^^Exactly, and one of my friends who is an elementary school teacher routinely stays at work until 6:00 to grade, prep, etc, though her day ends at 2. An extended day would push her schedule back until 8:00, only to be up a 5 the next morning.

It is no small thing to add two additional hours with 25+ students onto a teacher's already marathon like schedule.

I wonder whether there is potential for other trained and certified teachers to step in?

My school schedule from kindergarten until 8th grade lasted until 4:30pm. We were in classes a long time, but we didn't know any different because the vast majority of us had never gone to another school. Parents were always able to pick us up because they were usually off of work between 4pm and 5pm. Looking back, I think it was fantastic. We spent more time learning and when we got out of class, we were sent directly to our parents, instead of to video games and unsupervised activity for several hours until the parents got home. I'm pretty sure the teachers at my school were paid comparable wages to others in the district.

What time did school begin? I'm sure it was still the 7.5- 8 hours. Pay is generally uniform across the board in the same district.

Still, if a FAMILY does not VALUE education or deem it as important, teaching kids 12 hours a day means NOTHING. It will only cause (more) teacher frustration and low teacher efficacy, IMO.

Agreed.

Not only were teachers allowed to discipline the students, the parents actually teamed up with the teachers. Some 25 + years ago when I was in elementary and middle school, if one of my teachers called my house, my mother did not hesitate to deal with me. Nowadays, you have parents who want to fight the teachers and administrators. WTH?????

My mom taught 30+ years in the Cincy Public schools. Teachers passed notes through the teachers' mail system. On the RARE, RARE occasion I got into trouble :D my goose was cooked before I could hit the door, good.

P.S. don't bring back the memories of when teachers could discipline you. My mom had a paddle that had holes in it -- to cut down on wind resistance!! You did not play in my mama's class.

I had a parent try to clown me for writing up her daughter who skipped my class. The mother had the audicity to defend the students actions and say I didn't know what I was doing.:mad: I stepped in to the hall with her and asked her where she worked so I could tel her is she was doing her job 'right'.....yet, she is unemployed and defends her daughter who fights at least once a week.

Sadly, the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

A friend of mine who is a teacher JUST told me about how he went through this exact same scenario last week. He wrote the kid up because he was disturbing the class and his mom came up to the school yelling and clowning at him - instead of asking her son why was he acting up in the class. Priorities :rolleyes:

Honestly, I would support an extended school day IF it meant bringing back recess (with a morning and afternoon break), smaller classes (so the teacher could teach in a more intimate learning environment), and effective discipline methods were re-introduced into the school system.

Areas of Concern:
Smaller classes: NCLB and acquiring 'highly qualified' personnel. Prior to this legislation, there was a teacher shortage. Plus, NCLB allows for most students, even those with the most severe disabilities to become part of the general population, thus increasing the PTR.

Effective Discipline Re-introduced: Again, NCLB, IDEIA, and other legal guidelines have administrators and teachers' hands tied. "Effective discipline" as we knew it, won't be re-introduced. Unless, districts require their school-based personnel to keep record, track (documentation) of student's behaviors, districts will be at a disadvantage and what we once knew stays out the window.

Extended Day !
 

** A toast to YOU for the TRUTH!! **

You're right, it was about an 8.5 hour day. So, it wasn't much longer than normal. We did have before school and after school activities occassionally, but so does every other school.

What made our school work probably was the strong family commitment. I don't know how parents today can stand to spend so little time getting involved with the education of their children. It's really discouraging about the state of this young generation if they don't value education and aren't encouraged to from their parents.

God Bless our Teachers! No not everyone who is a teacher should be teaching but good lord, glad most of 'em give a damn.

I teach an after-school kids Dance Academy(FREE) and wow all I can say is I'm only with them a couple of times a week!!! Out of 30 kids, 2 parents have even came to see their kids progress! They won't just come pick their kids up an hour later to ensure they attend every session, won't send the given proper attire regularly, I mean good gawd!

I went to school and majored in the HPER Dept, left with a double degree in both B.S. Recreation and B.S.E. Physical Education. I keep teeter tottering on whether or not to go into the classroom FT as a Physical Educator.

In the Academy, I try to relate dance as much as possible to their core subject areas, and yes most of the kids really would benefit from extended day.

What don't they need more of though?? Folks phasing out PE, Basing EVERYTHING on these freakin tests, whew!!!! Educators deserve all kinds of incentives these days imho.

You know what I don't understand though? In my local district, they (the school resource officer bka the school police officer) carry tasers and USE them on students - but yet, discipline methods that we grew up with (ie paddling, making a student stand up in class or in the hallway for being a disruption, in school suspension) are considered "embarrasement" or ineffective. :confused:

Apparently giving students mini-electrocutions are a good alternative here. :(