{"id":2503,"date":"2025-03-18T22:28:31","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T02:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/?p=2503"},"modified":"2025-04-09T18:27:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T22:27:14","slug":"where-did-minimester-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/palette.atljewishacademy.org\/?p=2503","title":{"rendered":"Where Did Minimester Go?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Palette<\/em> Investigates Changes to Minimester<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AJA High School faced the lowest attendance for Minimester in recent history last year. In total, seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen were reported missing from their Minimester classes 60, 29, 31, and 41 times respectively, according to Dr. Stephenson and Mrs. Brand, the directors of Minimester, a short period of the school year when students learn new topics in lieu of their typical year-long classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Low attendance was only one of the factors that Mrs. Brand and Dr. Stephenson kept in mind when designing this year\u2019s experience. Although many students and faculty appreciated the chance to explore new and exciting topics and take a break from the routine schedule, they also reported a lack of investment on each other\u2019s part. In response to the negative feedback, Dr. Stephenson and Mrs. Brand made modifications. Instead of the three full days before the annual Ramah Shabbaton, as was the case in the most recent years, Minimester is now two partial days (bookended by regular classes in the morning and afternoon) on March 17 and 18, nearly a month after the regularly scheduled time. Faculty and students hope this shift will improve attendance, engagement, and the overall effectiveness of Minimester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not the first time that Minimester has adapted. According to Mrs. Brand, at one point Minimester was a week long experience before it was discontinued entirely due the same kind of \u201cabsenteeism and lack of engagement\u201d that occurred last year. Throughout the 11 years that Mrs. Brand has run the program, Minimester\u2019s length and position in the school calendar was subject to change, though it had previously always been full days of learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feedback from a form sent out to faculty and students highlighted other fundamental issues that cropped up during last year’s Minimester.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Feedback from a form sent out to faculty and students highlighted other fundamental issues that cropped up during last year’s Minimester. Mrs. Brand reported that student responses highlighted that \u201cskipping Minimester gave them a nice chance to rest and recuperate before the Shabbaton,\u201d and that students felt \u201cbored after the second day,\u201d preferring instead to have a shorter Minimester to \u201caccommodate for other things like color war.\u201d Mrs. Brand also noted that some students questioned whether meaningful learning could take place in three 45-minute periods, viewing Minimester as less valuable than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty survey responses were no better than students\u2019. Teachers complained that students were \u201cnot invested in their classes,\u201d as many were \u201ccutting classes, left, right and center.\u201d Based on student attendance and investment, teachers could not justify the \u201ctime, effort, [and] energy,\u201d put into designing and executing a class for three days on top of their already busy schedule for students that \u201cdon’t even show up, or when they do, they won’t buy in.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a similar note, some students also complained about their Minimester teachers\u2019 lack of investment, with several claiming that their \u201cteacher didn\u2019t do anything after the first day\u201d or that they \u201cdidn\u2019t seem like they wanted to run a Minimester class\u201d to begin with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others, like senior Avigail Gadelov, attribute the lack of engagement to the larger classes that are easy to \u201cslip away\u201d from and tend to have an \u201cawkward atmosphere\u201d because there are so many students, who are not all good friends with one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mrs. Brand said that it does not matter whether the lack of investment comes from teachers or students; ultimately, \u201ceverybody needs to buy in or the system fails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still not all of the student responses were harsh. Sophomore Zemorah Coon told Palette<\/em> that she enjoyed her \u201cengaging\u201d Minimester classes because they provided a nice break from her regular schedule while also allowing her to be \u201cproductive\u201d and to \u201cconnect\u201d with her teachers, by \u201clearn[ing] some new skills\u201d and \u201cgetting to know what my teachers like, too.\u201d Moreover, Avigail emphasized that last year\u2019s Minimester was \u201cthe most fulfilling\u201d she has ever had, with her favorite class being Corpses and Curiosities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the incredibly \u201charsh\u201d and \u201coverwhelmingly negative\u201d feedback they received, Mrs. Brand and Dr. Stephenson agreed that the feedback was not \u201cunrealistic or unreasonable.\u201d With the \u201cresponsibility to\u2026 deliver an effective program to the students and the faculty or not,\u201d Mrs. Brand and Dr. Stephenson saw this past year as a \u201cfailure\u201d and sought to make changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After combing through the feedback form\u2019s data, they created a presentation entitled Minimester: The Good, the Bad, and the Systemic Failure<\/em>, which summarized the positives and negatives of the program that year and suggested changes to address both the lack of attendance and the responses they received from students and faculty. After a \u201ctough conversation\u201d about Minimester that year, said Mrs. Brand, they concluded that Minimester would be a two partial day experience later in the school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This change and adjustments to the kinds of classes offered, as well as the addition of time for teachers to plan their classes has Mrs. Brand \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d and \u201chopeful\u201d that attendance and student investment will improve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For invested students like Zemorah, the change in schedule is a \u201cdecent solution\u201d as she is \u201choping that more people [will] show up\u201d this year as a result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophomore Avi Wasserman is skeptical that he will be able to get \u201cas much done\u201d in the shorter time frame and that there will be \u201cless variety in classes\u201d with the fewer number of Minimester periods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, nothing about next year\u2019s program can be determined until Mrs. Brand and Dr. Stephenson receive the data from this year\u2019s Minimester attendance and feedback forms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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