New Year...Kind of? (Finals after Christmas Break)

Last Spring, big controversies surrounded the schools and possible start dates.  It seemed like everything was in upheaval, then compromises were made.

That being said, our administration looked at our start and end dates, and told us that if we ended the semester before Winter Break, like usual, there would be about at 15 day difference between 1st and 2nd semester.

To me, it didn't matter.  All my classes, even electives, are year long.  Since that is not the case for many teachers, the decision was made to move the last week of 1st semester, and finals, after Christmas.

Again, I didn't really care.  To me it was all the same.  Kids complained.  Other members of faculty thought it was inconvenient.  Whenever I told friends, family, etc over break that we hadn't taken finals yet, their responses were usually the same

"That sounds awful!"
"That sucks for those kids!"
"It would be so nice to be done and be able to start new!"
Etc.

And my responses were usually the same

"Ugh.  I don't think it will be a big deal"

I really didn't.  Yes, it would have been nice to end it all with a nice bow and come back and start new, but to me, I didn't think it would really matter.  I don't give any cumulative tests (that's an issue for a whole different post on how I feel about that), so really all it was doing was giving my kids MORE time to work on their projects and papers.  I used that last "extra" week to my advantage and stretched some things out.

Not a big deal.

But now that I have experienced it... my whole opinion has COMPLETELY CHANGED

It's not the taking finals that is awful, it is the mind set.  There is a certain attitude around the end of the year.  Kids are restless.  Things are wrapping up.  Many teachers give work days to get things done for finals, etc.  Kids can feel that a break is coming.  When you come back from break, kids and teachers are refreshed, and new things are started.  Kids are engaged right away (well most of them) because they are ready to start something new.

When we came back yesterday, my 9th graders were CRAZY! (And I mean that in a good way, I really do.  I was so happy to see them.  They were just a little nuts) We were finishing up Hunger Games discussions, and getting ready to write our papers for our final.  But it's the same thing we were doing before break! There was nothing new! It was almost like break hadn't even happened!

So.  I am now NOT a fan of finals after break.  Luckily for me, with my year long classes I can really end my "semester" before break if I want to. I will just have to be much more on top of planning, especially now that I know!

In the grand scheme of things, I didn't think it affected learning all that much having 1st semester end after break.  Now living it, I definitely think it is much more beneficial to students and their learning to be able to start fresh when they come back

Which leads me to wonder what year long school would look like? I know there are schools around that have already implemented it, but I would be curious to see how.  Do they end "units" or "terms" before each break? How to they manage to have continuity? I never thought I would be pro year long school years, but would that actually be better for the kids to have learning chunked like that?

One thing I do know for sure though is that I love my kids, and I really did miss them, but next year, we're definitely ending our English semester before break!

Peace, Love,
Ms. A :)