The Earl Grey Tempest: In Defense of the Pep-Rally

I accidentally found myself in the midst of a teapot, and oh, how the mighty tempest blew.

See, last Friday was a big pep-rally and students involved missed 3rd period.  It affected my class by removing 4 students in dance and cheer.  School-wide, about 100 students missed 3rd period.  After the rally, I found myself in a knot of teachers who were indignant that all of these students missed an entire period of academic instruction all for a 20 minute pep-rally.

I suppose that's true.  Each student missed 54 minutes of instruction time.  But, if we're going to help students become college- and career-ready, then we must instill the value of communication and help them realize that decisions have consequences that they might not like.

I don't know any college or career that demands that you be at work every day the doors are open.  There are procedures for taking a day off regardless of the reason.  The work must get done, but with good communication, there's no reason why anyone can't take a day off.  Even if you're sick or have a family emergency, there are ways of communicating and getting a shift covered.  This is real life.  This is how the real world works.

Every teacher has a method for dealing with students who miss class.  Students know they need to make up work.  Students, with their parents, need to be the ones making decisions about how they're involved in co-curricular activities.  Being involved in these things requires a sacrifice; sometimes that means coming into class during lunch or after school to make sure they get what they missed.  Demanding that students never miss classroom instruction for any non-academic reason is quite a disservice.

I'll leave this note here to remind future Mr. Davis that no, biology class is not the most important class to most of your students and a missed class will not condemn a person to destitution.  Biology class is a small piece of a larger mosaic of student education.  Education happens in the lab, on the field, on a dance floor, in anti-bullying clubs, in books, in the choir room, and just about anything else that students rub shoulders with people who care.

I did remind my fellow teachers that a handful of students missing 3rd period won't be any more work, it's no different than sports teams leaving early for a game, and despite academic classes' legitimate importance in the life of a student, they're not the only thing.

I got silence.  Then I was asked to leave the teapot.