are either too simple, or underdeveloped.

Did I miss something? Could I have been more supportive? Did I make the curriculum come alive with relevance for my students? Did they have enough challenge, motivation, and opportunity to learn? Did I prepare enough? Did I assess too little? Too much? Did I give my students opportunity to succeed? Was I supportive to my colleagues? Did I give everything I could? Was my work-life balance maintained?

I am sure the answer to each one of the above questions could be yes. Even the one about work-life balance.

Now what?

Questions like these pervade my thoughts. I’m cannot be alone as a reflective practitioner in our profession. So how do you reflect at this time of the year? How are you de-stressing? Are you able to turn off your teacher brain for 2 weeks? How about checking your email or assessing student work?

Do you think that this changes over a career in education? After 8 years in the classroom, I am trying to see each season with fresh eyes, but still struggle with disconnecting entirely. Saying goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017 will see me sharing, reflecting, learning, and unlearning as part of a process crucial to a professional pursuit of progress. How about you?

Keep the conversation going. Please share, respond, or retort.
I love hearing about your journey and heart for the art of education.

Happy 2017.

Will

December 23, 2016January 2, 2017 Will Gourley Constant Learning, General, Modern Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

Lessons from the hall. Or was it the mall?

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Not sure if anybody noticed, but local shopping malls were unusually festive over the past 6 weeks. Come to think of it, schools were too. Ever since Progress Reports went home, there’s been something in the air. In fact, I’m pretty sure it had to do with an annually anticipated event or holiday festivity. Whatever the cause, excitement abounded wherever I looked – whether it was in the halls or the malls.

However, there was one distinct difference, I couldn’t imagine have Boxing Day type line ups to get back into the classroom as if there was a 75% off learning sale. Get your lessons while supplies last! What if it was? There is no doubt that many educators and students were ready for a break.

The time leading up to the big day saw many classrooms adorned with seasonally themed crafts, gyms hosting concerts with particular attention paid to inclusive and acceptable winter music standards, and a lot of people wearing red in order to match the annual gift giving man’s commercially conjured wardrobe.

For years, many(not all) have decided, that during the six weeks leading up to the winter holiday break, they would attempt to cram as much kindness, creativity, and cuteness beyond human limits, capacity or reason. It was amazing to witness what can be accomplished when plans are hatched and deadlines approach. All of the work, acts of kindness/giving, and stress leading up to the winter break did not go un-noticed.

But wait, I wanted to connect this post to education not the Hall-i-daze or Mall-idays.

In between dodging the inattentive and exhausted hordes, all I could think during my annual ‘mall-people-watching’ spectacle was how important having a purpose was to survive the experience. Come to think of it, teaching is quite similar. Having a purpose, a plan, and an exit strategy are imperative.

Am I saying that the halls of schools are filled with the inattentive and exhausted? Not exactly. Well maybe, but it does not have to be that way if we invigorate, iterate, and innovate our educational spaces. This can happen when educators at all levels are given the funds, flexibility and freedom to do so.

Take for example, instead of buying more text books a.k.a. knowledge coffins(my term), why not a document camera? See how I put some shopping in this post? Imagine the savings when digital copies of a Math text can replace 20 or 30 ($60 to 90) aging copies for fraction of the cost? Why should publishing companies be taking the lion’s share of our budgets? Of course, a few texts are necessary in each class, but not a text for every student in every subject in every class. The school wide savings of limiting text book purchases would free up budgets for more hands on learning resources like Math manipulatives, Science materials, maker spaces, and technology.

Allowing teachers a greater voice in their own budgets is a great place to start. In my classroom, we are paper minimalists. I do not believe in worksheets, instead make use of a document camera to share anything that might otherwise be copied. Instead of paper and consumables, I purpose 90% of my class budget for a growing collection of Math and Science manipulatives that will be useful from year to year instead of destined for the recycling bin.

By providing PD through school/board wide initiatives teachers would have a chance to engage in new ideas as new learners themselves. In the YRDSB we host 2 Edtech Summits per year to share ideas and learn new skills to use in the modern learning classroom. The new ideas, tools, and confidence can transform and invigorate a classroom. Imagine the engagement when students see a teacher as a learner too instead of the transmitter of lessons and marker of tests?

I can sense some walls and arguments being raised. Feel free to respond in the comment section. I promise it will not be comfortable at first. I promise it will be messy for a bit longer than that. I promise that mistakes will be made, but remember FAIL only means First Attempts In Learning. I promise that it will be the best thing you have ever done as an educator for a long time.

November 30, 2016 Will Gourley Challenging Topics, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, General, Making a Difference Through Education, Modern Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, self reflection

Painting with the same brush.

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en — PublicDomainPictures / 18043 images CCO 1.0

Underlying
An artist was preparing to paint one day. First, she stretched and secured her canvas over its wooden frame. The artist continued by arranging her brushes, planning a colour scheme, and then by setting up her supplies. Finally, it was time to ponder her subject forever to be captured in a moment of time and occupied space – where her vision would be on display in pigment, oil or acrylic for evermore for all to enjoy.

The artist could already see her finished masterpiece. As if the picture had miraculously painted itself. Without anything left to imagine, conjure, or deliberate she began.

Un-(der) inpired
It was all right there in living, er um, cold dead colour. All she had to do was slather it onto the wintery whitewashed space in waiting. She pulled out the widest brush in her kit, dipped it into the first colour, white, and painted a perfectly straight line across the top of the canvas. She dipped her brush again and repeated, the same thing over and over, with the precision of her first strokes until she has covered the entire canvas. She felt satisfied, but did not have time to admire her work for long. There were 29 more canvases to cover just like the first one. She smiled, sighed, dipped her brush, and started on the next one. Yet, with a pallet of colours and brushes at the ready, the artist only knew how to paint with a single brush and to use white paint to do her work.

http://kaboompics.com/one_foto/880/brush-painting-the-white-wall CCO License

Under pressure
Does teaching ever seem like this to you? Do educators feel they are asked to paint blank canvases everyday, but are only given one wide brush and a single colour to work with? I wonder whether that is how some teachers have come to feel when a learning system is imposed on them which expects students to be taught to the test?

Teachers plan and prepare their materials to deliver a lesson much like the artist in the story above and in the end are expected to use the broadest brush and one shade of paint. What may be more disappointing, is that many only have time to paint one coat before feeling they have to move on.

Underwhelmed
I am not a huge fan of the traditional textbook. In fact I have called them “knowledge coffins” in the past. When traditional textbooks are at the centre of the instructional day, there is little option for learners to explore beyond its pages. Yes, it’s all in there, but at what cost are other things and ideas being left out?

First, consider the cost of purchasing texts/licenses per class. Math books alone can range upwards of $1500 to $2000 for a class set per subject. What happens when the curriculum gets revamped like what has recently happened in Ontario with the French(2013), Health/Physical Education(2015), and Social Studies(2013). Could the money schools, boards, and government pour into photocopies and textbooks be used to provide Chromebooks for every student instead? Imagine the cost savings in paper alone. If we did this, every learner from K to 12 could be equipped with a productivity and research tool for the classroom at their fingertips? And, at home too if WiFi is available.

Unrepentant
I am a fan of adaptive and hands on learning environments. In the classroom, I want students to have a voice in how and what they are being taught so we can democratize education. I believe all educators possess the means/ability to transform and tailor their instruction to suit their students. What they need now is a safe place to do so and that’s an issue of system and school leadership.

To paint a portrait of the future, educators need to use the prescribed curriculum as a pallet filled with colours that is not limited to a paint-by-number task. However, many are afraid to use other, less traditional brushes and materials to paint their masterpieces because the outcomes might not look resemble or match work gathering dust on the walls.

Yes, there are things to be taken from the past, but the world outside our classrooms has not remained fixed in space and time. Neither should it remain static inside. The classroom must become a vibrant and connected place where students have access to, and be able to contribute to a world of knowledge.

This requires courage to happen. It requires time for others to understand, accept, and embrace. It doesn’t have to look perfect. The mess is an important part of the process.

Ask yourself what or who inspires you to take chances as a learner? What new idea(s) would you try in your classroom if you knew you couldn’t fail? Start by giving yourself permission to change things up in one subject area, and then go from there.

I’ll be here to chat if you want to talk more about how we can change the portrait of education to a landscape of creativity, differentiation, and encouragement.

In the meantime I have some brushes to clean.

November 29, 2016 Tammy Axt General, Professional Learning and Growth

Getting ready for my first TPA- Evidence of the Competencies

Now that I have been teaching for five years, I have to complete my first complete TPA, including all competencies and all components. The whole TPA process can be overwhelming and stressful and preparing for it has caused me some anxiety, I won’t lie. Due to a mid-year change in administration, I haven’t set my date yet for my evaluation, but I thought it was time to start getting prepared for my pre-observation meeting. I figured getting prepared early would alleviate some of the anxiety I am feeling.

In preparation for my TPA, I have read two really helpful sources of information:

1. The Ministry of Education has written a manual that outlines the entire TPA process. You can download and read the manual at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/appraise.html. It is a long read, but it outlines the process in detail.

2. The Professional Relations Department at ETFO has written two really helpful bulletins on the TPA process. I really appreciated guidance around all of the pitfalls to try and avoid.

Advice for members

http://www.etfo.ca/AdviceForMembers/PRSMattersBulletins/Pages/Teacher%20Performance%20Appraisal%20For%20Experienced%20Teachers%20-%20Advice%20to%20Members.aspx

Overview of the Process

http://www.etfo.ca/AdviceForMembers/PRSMattersBulletins/Pages/Teacher%20Performance%20Appraisal%20for%20Experienced%20Teachers%20-%20Overview%20of%20the%20Process.aspx

I have also attending my local’s TPA workshop that was held earlier this year. At that workshop, the presenter encouraged us all to make our evidence of the 16 competencies really clear and accessible for our administrator. The presenter shared with us a variety of ways in order to present your evidence such as folders, a binder or photo books. I have decided to gather a binder of evidence that shows my ability to demonstrate the sixteen competencies within the five domains. Here are a few pictures of the contents of my binder and how I have organized my presentation.

I organized the contents into the five domains. Below is a peak into the fourth domain.

I used post it notes to highlight how the contents demonstrate the competencies.

Getting evaluated can be stressful, but gathering evidence of your success in the sixteen competencies can go a long way to guiding your conversation with your administrator in a positive direction. You already do amazing things every single day in your classroom! Just gather up some of those materials and get ready to shine.

October 24, 2016 Mike Beetham Constant Learning, Inspiring Teachers, Learning in a Real Life Context, Professional Learning and Growth

Self-Guided Professional Learning

As an adult learner, you know what your strengths are as well as what your next steps should be. You understand you current lifestyle, the demands of family and friends as well as the other components that are a part of your busy life. Self-guided professional learning allows you to continue to enhance your classroom pedagogical practice and curriculum knowledge at a pace and focus that is specific to your needs.

There are so many learning options available to ETFO members. It starts within your local federation where your professional learning committee is already at work planning out opportunities for members to continue to enhance their best practice. Talk to your committee, find out what is being offered, put forth suggestions that they can look at or better yet, get involved in this committee.

The next main area that provides a treasure trove of learning opportunities is our provincial organization. If you go to the provincial website (http://www.etfo.ca/Pages/default.aspx) and search under the subsection professional learning you will find a wide variety of options that are offered by our provincial team. The scope and sequence of the options available ensures there is something for everyone. The provincial office also provides equitable access from a geographical standpoint.

Whether it is AQ courses, Summer Academy, one time workshops, workshop series, provincial or local book clubs, or just gathering together as same grade colleagues and having professional dialogue on a topic, find what you need and seek to grow as a teacher each and every day. One of the most rewarding facets of teaching is when students and teachers can continue to grow side-by-side.

October 6, 2016 Kelly.McLaughlin Challenging Topics, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Constant Learning, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Interviews, Learning in a Real Life Context, Modern Learning, Professional Learning and Growth, Questioning

Meet the teacher night

Tonight was open house at my school and as usual parents wanted to know how their son or daughter were performing. This is always an interesting question to answer because parents want to know about math and language and I want to tell about how they are getting along with others and how polite and helpful they are.

It’s interesting to see that what a teacher values teaching the most is not always what would come up at a meet the teacher night. I hope that in my program I can help children with their math and language as well as help them treat others with respect as well as help them make our class a friendly place.

As a young teacher, I am always hoping that parents will be on board with the new shift in education, away from tests and onto rich learning experiences. Sometimes I wonder if after my students leave me, that I have failed them if they start to take tests and have no idea what they are doing. I do see the value in showing how much they know on a piece of paper as many high schools still work with this model, but I am always wondering how that will help them in their future. I understand that test writing is an important skill, so I need to think of ways to include this in my program in the future.

I am working on making our class a very open and comfortable space for learning right now and I am hoping in my next post to share about how the alternative seating is making the student space an amazing place to work. I hope to see the benefits of the seating and I am excited to take pictures of student learning experiences and share the stories.

July 1, 2016 Will Gourley Celebrating Success, General, Professional Learning and Growth, Year End Activities

All gone

Desks emptied, stacked and put aside. Check. Dormant superfluous paper recycled with extreme prejudice. Check. Walls filled with student work, learning goals, art, and inspirational messages now returned to vanilla coloured vacant voids in waiting. Check. Boxes packed and piled in preparation for transport to my new pending portable location (second in 4 years). Cool.

As you’ve observed from the picture on the left, Room 103 is on vacation along with my students. Until the middle of this week it has been a 10 month hive of activity home to 31 + 1 learners all buzzing at their own frequency. Our class was a hub of inquiry, personal growth, and constant learning. And now it’s all gone.

With 9 weeks of summer ahead, I wonder how much of what has been taught over this past year will come back with students when they return in September? Have you ever thought about why we the school year is paused in the modern learning era? Have you ever wondered what it might be like to embrace a balanced teaching year?

I am not advocating additional teaching days beyond the 190+/-, but am asking if we could consider alternatives to a schedule that seems more suited as a throwback to our hunter gatherer ancestors. This got me asking how the schedule we work around really came to be used? Other than the fact that our elementary schools are not equipped with any climate control in the classrooms I am not sure what else it might be from balancing the instructional year? A post from Learning Lab Why Does School Start in September? Hint: It’s not the crops provides some context to this issue.

Now before the hate mail about how important the summer break is for teachers and students, let’s consider the positives. Balanced school schedules allow for greater retention of instructional concepts. That means less knowledge hemorrhage from year to year. Imagine students having the same amount of instruction time, but spread out more evenly, but they retain more of what they’ve learned? Secondly, with a balanced year, there will be weeks off at different times for families to enjoy time together around already existing holidays. Think of the travel savings? Imagine if March Break was 2 weeks? We could all drive to Florida and back relaxed and ready for Spring.

Okay, I’ve shared the sunny side of this, but here’s the shady side. Balanced school years impede students’ ability to make money from summer jobs which may be crucial to helping them attend school, or helping their families. Balanced school years may not provide enough recovery/down time for students or educators to relax and recharge. This might lead to mental health issues such as stress and anxiety. Not good.

Weighing both sides of the conversation is healthy. There are schools already operating on a more balanced schedule with positive results. So where do stand with the classroom empty and the students/staff all gone. Where would you want education to go with this one? Holler when you get a chance. After some down time.
Happy summer. Thanks for reading, responding, and sharing. See you in September. Will