dropstep said:
4 days a week my 13 year olds carry 2 bags to school. Ones books and normal school stuff the other is for whatever current sport. Right now it's wrestling and that's a lot lighter then the football bag! Our local school is pretty good about allowing kids a homework period so most of them don't carry much in the book bag at all.
Things apparently have changed since I was in school, a half century ago...We had our regular lockers in the hallway for our normal school stuff, and also a second locker in the locker room for football. The team managers took care of washing the uniforms, so all we had to carry back and forth from home was a small gym bag with our personal stuff like T-shirts, socks, jockstrap, etc. The biggest problem was some kids wouldn't take their personal stuff home to get it washed often enough...they'd get pretty rank after a week or two. 
I recall in Middle School we were only allowed to go to our lockers when we first got to school, before and after lunch (so we could put our stuff away to eat) and at the end of the day. Going to our lockers between classes was a huge no-no. We were also not allowed to have backpacks, we had to have Trapper Keepers, and the folders all had to be color coded. Orange was social studies, green was english, blue was science, yellow was math, red was health/home-ec/shop (that one rotated throughout the year.)
Never knew why we weren't allowed to have backpacks. It wasn't a safety thing. Heck, that was in the 80s when some of the kids brought their guns to school because they were going hunting after. This was also during the time when the school was never locked. If I forgot a book or something, I could stop in on a Sunday and walk right in.
frenchyd said:
Parents are finding out just how hard it is to help teach their kids at home using a poorly designed/implemented remote learning curriculum, while still working a full time job, taking care of a house, etc.
Fixed.
I place approximately 0% of the blame on teachers here. They are doing they best they can with the tools they were given. Its everything that exists between local teachers and the Education Secretary. I see failures all the way up and down that chain, including a huge one right at the very top. I can't elaborate because I am already in patio danger.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
I recall in Middle School we were only allowed to go to our lockers when we first got to school, before and after lunch (so we could put our stuff away to eat) and at the end of the day. Going to our lockers between classes was a huge no-no.
That seems weird...we could go to our locker between each period, to drop off the books from the last class and pick up the books for the next one. There was only three minutes between each class so it was kind of a rush, but the school was small so we didn't have to run long distances or anything.
I went to K-12 in an affluent school district from 1995 through 2008, consistently rated among the best in the state if not the country.
Other than before and after school breaks, when we were taking every book to and from school, I think I can count on 2 hands the amount of times that my backpack weighed more than 10 pounds, and all of those were from 4th grade on. One year in particular I remember that the teacher would make photocopies of the relevant portions if we had to take it home for homework, and that was one subject in particular.
Elementary school, we went to our lockers 4 times a day - before school, before and after lunch, and after school. But we generally were not taking our textbooks back and forth on a regular basis.
Middle school, you could go to your locker in between classes. Just don't be late for class. Same with high school.
College, I usually wouldn't buy the book until the second week of class unless I knew I'd need it. I also had a group of friends that we'd share books with, we were in most of the same classes.
RevRico said:
In reply to Mike (Forum Supporter) :
I think a lot of it is still fear of technology and behind the scenes deals with book companies to be honest.
There's no reason anymore, when we were issued laptops 20 years ago, that what kids carry around today isn't entirely digital.
It's very complex. While I wish everything went on tablets a major reason it isn't has to do with pay schedules.
Well respected teachers get a book deal to supplement their income. Bring it all the way up to what a garbage man can earn. That book deal would be worthless without a market. So the school district uses book deals as a reward for excellence.
But that's not all. Some parents can't afford internet connection. Some object for other reasons.
Then there are the technology deprived. I'm constantly surprised at the numbers of grandparents or even great grandparents raising children. I see them loading their grandchildren on the bus every morning. How is some ancient geezer supposed to be technologically savvy enough to help with homework on a device they don't know anything about?
Plus several other issues.
stuart in mn said:
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
I recall in Middle School we were only allowed to go to our lockers when we first got to school, before and after lunch (so we could put our stuff away to eat) and at the end of the day. Going to our lockers between classes was a huge no-no.
That seems weird...we could go to our locker between each period, to drop off the books from the last class and pick up the books for the next one. There was only three minutes between each class so it was kind of a rush, but the school was small so we didn't have to run long distances or anything.
Go by some of the newer schools. Look at Wayzata for example. A track star couldn't get to classes on time if they are on opposite sides of school.
Orono is older, smaller, yet I would have a very hard time getting from one end to the other between classes.
Oh and walk don't run!
stuart in mn said:
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
I recall in Middle School we were only allowed to go to our lockers when we first got to school, before and after lunch (so we could put our stuff away to eat) and at the end of the day. Going to our lockers between classes was a huge no-no.
That seems weird...we could go to our locker between each period, to drop off the books from the last class and pick up the books for the next one. There was only three minutes between each class so it was kind of a rush, but the school was small so we didn't have to run long distances or anything.
Same here, but in my middle school my locker and classes weren't always on the same floor. Same for high school - with the added catch that the in addition to being a floor apart, a classroom might also be on the other side of the school - which could be about a 1/4 mile from my locker. Just walking between classes could take all the time available.
I also remember when backpacks became "un-cool" for some stupid reason... so we carried around books and folders loose. We were dumb.
Seems like an easy solution would be for kids to have a set of books that live at home, and then the school has a set of shared books that live there. I'm sure the reason they don't is money. Textbooks cost an insane amount of money already and my idea would double that.
In reply to thatsnowinnebago (Forum Supporter) :
Why books? Why not a tablet with the ability to load books and required research materials on a slip stick. You could carry a slip stick in your pocket.
frenchyd said:
In reply to thatsnowinnebago (Forum Supporter) :
Why books? Why not a tablet with the ability to load books and required research materials on a slip stick. You could carry a slip stick in your pocket.
Or a thumb drive book that they can just pop in their chromebooks and do each class that way.
Climbing the hills of Worcester with 20# backpacks from elementary school on is what built the great Doherty and Burncoat track teams...
Placemotorsports said:
frenchyd said:
In reply to thatsnowinnebago (Forum Supporter) :
Why books? Why not a tablet with the ability to load books and required research materials on a slip stick. You could carry a slip stick in your pocket.
Or a thumb drive book that they can just pop in their chromebooks and do each class that way.
Aren't slip sticks and thumb drives the same thing? Something you insert in the side of the computer to load or down load programs?
