Quote:
Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug
Not sure if she made it up, or things have changed in the last 13 years, but that isn't the case. Seminars on teaching instruction, collaboration on teaching plans, etc. They put in a full day and it certainly isn't a day off for them.
I think Slava's comment is telling on this discussion. Are people pissed because we think teachers are overpaid/over vacationed, or is it aggravation because they aren't available 5 days a week for pseudo- daycare? These are two very separate issues.
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Hold on though, it's not "pseudo-daycare". I find it weird that we expect such short learning times for our kids. If the kids were in school more hours they could take a more varied approach to the curriculum. More hands-on activity, more doing and less just sitting there listening in general. For some reason though it's become a rarity that kids attend the full 4.5 days a week (and by full I mean from 8:30-3:15 with a break for lunch and recess). Is there evidence that we are teaching students so effective that they need less class time? That seems to be at odds with intuition.