Reimagining the School Day

Reimagining the School Day

This article posted on the US Department of Education site was very interesting news to read. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke about the fact that a few schools in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee are going to add 300 hours of instructional time to the academic calendar. I would love to see what they classify as "instruction and enrichment". I think that the addition of these hours would only be valuable if planned the right way. 300 additional hours of seat time may not be something that will truly help the students. I hope that by the description of "enrichment activities" that it will include more opportunities for field trips and hands-on activities where students get to interact with what they are learning. These are things that get cut in the traditional school year and are sometimes some of the most memorable and meaningful activities students participate in throughout their academic careers. I hope to read more about this in the future.