Monday 13 January 2014

Semesters should be separated by the Christmas break


  I think that both semesters should be separated by the Christmas break. The reason that I think this is because generally when someone comes back from the Christmas break they forget a lot of stuff from their classes. Also before the break and no one wants to do anything like homework over the holidays. The only reason this would be tight or not work is because we would loose 3 weeks of class time after the break but then I would suggest that we start school 3 weeks earlier and end three weeks earlier. My personal reasons for pushing the semesters back in school right now is that I had to do 4 projects over the break and it took me a lot of my holiday to even get started on them. Overall it would save a lot of time and help students academics.

8 comments:

  1. I agree with this. Having a 2 week break we lose a lot of what we have learned and jumping right into final projects and exams right when we get back is hard for a student who needs a refresher of what they learned before the break. During the break no one really does homework. The break is supposed to be to relax, spend time with family, and enjoy the holidays. The break is so busy for most families without trying to squeeze in studying. The break is normally extended to which makes it even harder for students to remember what they learned. The last couple days of school are write offs. We do little to none at school. Like this year we had 3 no bus days before we came back. This made out break 3 weeks long. If we had exams the week before the break those days wouldn't be a write off and we would focus more. Having the semester over before Christmas would allow us to enjoy our family and friends and holidays with out stressing out about up coming exams. I believe it would be better for the students if the semester ended before the break.

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  2. I just recently had a conversation about this! I totally agree with you Jesse. It is difficult to juggle four subjects throughout the semester, and working hard to make sure you achieve those goals you set for yourself. We focus on our subjects through those first three months and when Christmas break comes around we are piled with assignments, projects and prep for exams. Christmas BREAK, is no longer a break for us. We can't focus on what that break is truly about; being with friends and family celebrating Christmas be it about religion or just being with family. That break is very important for everyone, physically and mentally. Our bodies need a pause from stress and work all the time. Teenagers even have part time jobs they need to worry about and attend during their breaks, so that just adds to the stress. After working hard non-stop for three months to almost having 3 weeks off (due to the snow days) that is a lot of information lost. Since we aren't able to focus on it and repeat those lessons everyday during that break. I like the idea of starting a little bit early and ending earlier than we're used to because that would most likely bring up our final marks. Being able to focus and do great on our exams to be able to truly relax and have a break from hard work and stress during Christmas break to be able to come back to school, refreshed and ready to learn something completely new with a clean slate and no worries just yet. This change would be very helpful and less stressful on our age group. It is very difficult to focus on school when we're suppose to be "breaking" and even harder to come back from two weeks off to try and remember all the information we learned! This idea would work way better.

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  3. I'd certainly agree with you there, Jesse. Personally, I think this would be a good idea, not only for the relaxation and free time apart from schoolwork, but also the gratification after exams. After exams, we're given very little time before the next semester starts, when we're already thrown back into the thick of it. Having exams before break would let the feeling of finishing a class soak in, and aid in a stress free holiday, rather than having them constantly in the back of your mind, causing distress and unease.

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  4. I think a lot of students would agree with this. The perfect way to end exams and let your mind rest would be 2 weeks off that include friends, family, food, and Christmas cheer. Over this past Christmas break I had a lot of projects that lead to a lot of stress, and I would even say, ruined my break. I think that the board should definitely take this in to consider.

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  5. I also agree jesse, coming back from the holidays I forgot plenty of the information I was tought prior to the break. We should be given a stressfree 2 week time period to enjoy happily with family and friends instead of worrying about coming back to school finishing assignments and preparing for exams.

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  6. I would definitely agree with this, I had a math review assignment this past week and I don't remember anything from the unit we did just before the Christmas break. I also had a few projects over the break, and to be honest, I didn't touch any of them until the last few days of the break because both my siblings came home from post secondary school and, you know... Christmas. And I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that in the U.S. they start school a few weeks earlier and end school a few weeks later than Canadians. I don't know anything about how their semesters work because I was only in elementary school while I lived in the states, so I didn't have semesters yet.

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  7. I agree with this post because it would help me remember my studies and keep me prepared for my exams. Further more Universities use this pattern and my brother a student at brock university said it helped him stay prepared for his exams and stay focused.

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  8. I agree with this Jesse no one wants to study during their holidays. Also i find i lose some knowledge of the content I learnt earlier in the year. Do you think the time issue could be Fixed by starting school earlier in the year?

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