Office hours change to help students succeed
Classrooms are full of students during office hours. This makes it hard for students to focus and get work done. This is one of the reasons for the change.
February 23, 2022
Over the past two years, students have been falling behind in classes, especially this year when students and teachers have to stay out of school for days because of positive COVID cases. It seems like once students get behind there is no way to catch up with missing assignments and tests. The administration is trying to make changes to office hours so this does not happen this semester.
Students and teachers alike have difficulties with how office hours are run now. Students stay in their third-hour teacher’s room. If they need to go see a different teacher for help, they need to request a pass in advance to go there.
“I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t beneficial to a lot of students. I did hear from students that were using office hours were finding it stressful to navigate, seeking attention, and being able to get to where they needed to be during office hours time because the nature of the hall pass was frustrating to students,” Ben Straka, science and astronomy teacher, explained.
Students and teachers both have issues with too many students in a classroom. Students who are in that teachers’ third-hour stay there even if they do not need help. It can be distracting for students to get help or take a test. The new system will address this by letting students leave who do not need help, allowing teachers to focus on the students needing aid.
“Teachers have too many students in the classroom and have to differentiate between students who needed assistance and those who did not. Management of a classroom can be more difficult if there are many students who do not need extra assistance. The pass system was also difficult for teachers to manage and have enough time to assist students,” Principal Robert Bach explained.
The new office hours system will be implemented the week of Feb. 14. Students will still have shortened class hours. Instead, now office hours will be at the end of the day. Students who do not need assistance from one of their teachers and have transportation can leave. This will solve the problem of students not needing help being distracting for students needing help.
“You’re just going to class doing nothing. For me, I like to be productive and have something to do. Then just being stuck in a class even if you’d like to leave,” Flora Montcho, junior Student Council member, explained.
The administration wanted to hear teachers’ and students’ opinions about how office hours are run now and changes they would like to see updated.
A survey was sent to teachers and student council members “to get feedback on the current office hours format and they both reported that changes could be beneficial,” Bach explained.
Getting students’ opinions on how office hours is working for them is important to students. Students want to know that their experience matters and deserve to be heard.
“I think administration has started to realize that students’ voices matter more than their own and realize that even if they try and do what’s best for us, that’s not what’s best for us,” Montcho explained.
The continuation of office hours in the coming years has still yet to be determined. Office hours was created to help students in responds to challenges during the pandemic.
“We will need to continue to look at the data in the coming year to determine if this is a successful way to address those needs,” Bach explained.
Delaney Clendenen • Apr 4, 2022 at 8:15 am
I like how descriptive you were in the story. You explained everything really well.
Brooke A Elfert • Apr 3, 2022 at 11:23 pm
The formatting of this story was very well thought out, and the way you told this story very chronologically worked very well with the topic. Great detail and way to tell all perspectives of the story!
Taya Hehn • Apr 3, 2022 at 9:03 pm
The different perspectives you used with students and teachers really tied the story together! You did a great job of explaining why office hours were changed and why it’s considered a better option. Good job!
Lauren Guinee • Apr 3, 2022 at 2:54 pm
I loved how you included the perspective of a teacher, a student, and the principal so people can really see how the process worked and how the decision came together. Great story with really strong quotes.
Hunter Reardon • Apr 1, 2022 at 7:52 pm
I really like how you explained how office hours was before and why it was changed. I think getting all the different perspectives that you did really added to the story. It was nice hearing why different people thought it needed to change. Very nice job!
Sydney Rodd • Mar 30, 2022 at 8:16 am
I like your explanation of the previous office hours model and why it was changed. You used different perspectives effectively with strong quotes. The facts were quite interesting as well. Amazing job!
Katie Kangas • Mar 29, 2022 at 12:37 pm
I like how you use many different perspectives from different groups of people such as administrators, students and teachers to round out the story.
Olivia Kuslich • Mar 15, 2022 at 11:54 am
You did an amazing job announcing the relevance of this topic. I like how you transitioned from the negatives that come with the previous office hours to the positives that come with the new office hours while maintaining an unbiased tone.
Jasmine Allison • Mar 14, 2022 at 7:28 am
I really like how you explained how people thought about the previous office hours. That helped tell the story of why it changed. Great job!
Mikai Tasch • Mar 6, 2022 at 11:26 am
I thought you did a great job of using strong quotes in your story. I thought the quotes did a good job of backing the facts up with further information. Overall, nice job!