It's Spring, and in the words of Willy Loman, "I'm tired to the death." In a season that's become a metaphor for renewal, fatigue seems out of place. The dissonance between what my energy level is and what I think it should be has prompted this post about a calendar proposal that no one in South Dakota will adopt.
The school year should not be a nine month marathon with a three month vacation Instead, it should be a series of six or nine week sessions separated by two or three week breaks.
I would suggest that one of the two week breaks be scheduled around the Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year season and another around Independence Day. The rest should follow the normal session. The calendar should take into account holidays like Thanksgiving, Presidents' Day, and Martin Luther King Day. Local districts could set a few others.
That's it; it's simple and clean. I don't have any stats about effectiveness or cost. It can't be worse than the calendar that most of us work under now, and I'm positive students will learn more, so I'm pretty sure no one will think about adopting it.
2 comments:
I claim no logical superiority on this point: I have imply made a vow that, having the blissful joy of several uninterrupted, mostly unstructured summers when I was growing up, I will do what I can to make sure future generations have the same opportunity. Learning and research and inattentive kids in April be darned—summer is sacred. Memorial Day to Labor Day, no school.
What about the joy of having two weeks of snow days guaranteed?
Besides, I hate August! It's hot and humid and the baseball's pennant race don't kick into gear until September.
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