Quote 2
"For some reason, children in her class and other classes on her floor had to spend an awful lot of time in forming lines outside the doorways of their rooms, then waiting as long as 30 minutes for their turn to file downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch, then waiting in lines again to get their meals, then to go to recess, then to the bathroom, then return to class. Nearly two hours had elapsed between the time Pineapple's classmates formed their line to go to lunch and finally returned."(Kozol p. 14)
This part of the book where Kozol is talking about Pineapple's class makes me very annoyed. Not only that the children aren't doing a great job with moving from place to place, but the teacher has not taught them anything to help them with their transitioning skills. We can't just yell at a child to do this, or be quiet, or go there. We as teachers, need to, first, lay down rules, second, enforcer those rules, and finally if the rules aren't being followed, then we must teach these children the right way. Teachers lose far to much time throughout the day transitioning from the classroom to other destinations around the school. This is quality learning time. Not only do teachers need to do a better time transitioning their class, but schools must help in the process. Whether it be making another line in the cafeteria so lines will be shorter or changing the schedule a little to allow for this extended transition time. All in all, there should be smooth transitions throughout the day in order to optimize learning for all.
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