Well, today was the first day of the semester, and if the number of students iwth screwed-up schedules is any indication, the term is off to a rocky start.
School seemed to begin without troubles, but apparently that was just the calm before the storm. My prep period is second hour, and I stopped by the room used for schedule corrections and noticed the line outside the room contained about 30 people. I popped into the room just to get a sense of how many students' schedules needed immediate attention, and there must have been at least 60 students inside the room.
What is most maddening about the chaos at the beginning of the semester is not that some students need a schedule fix. Of course there will be problems -- students who failed a class and need a change, students whose interests have changed since requesting courses last year and so on. However, the process by which changes are made is frustrating. Seniors were helped today as were those students who had missing courses or duplicate courses scheduled. Tomorrow is the first of the month, so no changes will be made because officials need to conduct the enrollment count for state funds. Wednesdsay juniors get a chance to change schedules, Thursday is for sophomores, and Friday if for freshmen.
That means that a student is forced to sit through several days of a class they know they propbably will change -- and will mniss several days of a course they probably will add -- just because of the logistical problems.
My other main conern and rant has to do with the way the problem is approached. It seems perfectly acceptable that students will miss several days of class because the procedure is outlined that way. If I have a problem in my teaching or with my grades, I am expected to do whatever it takes -- how many extra hours it takes -- to complete the job because student learning is the top priority. However, the official attitude seems to be that if it can't be solved by 3 p.m. on the school day, then it has to wait until tomorrow -- no matter who else it affects.
It's frustrating to say the least. Here are a few numbers to help drive home the importance of being ready to start classes on the first day of the semester:
This semester is 89 days instead of 90 because of calendar convenience. Although school will be held for all 89 days, we won't meet each class 89 times this semester. We'll miss a few for the WASL and ITED tests in April; a few more will be shortened for assemblies; some classes won't meet for teaching because they'll be used to schedule for next year; and the finals week schedule eliminates a couple sessions, too. We don't have anywhere near the number of class sessions we should have, yet students are expected to learn more and we are expected to teach more.
It's all maddening.
-- Wenatchee, Wash.
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