"Stress Less" Week

[schoolsux]

My school had Stress Less Week last week. That makes sense, as round 2 of the PARCC is the next week. The irony of "Stress Less Week" is that I had tests in Science, French, English, Math and History, along with a massive PowerPoint due Friday (which was sprung on me, I thought it was due Monday) and Solo and Ensamble on Saturday (which I had to get up at 4:15am to get to, and for most of the school, anyways).

In fact this week was more loaded than usual. 40 facts for a report due Thursday in Slanguage Arts, a PowerPoint due Friday (which the due date was sprung on us on the due date!!!) for my hellish Artist Report (which is over 1/2 my grade!!!), another project due for Science, and yet another project for French.

Only 1 teacher made even a mediocre attempt at "Stress Less Week", and that was my English teacher by starting class with a few somewhat funny English-language related jokes. However, she failed miserably (40 facts due Thursday, no 10% time project). If you're wondering what a 10% time project is, it's a project where we work on a project that we choose. I have a blog on SS dedicated to mine (see SchoolSux's Project). We spend 10% of our class time dedicated to working on said project. It's also the reason English class is actually good for 10% of it's time (but 90% sucks).

And I can't opt out of the PARCC now (but if it occurs in Ohio next year, I'm opting out).

[brainiac3397]

You should voice opinion that stress week is useless because you just get blasted with work.

[schoolsux]

It was last week.

[brainiac3397]

Don't matter. They should know their supposed "stress week" was an abysmal failure.

[xcriteria]

If you haven't read it, I'd suggest reading this article by a student and showing it to the relevant teachers and powers that be. Maybe write up your own article based on your experience.

Paly school board rep: 'The sorrows of young Palo Altans'

In particular, this part is relevant to the "Stress Less Week" thing:

Quote:Telling us to go see a school counselor for stress is insufficient. It is analogous to putting a band aid over a fresh gunshot wound. Students in our district understand how to cope with stress; the real problem is that they simply have too much of it to cope with.

Students are gasping for air, lacking the time to draw a measly breath in.

We are the product of a generation of Palo Altans that so desperately wants us to succeed but does not understand our needs.

We are not teenagers. We are lifeless bodies in a system that breeds competition, hatred, and discourages teamwork and genuine learning. We lack sincere passion. We are sick.

We, as a community, have completely lost sight of what it means to learn and receive an education.

Why is that not getting through to this community? Why does this insanity that is our school district continue?

And the part below that gets into the need to really rethink education. Why can't that happen? What's stopping it?

Ken Robinson's new book, Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education is coming out tomorrow. From what I've heard, it covers a wide range of alternatives to the factory-model nightmare. As more of these alternatives are known about and created, and it becomes clear to more people that they are tried-and-true options, not mere experiments, the question will be even more glaring: why drive young people to misery and despair, and massive amounts of wasted time, when it doesn't have to be that way?