Meaningful Morsels or MOTS: Extending the school year/school day
If you have ever eaten leftovers from a marvelous recipe for many days in a row, you know how it feels to cheer as you finally cram the empty Gladware into the dishwasher, the first serving lost in distant memory. Those of us with empty nests, still learning to downsize the recipes we used with a household full of teenaged swimmers, know the meaning of “more of the same.” Even the best homemade ziti or sausage risotto does little more than fill a rumbling void the third or fourth time around. We cram it in, swallow, and do the dishes out of habit, but find nothing memorable in the overly soft pasta or rubbery sausage.
I worry that current efforts to extend the school day/school year for all U.S. students may be as mushy and meaningless as old risotto. MoreOf TheSame, i.e. more hours of time with a numb backside in a plastic chair, does not equate to more learning, more challenge, or more competitiveness. If we are to extend the school day or school year, it should be with something different: different experiences in different places with different people. Imagine adding an entirely new dish to the menu in place of leftovers: spicy time (thyme?) creating meaningful projects from ANY chair, fragrant discussions with a professional or a mentor, savory stints arguing with classmates about real content — online, instead of on-schedule. If we are going to “extend” the school day or year, the extension should be anything but the same.
What an opportunity we have to open new kitchens. Imagine having school be a “reality” show: real experiences with real people (though not contrived a la Hollywood, please). Throw the kids into a Hell’s Kitchen of learning where they must cook up their own recipes and answer to the judges. The prize: your own “restaurant,” i.e. lifelong opportunities to keep on learning. What a magnificent alternative to MOTS.
Now if we can just listen to the true gourmets in education’s kitchens, and avoid short-order cooks with timers…
I love the perfectly applied extended metaphor you have used in this blog post. I absolutely agree that if the time students spend in school is extended, the learning should be extended to other realms. Thank you for sharing this!
Comment by Tracy Lux — May 16, 2009 @ 10:09 am
i Believe that they shouldnt extend the school day. this is because i wouldnt get any free time in a day to play with my friends. by the time i get home from on the bus, its about supertime, then i got homework, then i have to shower. the only time i play with my friends is on the weekend. therefore i think they shouldnt extend the school day
Comment by Jaycee Dredge — May 29, 2009 @ 11:17 am