I was walking down the basement hall on Tuesday afternoon and I happened to see my name on the marker board in Mrs. Reyes' classroom. So naturally, I stopped to see what it was about. It seems that our Reading Lab students were responding to a HYPOTHETICAL prompt about whether or not I should change the school day so it starts later. Below is the prompt and their pleas for me (backed up with evidence) to start school later. I'm much more of a night-owl than a morning person, so getting me on your side might not be as tough as you think! :] I'm excited to read your responses and I might even have some follow-up questions, so make sure your argument is solid.
Mr. Trotter is debating whether or not he should start Hester Junior High School's day later than usual. Your opinion counts! Write a letter to Mr. Trotter explaining why or why not we should start school later than usual. Provide solid examples.
Dear Mr. Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI think Hester Jr. High should start at 8:25am as usual because if it starts at 11:00am, kids will still have to go to school for 6 hours a day, causing school to end at 6:00pm. Most kids have activities outside of school that start at 6:00pm, so they will be running late. It should also remain the same because it will cost a lot of money to change school hours.
Sincerely,
Jose Perez
What kind of activities? Can you explain?
Deletedear Mr.Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI think the school should be the same because every thing is going well in Hester and I don't want the school to start later and if we start later we wouldn't have activities like we have right now. Also the assemblies we have in Hester. The best thing about Hester is that you have homework center and if we start later we might have homework center later.
Sincerely,
Arturo Martinez
Well.........there is the old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
DeleteDear Mr. Trotter,
ReplyDeleteYou should start school later because some kids fall asleep in class. Some kids don't get a lot of sleep. Some kids yawn in class. If you we would start school later, then kids would focus more and get better grades. They will do better at ISAT. We should start school at 9:00am. Please change the time. Please!
Sincerely,
Michael Kozak
Do you really think that 37 minutes would make a difference? explain.
DeleteDear Mr. Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI believe you should leave the time of when school starts because my mom wakes me up at 6:30 am every school day, and my mom continues that because she has to go to work at 7:30 am. It takes her 20 minutes to get to work. In the meantime, I have to go to my aunts house. For other people it is different, it is their fault that they are not responsible enough to go to bed at an appropriate time. These are reasons why I think school should continue to start at 8:25 am. This schedule works best for me.
Sincerely,
Liliana Crites
Liliana, I like the start time too. It lets us have before activities without having to come too early in the morning.
DeleteDear Mr.Trotter,
ReplyDeleteYou shouldn't start school later than it usual is because if you start it later we are going to have to leave school later and we won't be able to do anything fun because it might be to late and to dark.For example if are moms and are dads want to take use some were on Friday for are birthday really early we won't be able to go because it might be to late and too dark.
Dear,Mr.Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI think we should change the school time later because a lot of kids including me do not all ways go to sleep at eight o'clock so we don't get or nine hours of sleep. So the kids who go to sleep late come stumbling through the halls. Some kids yawn there way through the morning period and sometimes steal naps in classes. A lot of kids wake up late and and they don't eat breakfast and they go to school hungry and tired.
Dear Mr. Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI think we should have the regular time because its perfect for me and I don't want school later. If we have after school activities, we're going to have to leave late, leaving no time for ourselves. Plus, I would like to have time after school to hang out with friends and family. During the winter, by the time we get out of school, it is night time. It would be too dark to hang out. This is why I think we should have regular time at Hester Jr. High.
Sincerely,
Joshua Koller
Josh, I think you are right. The school times now are strategic to the community. Any later and it will be totally dark in the winter when you get out!
DeleteDear Mr. Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI am a 8th grade student at Hester Jr. High and i would like you to here my thesis statement about the change of school time. My opinion is to leave it as it is. I say this because of the outcomes that'll come to this change. First is the students. Children avoid there sleep because their parents or guardian let their kids keep their electronics with them and the kids stay up all night with their smartphones, iPods, laptops etc. They kill their time to sleep and will still have the same problem. Second is time. If children start school later, it might cut into some of their activities. Right now, our school activities are about an hour besides the sports team. That could result into a later time of ending and will still result in lack of sleep. Lastly is cost. In order to take action of this is a result of money. An approximate amount will be around in the millions which is outrageous for education purpose. That is all I have to say and I hope you agree with me.
Sincerely,
Elliott Salgado
Can you elaborate on your "millions" comment? How do you figure that?
DeleteDear Mr. Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI think we should not start school later. I think this because if we start school later kids kids will get good sleep but we would leave school later at night. I think this is a bad idea because people might have important things to do later at night like a soccer game and after school woud be even later and no one wants to be in school at night. Also, if we wake up later for school that won't help us prepare for the real world. We will be required to be at work early, as well as college and high school.
Dear Mr. Trotter
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you that we should have school later for many reasons.
My first reason is because people need more sleep than what they get now. My second reason is because the band and choir need lots of sleep before they sing or play. My last reason is because what if everybody needs time to do their homework before going to school.
Your student,
Faustyna Maria Karpiesiuk
I like more sleep! But the school day has to be about the same length, so we will get the time in one way or another. If we start later, we will have to end that much later. Do you want to go until 5p.m.?
DeleteDear Mr. Trotter,
ReplyDeleteSchool should start later because we students need our sleep, yeah some of us sleep like 12 or 1, its because its hard to go to sleep when you have energy. but when you wake up in the morning all that energy fades away and u start getting lazy and tired and you might fall asleep in classes and wont pay attention because we are all tired! Then if school starts later we get a little extra time to sleep but if it starts earlier we wont have time to eat breakfast and do what we have to do in the morning. If it starts later we will have time for everything in the morning.
That's why school should start school later.
sincerely
Victor T.
But.............if school started later how do I know you just won't go to bed later??????
DeleteDear Mr.Trotter
ReplyDeleteI think we should NOT start school no later than 9:00am.If you start school later than 9:00 you wont get to learn more. This effects your learning because you will be leaving early to attend other after school activities. This leaves limited time to spend with family and friends. I am happy with the current schedule, as it allows me enough time to learn what I need to.
Sincerely,
Jessica Alvarez
I am happy too.
DeleteDear Mr. Trotter
ReplyDeleteI think that we should start school later then usual because kids at school should at least get nine hours and fifteen minutes of sleep some kids are not going to bed early because I think that their bodies are telling them not to. Also, because you mostly see kids yawn when their going to their next class or sometimes close their eyes and try to get some sleep while their in their class. If school might start later than we might see some sleepy kids turn into an A+ student. sincerely Elvis
9 hours 15 minutes? What is your source for that information Elvis?
DeleteDear Mr.Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI think that school should start later because some time kids don't wake up until 7:00 or 7:30 because they might have went to bed late the night before and that is not enough time for them to get dressed and eat breakfast. If they don't eat breakfast, then they will starve and spend the whole time from first period to fifth period thinking about food.
Sincerely,
roger branam
What about starting at the same time and having a snack at 10:00 a.m.?
DeleteDear Mr. Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI think the students should start at 8:20am because then you will know who came in late and if those people came in late you will know they slept late or just did their homework "in just the nick of time" and thats why you should leave the school day the way it is.
Sincerely,
Isela
School starts at 8:23 now, will 3 minutes make a big difference?
DeleteDear Mr.Trotter,
ReplyDeleteI think school should start later because it will give the students more time to get dressed, freshen up and eat. If we don't have time to eat, we will be hungry and will be distracted by the thought of food. Another reason why you should make school start later is because student may not get enough sleep and wont be concentrated on school and it was even proven in Scholastic; the more awake you are the more you concentrate on school and not on sleep.
Dear Mr. Trotter, You should start later because all students don't get eat their breakfast and in class all they think about is their food they could have eaten in the morning and if they eat their breakfast they will pay more attention in class and raise there hand to answer questions.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Mario D.
Like I said above...........if I start later, who is to say the kids won't go to bed later and still miss breakfast. What about a snack time passing period?
Delete