Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The 10 - 15 Minute Break - November 2009


So, the school day is divided into "lessons" (or periods, as Americans would call them) much like high school, with 10-minute breaks in between. Except that the kids usually aren't going anywhere--to another classroom, to a locker to change books--like in high school. So the kids just run around and get wound up.


One day last week, the Russian vice principal informed my assistant to inform me that in 1st grade, the lessons are only 35 minutes long. Apparently, someone figured out that 1st graders can't sit still for 40 minutes and decided that their lessons should be shorter. What does this mean? That after 35 minutes, I should stop teaching, but not let the children out of the room, as break hasn't officially begun. They should hang out in the classroom, quietly, doing no work, until the music sounds for the break to begin. Then they have the 10-minute break.


What?!?


Don't worry, I know--as does any decent teacher--that 1st graders can't sit still for 40 minutes. They can't sit still for 35 minutes. That's why I don't stand in the front of the room, lecturing for 40 minutes. Giving them an extra five minutes--to do NOTHING--is not going to help with any learning or behavior!


I talked to the principal about the breaks. I said that I'd rather get the children at the beginning of the day for several hours; consolidate the breaks and give them a recess, for heavens' sake! He was a bit surprised. But children can't handle 80-minute lessons, he said. I think I did a decent job of explaining myself--that I am a competent enough teacher to mix up my lessons and to give them a break when I see that they need one. If they need a break after only 5 minutes of work, then I can give them one--a short, supervised break (such as a stand-and-stretch or a walk to the bathrooms). If they are able to sit still for 30 minutes, then so be it... But I want to be able to manage my own class and give breaks when they need it, not when I am told to do so. If I finish a lesson early, then I can move on to another lesson, or give a break then before starting the next one. So much time is wasted with these 35 to 40 minute lessons.


Nothing's changed in the schedule, of course, but maybe, if I keep my fingers crossed, someone will have sense by next year. (Technically, I don't think they can change the schedule, once it's been pre-approved by the Kazakh Ministry of Education. That's why we can't teach more than 8 hours of English a week. We've only been approved for 8 hours, no more, no less.)

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