Expanding the School's Day | Teen Ink

Expanding the School's Day

August 30, 2012
By Under-the-Rain GOLD, Chicago, Illinois
Under-the-Rain GOLD, Chicago, Illinois
18 articles 5 photos 99 comments

Favorite Quote:
Are you ready to go to battle with your mind?- Written by me :)
Lost the battle, win the war//Bringing my sinking ship back to the shore- Paramore, Now


Education builds our future; education should be flooding the streets left and right, so why should there be a limit to it? Although the idea of having an extra hour of school is irritating, being able to get more work done during school is beneficial to the students. Students are able to get more work done, learn more, and they are able to catch up with anything needed to be done or missing.

If the Board of Education spares an extra hour to school, students are able to be more industrious during school. Adding extra time to the school day will allow students to do their homework during school. This will result in having more time to sleep. When I get home, I have chores to do, such as cook and clean. I also have to help my sister with her homework, which leads me to stay up doing my homework, and I have to wake up at 6am or even earlier. Not given enough time to do my homework during class builds up on what I have to do later. If my peers and I were given more time to do homework, I guarantee the next day you would not see haggard expressions. More time to the school’s day will mean more time for extra curricular activities. At the school I go to now “art, music, technology, and gym are 30 minutes long,” adding an hour to school will lengthen those classes. Having 30 minutes of any, class is not enough to neither learn nor do anything. I love art, so when I only have 30 minutes twice a week of that class, it takes a long time to finish an art project. To sum up, with the additional time added to school, it will allow students to study during class. “79% of students said that they are able to study more at school than at home.” Sometimes at home there is a lot of racket and you are unable to concentrate on studying for a test, quiz, or even an exam, so the comfort of studying at school is needed, because when you study you learn more.

With the school day longer extra time it possible to learn three new lessons instead of one. “89% of teachers said that they were able to teach more lessons than they use to with the additional time.” Learning more lessons is an essential to every child getting ahead of the game. So instead of being at the beginning of algebra 1 at the end of 8th grade year, that student will be starting high school geometry. In fact, it is also possible that a school will be able to add a new class, such as foreign language. However, 72% of grade schools do not offer foreign language classes, but with more time in the school day they will be able to. Learning a new language is a good way to improve human relations through communication. Another reason I say schools should add an extra hour to school is so that the United States can catch up with economic knowledge. Christopher Gabriel, chairperson of the National Center on Time and Learning, answered the question if Americans should go to school longer, “[They] should go to school for the time needed to gain the core academic skills and well-rounded education necessary to thrive as individuals and to succeed in today’s complex society and high-skills economy.” There are many countries far more educated than the U.S. and most of them have longer school days and school years. “Across the country, more than 1,000 schools have broken the shackles of conventional schedules to expand learning time well beyond the norm. Their results show that students learn more and thrive…” Students have the opportunity to learn more with an extra hour, but can also catch up with anything they missed.

It is typical for students to miss work, with an extra hour they will be able to catch up with anything they did not do. When ever you come back to school from when you were absent you have twice the work to do, today’s work and yesterday’s work, you can even have triple the work depending on how many days you weren’t at school. Having extra time during school can prevent this, because you can get some of the work done during school. When I miss a day of school and go back I have two days worth of homework due the following day, and I feel overwhelmed, it’s like I have too much on my plate and expected to finish it all in one sitting. Additional time in class will allow you to get more class work in. At my school, class work is 40% of your final grade. Since class work is a big part of your grade it would be beneficial if we were given more time in school to have more or complete class work. Moreover, teachers are pressed for time, so they tend to bypass questions. However, with extra time allotted to each class teachers are able to go over subjects and answer questions more thoroughly, which then the students will completely understand what they have just learned. “88% of teachers were able to elaborate better with the students’ questions and needs, because of the allocated hour given.” Being able to review over something that you do not understand is important, but do you have the time to do it?

With education you have the knowledge to push your future beyond impossible means, it’s doable, with education you can do anything, so why not one more hour? Even though students are getting out of school later in the day, it will give them a chance to build up their skills. If schools are extended by an extra hour, it will enable students to have a more productive school day, expand their knowledge, and to catch up with any assignments. Education is the gateway to anything of everything, it goes “to infinity and beyond.”


The author's comments:
I received a 24/24 (A+)on this persuasive essay, and I just wanted to share my opinion if there should be an extra hour of school.
(* My class was preparing for the District Wide Writing Assessment)

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This article has 2 comments.


bobby said...
on Feb. 24 2016 at 5:11 pm
That was a great essay. It really explains the advantages of extending a school day. Thank you for sharing this!

zara said...
on Nov. 24 2014 at 2:16 pm
exactly what i wanted i wont copy just got an idea of what i should write good job and plz keep posting ur esays...