Student opinions on WIN Period

Here is a piece from the MMS online newspaper with student thoughts on the new WIN period.

http://mmsworld.weebly.com/

Thanks for the link...that is a troubling cross section of comments.  

I'll admit I'm glad that the large interval between my kids has meant that we've missed the IB experiment and at least the beginning of the WIN changes.  

Writer needs some help with grammar, word use and capitalization. Perhaps time would be better spent focusing on basics.

Writer(s) did fine. Time spent well getting these perspectives out there.

DaveSchmidt said:

Writer(s) did fine. Time spent well getting these perspectives out there.

Agree

Having recognized the names of many of the student authors it seems like most of the negative comments are coming from 7th and 8th graders. Our 6th grader seems to be enjoying his WIN experience. Lesson? Change is often difficult.

Amused said:

Having recognized the names of many of the student authors it seems like most of the negative comments are coming from 7th and 8th graders. Our 6th grader seems to be enjoying his WIN experience. Lesson? Change is often difficult.

I think the feedback is important, but Amused makes a good point. It's also worth noting that many middle schoolers could be given ice cream sundaes and video games for 45 minutes yet still find ways to complain about the class and the teacher.

I wouldn't be so quick to discount the feedback.  Maybe the 6th grade curriculum is better than the 7th grade.  8th grade isn't doing WIN but they no longer have conference period.  At least one science teacher for 7th grade has opted to do something other than the chosen curriculum and students seem to be enjoying it.  The original descriptions of the enrichment sounded much more interactive than they seem to be in reality - perhaps due to class size?  

I would have liked to have heard from more students receiving remediation but the comments included seem to point to a disconnect between what they are doing in WIN and what they are doing in class in that subject.  

At the very least a more thorough survey including teachers may be in order.

Here is the WIN overview for those that don't know the details:

http://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/domain/549