The Horseshoe: Wasting time?

Most students have faced the struggle of walking out of a class and realizing that absolutely nothing from the last hour has resonated in their minds. Students spent the time listening to their teacher ramble on and on about a new formula or a new science concept, but it was as if the teacher’s mouth was moving and no words were coming out.

Classes are filled with all types of students with all different learning abilities. There’s the ones who have their undivided attention on the teacher, those who are busy doing last night’s homework for another class, the person who won’t get off their phone, and the kid who just stares at the clock waiting for the bell to ring. Despite what kind of student you are, sometimes concepts just don’t make sense and you feel like you just lost an hour of your life for nothing. Or maybe you leave class feeling confident about a new topic, but when you sit down that evening to do your homework it is as if the teacher gave you an assignment written in hieroglyphics.

The next day you walk into class in desperate need for some help, but your teacher isn’t available to meet with you at lunch to give you some assistance. What then?

On June 12, teachers at my school voted in favor of a new bell schedule next year that would give students time to meet with teachers if they need extra help or time to make up a test or quiz. The new schedule will only take effect on Wednesdays of the upcoming school year. Students will be given one hour in the morning to meet with certain teachers and one hour in the afternoon to meet with other teachers. Sure, it sounds nice that there will be time that is specifically meant for meeting with teachers, but if tons of kids all flock to one teacher, then will there even be time for all of us to get that needed help?

For those that aren’t in need of any assistance, we would have the freedom to roam around campus and do nothing for two hours of our lives if we wish. Some students will definitely use the time to do homework or maybe work on a group project, but there will for sure be students that find their way off campus. There is no way security would be able to stop every student that is attempting to leave during one of the hour-long blocks. Every now and then the-two hour blocks will be helpful, but for many students it will probably just be a waste of time because they will not use the time to go talk to teachers or do homework.

Another setback that comes with the new schedule is that all of our late starts will be taken away. Getting to sleep in once a month or once every other month if you are in a zero period is a privilege. Nowadays very few students are able to get the amount of sleep that the average teenager is supposed to. We are supposed to sleep for about nine and a half hours every night and I probably get that much sleep over a span of two days. I’m a zero period kid, I cherish that one day that I get once every two months to sleep in for two to three extra hours. One of my teachers even told me that one day every two months is barely anything, but trust me, for a zero period student getting the chance to sleep until nine is like the best Christmas present you have ever received.

I have always said that a study hall period would be nice and I feel like so many other schools have them, but this new bell schedule has not met up to the standards that I’ve had in mind.