Fridays

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Home : 2003 : September : 1

Fridays
By Tia

I'm wondering...every Friday you spend time to reward those students? That's an awful lot of teaching time that is being used up. In my state, there is a lot of pressure to show improvement in test scores (several different
tests, of course!) I know in my elementary school (and probably all 30+ others in my district) this would be frowned upon (or even just not allowed). I'm real stingy with my teaching time anyway, and it's even joked about at staff meetings. "Well, I know if Tia doesn't have a problem with us serving breakfast during school instead of before, none of you should. If she can find a

way to teach during breakfast, so can you."

I would be uncomfortable giving up teaching time for "fun" stuff. My 6th grade team has an all-work-in party for the students who have all their work turned in for 2 months--it's usually an hour or less. The fourth grade does something similar--they take one day each quarter and have a "quarterly celebration" for the students who have turned all their work in. Their activity is usually a little more extravagant than ours--they've gone bowling and to the park for a picnic.

If your school/team is set on doing this every Friday, maybe you could do "fun" activities that cover your standards/objectives. For example: an art lesson focusing on principles or elements of design and have a contest for the most creative and complete uses of these--let the kids vote. Have a problem solving activity period where students are using problem-solving strategies and cooperation to tackle tricky and interesting problems. What about a read-in where they bring books, blankets, and snacks?