Monroe High School is currently toying with the idea of switching to a trimester-style schedule, like DePere and Sauk Prairie high schools. A month ago, all but one high school teacher was for it, and the discussion heads back to the school board tonight.
When I first heard about it - I liked the idea. More time for each class leads to better learning and, with the right teacher and curriculum, a better educational experience. My daughter is in middle school, so I have been paying attention to this much more than I normally would have. And when she was in elementary school, the "double-up" classes of math or reading helped her tremendously.
But then I started thinking about how I would have felt in school. I was not a good student. I openly admit that to anyone and everyone. I disliked homework so much I rarely did it - and it showed in many of my grades. Quizzes and tests were normally fine for me, because either I learned the information or I was just a really good test taker. In fact, and it sounds weird saying this as a reporter, but I didn't truly learn how to take notes until college.
That's right, I went through middle school and high school without ever taking notes. Teachers showed us how, but I didn't have the interest in retaining it. Again, I was not a good student. School was boring to me. I went to school to socialize with my friends. I got passing grades so I could play sports. Because my friends and sports were all 13- to 18-year-old me really cared about.
But as I look at it further, there were classes I liked. And teachers I liked. There were courses that fit my personality and that led me to where I am today. Without those, I may very well be living off the government after losing my theoretical job as a cashier when Blockbuster, my theoretical employer, closed.
Chorus, German, Films, Journalism, Radio & TV, Stagecraft, Business Law - these electives spoke to me. These electives made me enjoy being at school. I know I'm not the only kid who has felt this way. Some of those classes are no longer available, and I fear what might happen to others if the school switches to five-class trimesters. A freshman taking German 1 in the first trimester of his freshman year will get a lot of extra time each class that I would have loved. But what if his German 2 isn't until the third trimester of his sophomore year? Where will the retention be?
A kid wants to take band and chorus - do they go together, two out of five classes? Do they split up trimesters? While, yes, for core classes, longer periods are a great idea. Science and tech ed teachers, I am sure, would like more time with their students. Many kids would be bored in math, though it would be helpful.
And, if I'm being entirely honest, can we cut the charade of needing so much math? Yes, our scientists and upper-college levels need great math skills, but I have been in the adult world for nearly 15 years, and spent six years where math was my job. Of that, basic statistics is as much as I've had to worry about. The Pythagorean theorem? Never had to use it in adult life. There is so much of algebra, geometry, trigonometry or calculus that 90 percent of us don't have to worry about in the adult world that I'm not so sure we need all those credits to use up. But I digress from that one subject.
If we are truly looking at changing the way we schedule high school courses, or even what courses are available, can we look further than just trimesters or semesters? Can we look into foreign models? I spent the summer between junior and senior year in Germany and went to school with my exchange partner, Alex, every day. While I hardly learned a thing, I was able to see the great lengths those students went to learn their bits - and without much homework. I think we can all agree that less homework is better.
Here's what I remember - four classes between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day. Alex had English, chemistry, music and theology. Some days there was an open period, some days there was gym class. I think I remember a literature class. Each day different, much like our colleges. What I saw was an engaged student body. What I also saw was an educational system different from our own. Germany, like other developed, highly educated countries, goes to school year-round with multiple weeks or a month-long block of "holidays" away from school. We get a week in the spring, almost two weeks at Christmas, and then three months in the summer. America's system was made for the farming family, so the kids could help with the crops in the summer. But even in rural Wisconsin the vast majority of our families today are not farmers, and maybe this is where we need to go.
Another huge difference between Germany and Wisconsin? Educational goals. Here we make all the kids go to school until they graduate high school. If they don't, they can get a GED or the chance at getting to college is basically zero. But in Germany? Kids get to choose how far they want to go. Kids can be done with school by 16 if they want - enter a work training program or get an apprenticeship. This is what I would have done, which also means I wouldn't be writing this right now. Students could also go through grade 13 and then go on to university. There are five different routes to take after their equivalent to elementary school.
That means those 17- and 18-year-olds I was "in school" with all WANTED to be there because they wanted to go to college. I wanted to be a Marine throughout high school, then I had a personal change of heart - a bit of giving up emotionally inside - and decided I wanted to go to college and party for many years until I was too old for that and had to figure life out. I lasted three years in college before I had figured it all out.
The fact is we send a lot of people through high school that don't want to be there - or maybe they learn differently, or have different goals and motivations in their lives. Some kids want to take four art classes a semester because they love art; others want to take AP courses up the wazoo because either they want to be the most educated or feel pressure from home to be the most educated.
So, do we need to skim on the electives for longer class periods? Do we need three months off in the summer? I suppose if our state and federal governments had decided not to cut funding for education, we could simply afford more teachers and aids for a better overall educational experience to begin with. But we've voted ourselves into conundrums, and now we may vote out some of the very things that kept me remotely interested in school. That's the thing that scares me, another me not getting the opportunities I had.
- Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Monroe Times and knows how to find the square root of 16. He can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.
When I first heard about it - I liked the idea. More time for each class leads to better learning and, with the right teacher and curriculum, a better educational experience. My daughter is in middle school, so I have been paying attention to this much more than I normally would have. And when she was in elementary school, the "double-up" classes of math or reading helped her tremendously.
But then I started thinking about how I would have felt in school. I was not a good student. I openly admit that to anyone and everyone. I disliked homework so much I rarely did it - and it showed in many of my grades. Quizzes and tests were normally fine for me, because either I learned the information or I was just a really good test taker. In fact, and it sounds weird saying this as a reporter, but I didn't truly learn how to take notes until college.
That's right, I went through middle school and high school without ever taking notes. Teachers showed us how, but I didn't have the interest in retaining it. Again, I was not a good student. School was boring to me. I went to school to socialize with my friends. I got passing grades so I could play sports. Because my friends and sports were all 13- to 18-year-old me really cared about.
But as I look at it further, there were classes I liked. And teachers I liked. There were courses that fit my personality and that led me to where I am today. Without those, I may very well be living off the government after losing my theoretical job as a cashier when Blockbuster, my theoretical employer, closed.
Chorus, German, Films, Journalism, Radio & TV, Stagecraft, Business Law - these electives spoke to me. These electives made me enjoy being at school. I know I'm not the only kid who has felt this way. Some of those classes are no longer available, and I fear what might happen to others if the school switches to five-class trimesters. A freshman taking German 1 in the first trimester of his freshman year will get a lot of extra time each class that I would have loved. But what if his German 2 isn't until the third trimester of his sophomore year? Where will the retention be?
A kid wants to take band and chorus - do they go together, two out of five classes? Do they split up trimesters? While, yes, for core classes, longer periods are a great idea. Science and tech ed teachers, I am sure, would like more time with their students. Many kids would be bored in math, though it would be helpful.
And, if I'm being entirely honest, can we cut the charade of needing so much math? Yes, our scientists and upper-college levels need great math skills, but I have been in the adult world for nearly 15 years, and spent six years where math was my job. Of that, basic statistics is as much as I've had to worry about. The Pythagorean theorem? Never had to use it in adult life. There is so much of algebra, geometry, trigonometry or calculus that 90 percent of us don't have to worry about in the adult world that I'm not so sure we need all those credits to use up. But I digress from that one subject.
If we are truly looking at changing the way we schedule high school courses, or even what courses are available, can we look further than just trimesters or semesters? Can we look into foreign models? I spent the summer between junior and senior year in Germany and went to school with my exchange partner, Alex, every day. While I hardly learned a thing, I was able to see the great lengths those students went to learn their bits - and without much homework. I think we can all agree that less homework is better.
Here's what I remember - four classes between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day. Alex had English, chemistry, music and theology. Some days there was an open period, some days there was gym class. I think I remember a literature class. Each day different, much like our colleges. What I saw was an engaged student body. What I also saw was an educational system different from our own. Germany, like other developed, highly educated countries, goes to school year-round with multiple weeks or a month-long block of "holidays" away from school. We get a week in the spring, almost two weeks at Christmas, and then three months in the summer. America's system was made for the farming family, so the kids could help with the crops in the summer. But even in rural Wisconsin the vast majority of our families today are not farmers, and maybe this is where we need to go.
Another huge difference between Germany and Wisconsin? Educational goals. Here we make all the kids go to school until they graduate high school. If they don't, they can get a GED or the chance at getting to college is basically zero. But in Germany? Kids get to choose how far they want to go. Kids can be done with school by 16 if they want - enter a work training program or get an apprenticeship. This is what I would have done, which also means I wouldn't be writing this right now. Students could also go through grade 13 and then go on to university. There are five different routes to take after their equivalent to elementary school.
That means those 17- and 18-year-olds I was "in school" with all WANTED to be there because they wanted to go to college. I wanted to be a Marine throughout high school, then I had a personal change of heart - a bit of giving up emotionally inside - and decided I wanted to go to college and party for many years until I was too old for that and had to figure life out. I lasted three years in college before I had figured it all out.
The fact is we send a lot of people through high school that don't want to be there - or maybe they learn differently, or have different goals and motivations in their lives. Some kids want to take four art classes a semester because they love art; others want to take AP courses up the wazoo because either they want to be the most educated or feel pressure from home to be the most educated.
So, do we need to skim on the electives for longer class periods? Do we need three months off in the summer? I suppose if our state and federal governments had decided not to cut funding for education, we could simply afford more teachers and aids for a better overall educational experience to begin with. But we've voted ourselves into conundrums, and now we may vote out some of the very things that kept me remotely interested in school. That's the thing that scares me, another me not getting the opportunities I had.
- Adam Krebs is a reporter for the Monroe Times and knows how to find the square root of 16. He can be reached at akrebs@themonroetimes.net.
