Yesterday was “Step-Up” day when local 7th graders are invited to spend the day at our school to see what High School life is all about. Our administration sponsors buses that picked up 400+ children from 20 or so local grade schools for the festivities. Activities included a tour of the facilities, a science lab demonstration, a mini band concert, and the performance of a scene from the fall play. Lunch is provided for all who attend, including teachers from the feeder schools who accompany their students. We do our best to show off our current students by having them act as tour guides for the visitors.
Needless to say, the day is almost a total loss from the teaching stand-point. Class periods are shortened and many students are missing. I had 7-10 students missing for the first four classes, with more than half gone for 7th period. The students that were present worked on a homework assignment that is due tomorrow. I never try to teach something new on a day like this.
Opinions vary among my colleagues, from acceptance and tolerance (myself included) to bitter hostility for the unwanted disturbance. Days like this are annoying, but necessary for the future of the school. Without a constant stream of new students to fill the desks, none of us would have a job. I find the day to be an agreeable distraction in my normally busy schedule. My students worked at their desks, I graded papers, and 400+ 7th graders and their teachers got a day off school—who could complain.
Some school districts are very sensitive about missed teaching time—even to ridiculous levels. A former student of mine who now teaches science in the area almost got fired because of a planned field trip. She told me that she wanted to take her students to a local museum to see an exhibit related to what they were learning in class. The administration canceled the field trip, saying that it took time away from teaching that was needed to meet state and local learning standards. She wasn’t happy, but canceled the trip, notifying the parents that they could take their child out of school to visit the exhibit on their own if they had time and thought it would be worth the effort.
The administration called her in and threatened to fire her for “inciting truancy.” Apparently even the suggestion that a parent might want to keep their child home, even if for a legitimately educational purpose, undermined the districts attempt to meet state standards. Lucky for her, cooler heads prevailed and she got to keep her job. If she hadn’t been so serious when telling the story I would have thought that she was joking.
In case you’re interested, her school has relatively low scores on the state exams. Too bad the administrators seem to have no idea what to do about it.
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