Extended School Year
Good Thing Kids Can't Vote
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Homework Due: 30 Sept
Whole Group Activity:
The teacher will create a chart on the board with three categories: personal, school, and physical. Discuss
how the students’ obstacles fit into these categories. Fill in the chart with a selection of students’ obstacles.
Small Group/Individual Activity:
Students will move into groups of four. Each group will be given a copy of Joseph J. Foss' profile. Students will list
several examples where Joseph Foss faced obstacles, such as age, the enemy, and loss of planes.
Whole Group Activity:
Students will share the information that they gathered from the profile. Students will add more examples to their
lists.
Homework:
Students will write an essay on the following prompt: Use evidence from the profile or examples from your list
to support Foss’ persistence and perseverance. How does this relate/connect to you? Give your own
examples.
(250 words)
42 comments:
C/ Nicole Fitzgerald
The way I see it is that Obama is led to this because other nations are doing it. “President Obama said on the "Today" show Monday morning that American students attend school a month less than kids in other countries -- contending that the school-year gap puts them at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy.” What is that saying our parents ALWAYS tells us “Well if they jump off a bridge are you going to too?” This also raises the question: How will we pay for this? Education is important but I am not going to lie I would absolutely hate a longer school year. The difference between our nation and other nation is that their education cost so parents make sure their child is serious because it is their money. It is not that our nation is slowing down it is that other nations are speeding up. President Obama is basing our education on other nations. Yes the United States need to keep up in education or we will not be respected as a nation.
C/A1C Waddell,
So I heard Obama is trying to extend the school year by one whole month. I would really like to go over the pros and cons of his decision.
PROS:
There will be more education and less forgetting of school lessons over the summer. This would mean less stress on the students from the teachers overworking and cramming lessons into their, already tight, schedule. Also this would bring more money to teachers and faculty by providing a job for a longer period so that they won’t have to find another job over summer vacation.
CONS:
This would mean having less summer vacation which is essential for the relaxation of the mind and allows time for social needs, which are limited during school hour. Also meaning spending LESS time with the family which is our American institution! Paying for more supplies for the extra day which concerns the faculty’s salary which would cost more money from government.
In my opinion I really wouldn’t like this school year to be any longer than it has to be, its already long and it wouldn’t make sense to extend the school year to ensure that we don’t forget our lessons when the first thing we do when we get back is go over things and review.
C/Castilho,M
In my opinion by far this is the best choice obama has made. i completely agree with where he's taking this. i do think we need longer school years and alot more time in school because we as students are the future. And if we don't have the knowledge to do things then we will never be able to be successfull. I personally want to go somewhere in life, and without my education I will get nowhere. I think if students spent less time chatting,gossiping,texting,and posting up facebook status, we could actually have a better percentage in our education. If you ask any student If they wanna be successful they will all tell you yes, but if you ask them if they want to go to school they will say no. Its rediculous how we strive for successful but we dont do the work that it takes to get us there. Things dont come easy in life and being successful isnt something that is going to be handed to you. obama states that the reason he's making this choice is to make us better students. and ill ask you this what is one more month in school? is it honestly going to kill you if you spent one month longer learning? no it wont and I hope this choice happens because I want nothing more then to be able to one day say that ive achieved my goals. schools extremely important, but I dont really like school but I make the best out of it because this is the only thing that will get me where I want to be. so with this students I think that we should all put a little more thought into this because this honestly can get us somewhere in life. so obama I thank you for making atleast one good choice the whole time youve been president. And with this I think if our students study harder put in more effort and actually care about there school work our country will be way more successful. So im all for this choice.
c/Hansen
Well obviously the kid’s opinions don’t count, but mine is all for it because if you really think about it the U.S educational level is really low and seems to be getting lower and if you were to make school longer then I really do think more and more kids would stop coming to school just because. But then again it’s a good thing because if we have more graduates here in America then we wouldn’t be so low on the list anymore. But I look at it this way, the president only wants us to all have a good education and to be successful individuals and we all know that this was going to face us someday. As we all know now that year long schools seem to be having more success in education, there’s only one problem with America today…we are simply too lazy and depend on other people to do things for us, if we were to enforce rules as they are and not give le-way or slack room then more people would apply there selves daily, and want to succeed. I am all for this since I’ve had time to think about it, you have to think about other people’s needs before your own and that’s what Obama is doing. 2 month summers are making students fall behind I think. And another thing that makes me want this year long program, the U.S use to be ranked number one in math and science, today the U.S in science is ranked 21st , today the U.S in math is ranked 25th . Honestly people, we can do better than this, we were first once, if were to do this change in schools then I really do think those numbers will rise up to one again over time. If we just apply the things we know and if we just take time to do the things we do I believe we can do it.
Cadet Siefert
I think that it’s not a good idea to make the school days longer, because kids don’t like school, they will start dropping out, and they will have to take to spots away. Most kids try and go to collage off a spot scholarship. So if you take are sports away how will they do that. Then most kids will start to get the thought of dropping out. They can sign the drop out papers at 16. The drop out rate is low right now, if we make the school days longer it will sky rocket.
C/ Stringer
I think that extending the school year is most useless idea anybody has ever thought of. Financially speaking it would cost more money to increase the school day and school year. As it is America is already in debt and are taxing the American citizens for the debt America is in. Now Obama expects America to pay more for a longer school year? I think not. Secondly, I believe that more students would be dropping out of high school. In America right now the percentage of High School drops out is 39 percent. With a longer day and a smaller summer break I believe students would not be motivated at all to come to school. Thirdly, making a longer school day will not make a student who chooses not to learn anything learn. It is up to the student to decide whether or not they want to learn. The longer school day and school year and cannot make a student want to learn. The student makes the choice on his or her own. the only way the education ratings will ever go up is if the students decide on their own that they want to put in the work and learn.
C/ Stringer
(PS: The Healthcare Bill is also a horrible idea.)
Cadet 2nd Lt. O’Neale
Longer school years are needed and WAY PAST DUE! I mean, as a student thinking of being in the classroom longer is a little irritating and tiring. BUT as a US citizen AND a future leader of this country I see and understand where our president and other government officials are coming from. We are supposed to be the leading place in the world, the proud, free and the brave right? Well we might be all of that, but in other countries eyes we are lazy, ignorant Americans. And when it comes to some of us…I agree completely. Countries like Japan are in school 243 days out of the year, producing many MANY smart, wisdom filled students that are coming to the US and attending OUR colleges and getting THEIR education so they can one day be successful and take well care of THEIR families and country. We, on the other had spent 180 days in school, whining and complaining about those little days we spend there. Some dropping out of high school at the age of 16, some not even caring about school in general, some caring but not caring half as much as they need to! In Japan, school starts at 8:30am, and they get breaks throughout the year instead of one LONG break during the summertime. I think both would be helpful for students. It’d give us more energy for school and keep us from losing information we’ve learned throughout the year, I know it’d help me. As our country’s citizens gets more ignorant to the fact that education is IMPORTANT, other countries are realizing that in order to have a good solid leading place in this world education is key. Now a days going to college is NEEDED for ANY job! Loss of jobs…YEA RIGHT! There is a loss of jobs, but our citizens are also getting to comfortable and lazy and don’t want to go to school and receive a decent education to help themselves. And it’s sad because our adults are getting older and we are the future of this country! Selfishness and stupidity is NOT helping our country, it’s destroying it! We American children, the FUTURE don’t even want to work hard to keep what our forefathers fought so hard for, our independence. Because new rule, most likely the Japanese is EXACTLY what our country’s headed for.
C/A1C Sutton
The idea of extending the school year and days has its pros and cons. With the U.S now ranking in the 21 in the world for science and 25 in math some course of action needs to take place. One good thing about the idea is that it will give kids more to grasp the concept of what there are learning and instead of teacher having to re-teach what we forgot over the summer they could be spending more time learning new things. Extending the school year could cost school districts and big chunk of money because instead of paying teachers for 9 months they have to pay them for 11 months and the U.S is already in debt. Also its doesn’t matter if kid stays in school for 365 days out of the year if they don’t not have someone there to push them to do good in school they are not going to do well. If it wasn’t for my mom also getting on me about my homework and class work I would not have gotten honor roll all last year. In closing I believe all kids need is some motivation to do well in school and need to know that does give a crap if they do well in school
Cadet Boone;
I think the extended school year is a great idea, because the United States is currently ranked eighteen among thirty-six industrialized nations. In mathematics we are currently ranked nineth.In science we are currently ranked eleventh. We are falling behind in technology, and the world we live in. This is also a great opportunity for U.S. students to maintain their grades. President Obama said by the 2020 that the U.S. should be back on top. Education is the key to life, there should be no limit to what it can do. Sky is the limit when it comes to education.
Cadet Jones-
Obama wants to extend the school year, but we dont know why. Here are some reasons why he wants to. One is because other countries have longer school years than us. Does it look like we care about how long other countries school years are? No! Another reason why is because Obama wants the U.S. to be ranked 1st in math and science mastery. He wants to train more science and math teachers,about 10,000 to be exact. How does he plan on paying for that? I'll tell how, from us of course. He'll tax us like there's no tomorrow. I think Obama should leave things as they are, instead of trying to fix everything. Which isn't really working, it's just making things worse.
For this is a good/bad situation,the good thing about it is students in the U.S. will have more time to get there educaton ad they will get all there work done in less than one day, without taking unfinished work home and doing homework.Plus I know that every student will probably be mad about it and some won't but its not that bad cause it can help us alot of our school work,tests,quizes,and most importantly projects. the bad thing about it is that if this does happen we will be more tired than we ever were, probably getting up earlier than now which is a BIG problem.And we will be in school until 6 or 7PM, plus every body will be very,very upset about it. And I think that parents are agreeing with this so we can be in school longer and so they won't have to put up with us. But I hope we don't have an ''Extended School Year'', it will just make things even worse than they are now.
Cadet Pass,S
So far from what I know Im with the longer school year plan. I mean it would have its ups and downs ,but in the long run we would get the best of it .We would get a better education wich means we will better job oppertunities for the futre. Wich means more money in our pocket and thats whats up. Then the down sides would mean shorter summers. Even though I dont think thats all that cool. Just think of it like this ,you go to school a little longer and get better work for better college aplicatios. I mean who doesnt want to go to a good university. So I guess its like this longer school year more work better colleges.
C/Nixon
C/SSgt. Ebony Leon
President Barack Obama believes that the school year and school day in America should be extended, so that American students can be just as educated, as those in other educationally advanced countries. He also states that if we had a longer school year then there would be a lesser chance of forgetting what we’ve already learned once summer vacation comes. The statistics show that students in Japan go to school 243 days out of the year; in Israel, 216 days; in England, 219 days; and finally in America, 180 days. Right now, before our very eyes, students from Japan and India, for example, are coming into America and getting into our top colleges. While, American students are not, simply because they are not doing as well on the tests needed to get in. This fact is embarrassing, but it is one of the many examples that prove the importance of American students being able to compete with students from other countries. However, I don’t agree that extending the school year AND the school day will solve this problem. If you notice, the education system in Asia is WAY different than the education system here. Sorry to say it, but their emphasis on education is much stronger than the emphasis we Americans put on it. Students there do not take there education for granted. They depend on it to get them to a place of success. On the contrary, that can’t be said for most students in America. Many take their teachers and the educational opportunities that they are given for granted. They don’t come to school if they don’t feel like it and many parents are not involved in things dealing with their child’s education. Obviously, the problem isn’t that the school year or school days are too short because there are students here that are intelligent and COULD compete with those from other countries. Why?? Because they make that choice to. They care about their education, just as much as those in other countries. So in conclusion, I think that the reason students in America are not a educationally competitive to those in other countries is because their value of education is questionable. Even if we extend the school year and the school day, that isn’t going to make kids (that don’t make an effort in the first place) try to learn. If kids are already complaining about school now, what would makes you think that they won’t complain if there’s an extension. Many more will probably just dropout, which will increase the dropout rate. Plus, if we make that extension, it’ll just be another situation where we are spending money that we don’t have. President Obama has even said himself that he doesn’t know where the money will come from. However, I’m guessing it’ll come from our taxes which will just make the poor poorer.
Well I think staying in school longer will be good and bad. It will be good because I can learn more in the subjects I need help with and maybe it can get me to where I want to go when I get out of school and I will need all the help I can get. The reason this may be bad is because summer will be shorter and I have to see my teachers longer then I have to do now. It may be good now but later on I think it’s going to be bad and that’s what I have to say
C/Crapp
Year Round Education is when schools operate on a 180 day system, it consist of shorter breaks and summer break. The most popular example of year round education is the 45-15 plan. This has students attending school 45 days and then getting three weeks which gives student and teachers fifteen days off. Year round schools can benefit because Instead of long vacations children don’t have to re-learn the old material after a long summer vacation. Therefore, teachers will be performing four beginning of the year reviews instead of just one. Also Funding for public schools is already a problem many cut-backs been made and simple necessities have been hard to keep in the past few years. In our Economy school funding became more prevalent after the economic boom screeched to a halt in the late 1990s. Many school districts found themselves with less state aid resulting from serious budget cuts at a time when the cost of a high-quality education was rising dramatically. If our society can’t afford now it would be even tough with a year around school utility bills will increase for example electricity, air conditioning and heating and maintenance of schools. Also spending will increase dealing with the purchase and preparation for food for breakfast and lunch in the school. Another Problem on year on around schools because there are no brakes will result in students not being able to have part-time jobs, sports and extracurricular activities will be hard to manage and Not all schools might not agree to it so many students and schools will be on different schedules.
c/airman Ebbs
C/Valenzuela
What I think of president Obama extending the school year is really dumb. :) Kids have there on problems outside of school, school has a lot of work as it is. If anything it needs to be shortened. For instance, kids at my school are barely passing due to overwhelming work and no motivation. If summers and weekends we’re longer it would motivate to get there work done. Even though Obama feels other countries are doing better in there education we shouldn’t have to care, this is America. We do the American thing. Which would be the right thing, what we’re doing now.
Hi Robinson
I think that longer school days is a bad idea. It kinda is the fact that we are falling behind but it is mainly the parents fault. They are not getting involved in our school work like they used to. For example, back in the 60s and 70s, the parents used to stay home and help there child or children with there homework and make them focus on their school work. Today, since some children only have one parent, since the divorce rate is high, and others are working around the clock, they don’t have time to make the kids buckle down on their school work. That is why we are falling behind many countries like India, China, Japan, and England. Another reason why I do not think we should have longer school days is because kids today are used to things being given to them. For example, back then, kids had to work hard and study hard in school to get rewards like money, new things for there room, or cars. Today, kids are getting things without getting good grades. So its not just the parents, it’s the kids too.
c/shoemo
C/Javier
Extending the school year in my opinion is a good idea. America is falling behind on their education and something has to happen about that. In Japan they are getting more education and getting better jobs and more money here in America then us Americans. Why is that? Japan students are going to school 243 days out of the school year. They are out getting their education while we are at home watching TV and being lazy. If this extending school year thing does happen we will be competing with everyone around the world and getting great jobs and money for us and our families. Isn't that what we all want?
C/A.Prater AS1
ARE YOU KIDDING ME EXRENDING THE SCHOOL YEAR? THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT I WANT TO HAPPEN! Extending school really would not be the best thing right now for everybody that is more money going too wasted! I mean do we know how much time an average school gives for a student in America. There are around 180 days of school in a year with each day comprising of around six hours a day. If we compare this with other countries like England where a typical day consist of eight hours a day with around 220 days of school a year, which Obama finds that America really has less days of schooling! He thinks making us go to school longer would be the best for all of us just so we can learn more and worry about are education but what he does not understand is that we have life’s out there rather its working are buts off at work or trying to make a living! Even me I am just a normal teenager and I still do not know what I want to do right now with my life but by making the school year longer and hours longer is not going to change anything! It just going to wasted time and wasted a lot more money that we do not have! So right now Obama is making a big Mistake!
OH MY GOSH I don’t want to wake up today to bad I got school have you ever thought about going to school more days out of the year or even more hours in the week?
Well President Obama is thinking about giving kids in the united states longer School days and hours well hears what I say: I think it’s a really stupid idea because that’s cutting into are extra activities. So say school starts at 7:00am and ends at 4:30pm that is about 10 hours and 30mins that we would spend in school. In addition, I highly doubt students want to be there for that long when they could be playing sports, hanging out with friends, working, family time, and whatever else kids/teens do in life. Just because president Obama did not get the best, education in his life does not mean he has to start investing money that he does not have into math, science and English. Just so, we could have a better education I mean it sounds like a better plan for students but if think about it do you really want to take that risk?
C/B.Prater AS1
C/Moyet, M
The way I see it, I am actually in favor of extended school periods and extended school years. America is seen throughout the entire globe as a land of opportunity. Out of all the opportunities we as a nation have to offer, education for both adults and children is seen as one that should be considered most important. The children of today deserve a better and more structured educational system that has seemed to become distorted over the years, which has lead to increased dropout rates and increased crime within our nation. Granted you cannot keep all of the troublemakers out of this system but you can increase the difficulty of acquiring a diploma and graduating from high school in order to lock these delinquents out and allow the strivers to have a better working environment and ease the stress off teachers that have to deal with these children on a daily basis. Children, both alien and residential, both have an equal right to education. With a poor school system, America will fall to other countries whose priority is to give their children an enhanced education experience and American children will fall victim to scrutiny due to the fact that their nation could not provide equal education to its children. Children from other nations, as well as American children, have active social lives and have extensive extracurricular activities outside of school. Many people see that extending the school day will not allow their children to enjoy these activities due to the extended school day. I feel that with proper planning and preparation, we will be able to continue these activities and still have the knowledge to be able to compete with children from other nations on a scholastic, as well as athletic, level.
I understand why President Obama feels like we should have longer school days but I also feel like he is doing too much. In one of the articles I read one of his statements were, “We can no longer afford an academic calender designed when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land at the end of each day.” He continued to say, “That calender may have once made sense, but today, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea. That is no way to prepare them for a 21st century economy.” Reading this made me feel like he is trying to compete against other countries with their education program. We have been going to school for 180 days for as long as I can remember. Now advocates are pushing towards a 200 day school year, which would align us with Thailand, Scotland and the Netherlands. This would aslo leaves us 43 days behind Isreal, South Korea and Japen which have a 243 day school year. Which also brings me back to what I was stating earlier. Other countries have different techniques in their teaching ability than the United States and I feel as if Obama is threatned by that. Obama cited that 1/3 of the 13 and 14 year olds in our country cannot read at an appropriate level for their age, and that the eighth grade curriculum is two years behind competing nations. He says part of the problem is our “race to the bottom” mindset, wherein states are comfortable with lower standards for students. He even states “If they can do it in South Korea, we can do it right here in the United States of America.” How does he know how South Korea runs the educational school system? We are completely different than any other country but he is trying to make us one in the same. I honestly believe that he is blaming our poor education on the children. It's not just us. It's also the support system at home. Most kids parents really aren't involed with their childs education. Most parents just care if you graduate and get out of their house. But then again it's not always the parents. Kids are messing around in school and taking it for a joke. They don't realize that without and education you can't get anywhere in life. But extending school days and school hours is pointless. Kids are either going to go to sleep while in class, skip school, or just not come at all. I believe what Obama is trying to do is ver thoughtful but ridiculous. In my opinion it is way to late to change how the school systems work. By doing this a lot of people may turn against him and things could get really ugly. I think this one should just be put to rest and never brought up again.
C/ Robinson Tanyss
c/Santariga
Obama's longer school day, shorter summer plan is bringing up alot of coments by kids and parents saying that we need our summer to regain our "creativity". Experts say that it will stress kids out. Some teachers say that the schools are under used due to sumer vacation. By increasing the school year it is not only going to caust supplies for the school(breakfast, lunch food, P.E. equipment, ect.) but it is going to caust students to buy their supplies needed for the longer school year(paper, pencils, computers, thumbdrives, breakfast and lunch money, ect.)and I'm not sure our students and our school can aford that. This plan that Obama has come up with bring up certian questions from me. what will happen to afte school activities? If the after school activities are cancled some students may not be able to aford to pay for college because they can't get a scolarship. How many quarters or semesters are there going to be in a school year? When will we get report cards or progress reports? Will we have homework? Will we have holiday breaks? based on all of the this i have decided that im am against this plan. It's not that i dont want to go to school longer It's that our country can't simply aford it. If the only reason is to be ahead of other countries educationaly then go to college.
C/Greene,C
I like the whole idea about extending the school year because after about a month of summer vacation half of us are ready to go back to school anyways unless were on vacation. Plus studies show that many students begin to lose what they have learned in school over the break which is very bad for the next school year. Not only that but we are nationally falling behind in big areas that are imperative to our country. We once led the world in math,science,and technology advancement. Now we are ranked twenty first in science and twenty fifth in math. Those areas are not as easy to understand such as english and art education thats why it requires more intructional time and practice to understand throughout the school year. If we had that extra month or extra days at least we could catch up and become more globally competitive in those areas than we already are.
C/A1C G.Sullivan
The way I see extending the school year might be a good thing! In my own opinion, I think Obama is making a right choose by making the school year! That could give a lot more student and me more time to worry about are future and it would gives a lot more time to learn then we already know! More time in school is less time being in jail or in trouble for young teenage like, me we should be in school longer it would keep us from doing something stupid like getting into trouble. This would be a big change in America but I think if we step up and take a chance then I know making this choose would be right! I know it is going to cost about 6.5 million dollars extra that we do not have but I know we can get the money by working hard! Extending school longer is the right choose so step up and make a change!
C/Koonce
Extending the school year I think would be a good choice to make. Over the summer a lot of students loose knowledge of what they have learned during the previous school year. But if we had longer school years we would learn more and we have time to grasp the concept of each subject. The U.S. used to be the leaders in the world with technology and all but now we are in dead last compared to Japan. Japan is known for their advanced technology, and everyone thinks their students are really smart because of how long they go to school, 243 days. I want the U.S. to be back on top so if we have to go to school longer to do that then so is it. Although this has a down side to it. If our economy is so bad how would be able to afford to pay the salaries of the teachers. That’s putting are economy more in debt. Although it would be money well spent it would not leave are economy in a good position.
Obama making me go to school more is somewhat good and bad because has he ever thought about what teens/kids do in life? Like everyone, life style is not all the same some kid’s parents have work and certain time, after sports, and extra activities’. Like is he serious longer hours that make parents in the world think twice about oh what time will my kids get home today? In addition, longer days what cut out are spring break, holidays etc. I totally disagree on what Obama wants to do he has his points in the school thingy but right now he needs to worry about the economy and how to get the U.S.A out of debt.
C/MaCcarthy
C/ Staff Seargent E. Vitt
Obama has announced his views on what he wants to do help the U.S. become more successful. Obama would like to extend the school year by a whole month and also increase the length of each school day. In my opinion I think that this is a good but also bad desiscion. The only pro that I can think of with this descision is that there is less time to forget the material you learned the previous year. I understand that he would like to improve our nation in order to make it more respected in education but if students fall asleep and doze off in class now, how much more would we be able to take in with even less sleep? This would also effect how extra-curricular activities are ran and handled. We (the U.S.) are ranked 21st in science and 25th in math. That is really low and will not help us any. But, I do not think that increasing the school year and school days are the way to go. I think this nation could easily improve if parents are more involved with what their kids participate in and accomplish during school hours.
Hmmm what to say well Obama making us teens/kids go to school longer well it has its good and bad points but I cannot really agree on what is right for us right now. Because that is even more money that he does not have and he wants to put into are education. Now that might help us in what we are struggling on in school but it also just puts a lot on the line like it could take time away from what do when we’re doing while we’re not in school. In addition, say how teens have a job that is lesser hours we could be making money for collage but nowhere spending more time in school. He needs to think before he does that is all I have to say.
C/Boyd AS1
C/Ossie Perez
Obama's plan to extend the school year to me is a good idea. Stats show that we need longer hours at school because of our rank in education in the world. But the con about this idea is that how will they afford to pay for it? We already have spent over a billion dollars, how much more do we want to suffer. Obama wants our rank higher and it should be. But not only do they want the school year extended, they want the summer shortened. I don't think that is necessary. To become a better country in education, this plan should work because students would get more time in the class and that is extra learning.
i Think President Barack Obama extending school is good idea, because we probably are one of the least educated countries in the world. Other countries like China and Japan go to school for almost a whole year and we don't even go to school for 200 days. People from other countries can come here and get a better job than us and we wonder why, its because they care for their education and want to do better than good, and we just do stuff to get by i know if i was hiring somebody i would want them to go above and beyond and not just average . we are more worried about whats going on in the world to care about our education so an extra month of school can't hurt and plus thats more time to chill with my friends :) c/ Cameron
C/ T. Baker
Personally I believe this is a choice would affect the school systems but I don’t know if it would be in a good way. Most if not all of the kids that do well in school do well in school because they are not lazy and they pay attention. I don’t think the United States has a bad schooling system because of lack of days. I think there are just to many people not TRYING or wanting to succeed in school. Whether you make the school year longer or make the days longer, either way they will probably do bad due to lack of interest. If the school days were longer I think more people would just skip or sleep in class. There is also not enough time in the day for longer school hours. Some students have jobs or do other after school activities. A longer school year would definitely be better than a longer school day, but I still don’t think it is ideal for the schools. Instead of making school days longer I would just make the hours more productive.
C/Hasan-Hussein: Frankly I dont care because I will be out of public school's grip by the time it is implemented though if I was I would be completely against extended school years and ask to be swithched to homeschooling. Yeah, I understand that students will have more instructional time to raise test scores and they are less likley to indur summer reading loss but that is for students who want to learn and actually care about what the next step is. Larry Sykes said 'we have to quit blaming children for conditions they have no control over'. My opinion on that matter is those who dont care about their school work now and work to get the best grades that they can reciveve, with the normal seven hour school days, probaly wont care when its extended. Obama can go ahead and implement longer school days but when he does he is proble going to see a spike in the amount in classroom issues from those kids who are not developmeantly ready . Besides that I have three problems with this BRIGHT IDEA. One, how in the world are we going to pay for 10,000 science, technology, engineering, and math teachers? Last time I checked we needed money for the healthcare bill. Maybe Japan, 243 days out of the year, Israel, 216 days out of the year, and England may have the necessary needs to allow that to happen. This is America and we are in DEBT, let's deal with that before we spend any more money that is vital. Two Barack Obama had also said 'no matter how good the teacher, if the kids are coming home from school and the parent isn't checking to see if they are doing their homework or they are watching TV, that's going to be a problem'. How is that a problem and I do it, on the days I dont have Coastal. I currently hold a 3.4 weighted GPA, 5 math classes, starting with Geomatry, I have the ability to graduate early with the completion of English IV, but l choosen not to, and I have two AP Classes, six honor classes, and one, and soon to be four costal classes, under my belt. AND MY MOM DOES NOT CHECK MY HOMEWORK, ITS ALL ON MY OWN. Three, just about every college looks for well rounded students; my question is how is that going to be achieved when after school activites, such as the sports or the arts, are at risk of being cut?
So it is not that I dont care about the students of tomorrow or the fact that it is not going to affect me. Its just that I dont see the benifit of longer school days after so long. Congress would know this if they would consider our view in this matter of improving schools.
C/Madison Bass
Hmmmmm……… let me think. You are asking me if I like or don’t like this plan to extend school days and years. Well… let me put it this way, to me this plan is just bunk! Why would we want to do this? Oh my bad because of other countries getting ahead. Right? Well I frankly don’t care if we’re the number one country or not because in the end we all will pass along that title to one another one day. Might as well hurry up and pass along the glory, so it will come back sooner. Anyway no way am I going to want school longer. I prefer my free time. With this new plan my free time will be canceled. And as a teen that time is precious. I mean our schedules are already booked so why make it crammed even more. And in my personal opinion what if kids don’t want to do this they’ll probably drop out the moment they can. And what about the kids that sleep in class do you honestly believe more class will wake them up?? Well? I say just throw this plan away, no better yet shred it up and feed it to the dogs!!!!
C/ Ssgt Castillo, A
The idea of having a longer school year and longer school days is a poop plan that Obama proposes. The idea is some-what great, but there are a lot of cons that his administration would have to work out. He wants U.S students to be globaly competitive and feels like more classroom time will do the trick. As a U.S student, the idea of having to spend more time in class is the last thing on my mind; but it will eventually help me out in the long run. As of right now, out of thirty comparable countries, the United States is at the bottom of the list. In math, the U.S ranks only twenty-five with Finland and South Korea at the top. In science, the U.S ranks number twenty-one, with Finland again ranking number one on the charts. If we don't make a change soon, we will only keep heading south, and not be as powerful as we once were. I feel like if we were able to get on track, we could start manufacturing a lot of our own stuff. It would put alot of Americans to work and our economy would expand, making us really powerful. As statistics show, we only go to school one-hundred-eighty days out of the year, while other countries like Japan and Israel, go to school two-hundred-fourty-three days out of the year and two-hundred- sixteen days out of the year. If the school days were to get longer, where would we have the time for sports and extra-curricular activites. I think it's something that the Obama administration should consider heavily because, as Americans, we like sports. I would be extremely upset to find out that there would be no more sporting activities after school due to time restrictions. I know that in Nepal, alot of their high schools don't play any sports due to their long school days. If you look back in history, around the late 60's, 70's and 80's, we had the top scientists and mathmaticians. For example, Einstein was German. It only shows that people from other countries are just smart. I really think that America just wasn't made to be smart. When you look around the world and at different countries, a lot of their education systems are different. A lot of the countries have a different mind-set on education. Here in the U.S, you can definately tell that a lot of people don't like education and could care less about it, while other countries take education seriously. If the plan were to happen, the U.S students' mind-set on education wouldn't change, making the plan on having longer days and a longer school year in-effective. I think it would cause a drop in statistics, putting us even lower on the charts. It would be his responsibility to change America's view on education first, and then trying to make a plan like this.
-Sauntaa krick-
Now me being honestly I really had to think about this whole situation because obviously as being a kid my first thought was being in school longer is defiantly not something I really want to do. Then I looked up a lot of interesting information about what obama has planned. This is defiantly a thought that is getting everyone thinking about but there are still so many questions that have not been answered. One of our biggest concerns is where is all this money going to come from because by extending the days and school year longer will mean that there will be more money that will be needed for the transportation and for ect. But as Obama said “it is well worth the cost” it really got me thinking it most defiantly is because education is the key without it you can’t really be nothing in the world today. The only question is where this money is going to come from which Obama clearly did not state in his interview. So what if he taxes us for this or something in that case were money is coming out of our parents and our pay checks just to help pay for the schools and their needs what about the people that just don’t have the money for that? Obama also stated that he wants to hire 10,000 new math and science teachers which defiantly had me thinking about because there’s already not enough teachers around so where will all these teachers going to come from. I was talking about my teacher and I stated that teachers have a life too there not going to want to be at school all day long and she stated to me if there not able to sacrifice staying a hour or two longer than maybe they shouldn’t be teaching. Facts show that we are now 21 in science and 25 in math America used to be a place that everyone wanted to come to we used to be every smart now people are getting lazy kids are not doing their work not trying as hard not attending schools and were slowly falling America is falling so far and if we don’t do something about it now it might be too late. There is so many other countries that are so much smarter than us and it will be very sad if third world countries become smarter. As I said before teenagers today are very lazy and that is a problem if Obama does decide to go thru with this plan to save America the dropout rate is going to increase there is so many teenagers today that are dropping out at a rapped pace so if the cant go for the little time we have now they’re not going to go for no year round schools. So honestly do I feel like Obama has a good plan yes now there defiantly are there pros and cons about the situation but he has a very good start on something because like I said before if we don’t change it now it might be too late. There is only one thing I would say that if I was him I would try imp limiting this plan at a younger age only because they will not know any different so they will think year round schools and longer school days are normal. This plan is something that will not satisfy everyone but honestly satisfying everyone is impossible we can’t sit here and try to make everyone happy we have to do what’s best for America as a whole it’s kind of like a team if everyone doesn’t do their part you won’t win. Life has a lot of challenging obstacles and I feel like we can make it thru this process one step at a time.
c/Cheyenne Brown,
In my honest oppion I do believe what obama is doing is the right thing to do. I think its great honestly, because in the movie 2 million minutes it even said we're not as smart as we used to be. I think its because if you look at all of the other countries they go to school longer and more than we do. So I think by him doing this he's trying to help us out. I don't see why people would complain its more education for free, its not like its hurting you. If anything its a big help to all of us.
C/ Orion Lopez
I don't really have a side i would choose about this idea. Yeah our education level is low and is continuing to drop, but think about us as students. The education level is low, why is that, because kids now a days dont want to learn so forcing it upon them could possibly increase the drop out rate, so instead of pulling us forward it's pushing us away. This idea also costs more money, and we aren't in the right state to keep trying to come up with these huges sums of money everytime Obama has some "bright idea." President Obama, speaking at the White House on Monday, also said bad teachers should get help to improve - or be fired. Now teachers have more stress on them to make sure that all of they're students are A students or meet Obama's expectations.
Now i do also understand that our education level DOES need to increase, everyone wants to be successful but most kids don't want to work for it. Success will not be handed to anyone on a silver platter, not everyone ends up a rapper or have a ridiculous show like Jersey Shore. Kids think this way because thats just what we see all around us. I for one want to be successful and maybe right now im doing my best in my classes, but everyone needs to grow up one day and realize and think about your future.
C/Octavia Lowe
I somewhat agree with what president Obama is saying about longer school periods. I think that we should have more school days, not longer school days. If we have longer school days then most kids wouldn’t even make the attempt to come to school all the time or even pay attention. But if we have more school days I feel that it would change anything it would be just extra time to learn. We all live in this country together so anything that is going to help us as one we should be willing to take a chance. I think America has it too easy when it comes to education then other countries like China. They spend at least 14 hours a day studying or learning, that’s half of the day compared to our eight hours. But then again from what I said at the beginning if we have more school days we would probably succeed more, For an example In Japan, students go to school 243 days out of the year. In Israel, students go to school 216 days out of the year. In England, students go to school 192 days out of the year. And finally in the U.S., students go to school 180 days out of the year. See how we have fewer days and we are the lowest country.
So I think that this is something we should think about. Good things kids cannot vote!
Cadet Rudd
I think that the whole entire thing that President Obama is trying to make is kind of a good situation for people & bad at the same time. The reason why it could be a good situation is because it could help students more & increase the teachers pay. Also what can become the bad outcome is that it could stop extra activities after school. Also it can mess up students work schedules to the point where they cant get a job. I think they should get peoples opinions about the situation before they put it out there.
C/ Dominique Murphy
President Obama believes that the school year in America should be longer. American students attend school about a month less than “educationally advanced” countries. According to President Obama, that extra month makes a difference.
Some good things will come out of this plan our president has. We students will be getting more information in our heads because the day will be longer. We’ll also be able to finish all of our class work. This means we we’ll have little, or no homework because of the longer day!
On the other hand, there are some bad things about this plan. To me, school isn’t even that tough, yet kids still dropout. If the school day is longer, the dropout rate will definitely increase! Plus, what will happen to the extracurricular things that go on? If the school day is longer, students will have less time doing those things.
c/skoufatos
ok so obama wants to make the school year longer along with the school day, why? i will tell you why; one is because against all these other countries we are 24th in mathmatics, 17th in sciences, and we are 10th in literacy, so in that meaning we are in last place every time and we are known as the dumbest country out their. he also wants to cut down on some of our summer vacation and im not the only one who does not like that. but their are some good things about this first we wont be the dumbest anymore. second we will get more breaks in between christmas vacation and all the other vacations as well. i wanna know something though who is going to pay for this in the end? we will in the future with all our our taxes that we pay and you know whats going to happen its gonna go to stupid stuff in the end!!!!!!
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