Better than a day off of school
To be perfectly honest, I think that it is absurd for public schools to give a day off for things like President's Day, Martin Luther King Day, Columbus Day, and other memorial holidays. Why? Think about it. Anyone great enough for us to make a national holiday dedicated to that person, probably worked hard to make this country a better place. And I can't think of anybody, let alone a great countryman, who wouldn't agree to a statement similar to the cliché that "Children are the future of this nation." So, wouldn't it be a better honor for those remembered by a holiday, that instead of a day off of school, to hold a "special" day of school where students learn or do projects or make a presentation about some topic related to the person(s) for whom the holiday is named?!
Seriously. Don't give a day off for Martin Luther King, but rather hold school and have the kids discuss some civil rights issue relevant to their community. On President's Day, have students debate about who was the best President and why. Instead of keeping kids home on Veteran's Day, invite a local Vet to come and describe his or her war experience.
Shit, if you still want a "day off," at least keep a half day of class. Those great folks being remembered would have wanted it that way.
posted by Stu at 5:20 PM
Gears and Coffee
2 Comments:
All I'd say -- is that sometimes everybody needs to take maybe an extra day off. I'm not saying flagrantly (i.e. I get the whole week off right now, w00t me), but as much as we want to instill a strong work ethic and educate, sometimes we need to know when to let everybody relax and catch a breath. One thing I did differently in my class on Friday instead of Thursday was I took a second at the beginning of class before the lesson started to make sure that I had answered a few concerns kids had before jumping right in, and it happened in this case to be night-and-day, when Thursday got entirely wasted because I was trying to get into the lesson and maximize work time as much as I possibly could, on Friday I went in thinking that I needed to be a little more relaxed about kids getting to work. They still did work, in fact the time they spent was much more productive because of their attitude about the work.
Ramble ramble ramble. Anyway, I agree with you to a point - if we're going to have these holidays they are meaningless if we are ignorant as to why they are being observed. But why not just learn about that or do your project with vigor on another day of the week, after we all had a chance to unwind a bit.
Nick, thanks for the insight. That's just what I'm looking for: I throw an idea that is hard-core, and someone who actually knows modifies it. Seriously, I completely understand that break is necessary at times. So what can you as a teacher do or push your school to do in regard to observance of the holidays in a meaningful way? Do they give you flexibility in your curriculum to work in something on the Tuesday after?
What do you think?
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