The numbers in the following article come from the \u201cWeek Ahead\u201d email series, sent by Mr. Joel Rojek to inform the High School student body of upcoming programming, and the AJA High School\u2019s 2023\/5783 master schedule and Google Calendar. A class was considered missed if one or more grade levels did not attend it due to varied school programming. However, the following calculations exclude missed class time for Shabbat dancing, community time, and sport tournaments. Additionally, any missed class time after April 28, the last day of school before AP exams, was omitted.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This year, AJA students spent approximately 4,645 total minutes of otherwise scheduled class time attending varied school programming, the equivalent of over 100 class periods. This undoubtedly significant amount of missed instructional time prompted students and teachers alike to evaluate the worth of programming and the proper balance between it and class. For some, it constitutes precious class time lost, but for others, it represents an opportunity to partake in programs with great potential benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Students participated in a variety of programming including holiday events, guest speakers, service learning opportunities, outings in advance of Shabbatons, minimester, and color war. As a whole, Dr. Pearl views these various programs as opportunities to extend beyond core curriculums, reasoning that \u201call the applicability and really a lot of the effect of\u2026 learning is going to come outside of the formal classroom.\u201d Sophomore Yaakov Wasserman agreed, noting that programs not only give students \u201ca chance to connect with other ideas that\u2026 can’t necessarily be presented to you in the classroom,\u201d but also break up the \u201cmonotonous\u201d nature of a traditional school schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some programming at AJA takes entire days of classes. For example, science teacher Mrs. Catherine Brand organizes minimester, a three-day period where students partake in a variety of elective courses in place of standard class. She views minimester as a valuable break from classes; it allows students to engage with material and activities that \u201cthey wouldn\u2019t normally have the chance to learn or do.\u201d Noa Geller noted similarly long service learning days as time for \u201chands on\u201d experience by \u201cgoing out into the community\u201d and \u201chelping others,\u201d a form of experiential learning that cannot be gleaned within the walls of the school building. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4,645: Minutes of class time spent attending programming The advantages of guest speakers, known at AJA as encounters, are less distinctive. In their ideal form, Hebrew Chair Morah Livnat views programs, specifically encounters, as \u201ctremendously important.\u201d She feels that the message of an encounter can stick with students in the long run. In actuality, Dr. Pearl attests that guest speakers can be \u201ca bit of a hit or miss,\u201d as some speakers generate more student engagement than others. Though Yaakov found that some encounters failed to \u201cimpact\u201d him, he recounted several programs with which he did \u201cconnect,\u201d specifically the panel during the High School\u2019s Yom Hashoah program. Considering this potential, Dr. Pearl stated, \u201cIt’s certainly worth at the very least \u2018encountering\u2019 people from outside of our school walls\u201d with the hopes that students will learn from their experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to educational content, certain programs provide social opportunities. For instance, students such as Sophomore Eliana Flusberg shared that holiday programming \u201cstrengthens friendships\u201d between students in a more informal setting. Freshman Gila Sadinoff agreed, adding that other programs such as Color War also foster \u201cbonding\u201d by allowing \u201cfor all the students to get together\u2026 and get to know other people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although some students and teachers find value in programming, they also worry about missing class time. This reality gives Mrs. Brand mixed emotions regarding programming. She elaborated that while \u201cthe programs are very valuable, and I see that,\u201d the quantity of this year\u2019s programs at times felt \u201cfrustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Freshman Ari Monheit, the frequency of programming \u201cdisrupts the flow of the class.\u201d Similarly, Morah Livnat explained that her classes \u201close a lot of\u2026 momentum many times\u201d as students forget material after a few missed periods and need to review. This is especially significant for Morah Livnat as a Hebrew teacher, since she believes that language skills require frequent in-class practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Teachers made an effort to maximize class time in light of more frequent programs. For instance, Mrs. Brand gave less class time to work on projects and cut occasional assignments to optimize instructional minutes. Similarly, math teacher Ms. Patsy Cain limited \u201claid back time\u201d and did not \u201cspend as long on certain topics.\u201d Nonetheless, Ms. Cain feels that she has made the best of the situation, assuring that \u201cI will have covered everything I need to cover by the end of the school year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Students and teachers alike not only took note of the frequency of programming, but also its distribution across periods, as a cause of concern. Mrs. Brand observed that \u201csome classes were definitely impacted more than others.\u201d In fact, courses missed anywhere from eight to 19 classes, a range of 11 periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearing such concerns, the high school administration made an effort, in Dr. Pearl\u2019s words, to \u201cspread the wealth during the year.\u201d He elaborated, \u201cWe’re very conscientious [and] try not [to] take too much time of any one particular period or subject.\u201d However, this intent is at times difficult to execute. Morah Livnat described this situation as one where \u201cthere\u2019s what we want and [what] the reality is.\u201d In actuality, guest speakers, for example, can only present at certain times, causing some classes to miss more periods than others in part due to speakers\u2019 schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The administration directed further attention towards missed AP class periods to address the concerns of students like Junior Zellik Silverberg, who, although not against making \u201ctime for special programming,\u201d firmly believes that \u201cthe burden shouldn’t fall on AP teachers to try and make up for that time when they’re on a strict schedule\u201d outlined by the College Board. Dr. Pearl worked to avoid taking from AP course time. This year, blocks with an AP class period missed two less class periods than the average block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of the effort made to prevent AP courses from missing excessive amounts of class, Dr. Pearl stated, \u201cIt’s the Judaic courses that have had to take the brunt of that.\u201d Accordingly, Judaic studies classes missed an average of 16 classes this year while general studies classes missed an average of 11 classes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the trend for Judaic studies to miss more class time is not solely the result of accommodating rigid AP curriculums. For instance, both lower and upperclassmen missed Judaic periods for Chanukah programming. This was not only in an effort to prevent missing general studies class time, but also because \u201ccelebrating the holidays together is very much part of the Judaic experience,\u201d according to Dr. Pearl. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, the higher frequency of Judaic studies make them more vulnerable to missing class time. Most High School Judaic courses meet every day, as opposed to general studies courses that meet four times a week. Thus, the imbalance between Judaic and general studies courses is smaller when looking at the percentage of overall class time missed. Specifically, Judaic studies missed 11.99% of their scheduled classes due to programming and general studies missed 9.61% on average. Judaic courses may miss more class time, yet these figures suggest that it is in part proportional to their more frequent meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taken as a whole, students and teachers see the value of programming yet express hesitancy about missing large amounts of class time. Ari, for instance, feels that programs hold communal value that can\u2019t be gleaned from the classes. Nonetheless, he clarified that they are most optimal \u201cin moderation.\u201d Likewise, Mrs. Brand understands the virtue of programming, yet reasoned that \u201cthere has to be an upper limit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Pearl explained that the High School admin team works to strike this balance between programming and class time, both of which offer value. Ultimately, he believes that reconciling the two will require \u201ca cost benefit analysis,\u201d and the administration will continue to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of running various programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reconciling Missed Class Time with Experiential Programming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":2313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"Image From freepik.com","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","entry","rows"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/front-view-educational-objects-arrangement-with-copy-space-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2312"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2325,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2312\/revisions\/2325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
11: Difference in the number of periods missed by the most missed class and the least missed class
12: Average number of class periods missed<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n