Release+Time

=Use this page to discuss ideas regarding release time for students.= A.P. Students: I suggest that the A.P. students be given release time beginning in December once per month. They would be released for the entire day, similar to the way many students miss for field trips currently. These students would only miss 5 total days of class, which would address the concern of missing course content.

Regular Students: The regular students would be given release time on Wednesdays beginning in late November or early December. Our original goal was to give the students consist, extended time to work on their projects through out the year. This time is earned, and the student is allowed to determine how best to manage the time. One of the goals of the senior year, and the original focus of Capstone was to help our regular seniors transition to the independence of College. We also saw the release time as an incentive to help deal with the problem of "senioritis". It has been very effective with the majority of students in the regular setting. The seniors do not want to lose their Wednesdays. Some have regular experiences on Wednesdays, while others use the time to complete assignments to be free to complete Capstone in the evenings or weekends.

At the meeting on 10/11, we decided that teams involving AP Govt. would miss five days (one day a month from Dec. - Apr.) of class and all of the other teams would continue with the half day a week during the second and third nine-weeks periods.

I would suggest that we discuss the release time with the current seniors. I discussed the ideas with my students and their reactions were mixed. Some hated the idea of one day a month, because of the amount of make-up work for other classes missed. They thought even every other week would be better. Others liked the idea of a whole day off, but thought it would be best if it could be co-ordinated with the early release days.

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