With second-semester schedules coming out to the public in the last few weeks, students feel strongly about their schedules and the lack of choice they are getting. Whether it’s the class period or the teacher, many students have been making counselor appointments to discuss their opinions in hopes of making a change. Counselors decided that this semester no adjustments will be made to students’ schedules regarding the class period of the teacher.
Why is this an issue, you may ask? A student-teacher relationship is a key aspect of having a good learning environment where a student feels comfortable in the classroom, valued as a student, and excited to learn. Unfortunately, not every student experiences this positive relationship with every teacher, for a number of reasons. Though every teacher here at BSM is well qualified and wants the best for their students, each teacher operates and teaches with a different style. Along with that, each student also has their own learning style. At times, the learning style between student and teacher does not always line up.
Not to mention, many students are not good with change. I prefer keeping the same teacher for both semesters of my class and I know that other students would agree. It simply makes for a better transition from semester one to semester two and you can make your student-teacher relationship much stronger. Yes, it can be argued that change is good. However, when entering semester two classes, you are almost guaranteed to have a new variety of students in your class. That being said, if a student feels strongly about working well with a specific teacher, I think they should have the ability to voice that opinion and make a change to their schedule if possible.
Another addition to this argument would be preferred class periods. For example, I like having math at the beginning of the day when my mind is fresh. That is just how I work best. On the other hand, my classmate prefers math at the end of the day as she doesn’t thrive doing math first thing in the morning. Why are we not able to make adjustments?
I think there must be a better way to make the schedule-changing process less chaotic without just saying no schedule changes at all. For the sake of the students, I think our voices and preferences are important for the administration to take into consideration. Of course, not every request can be met, however, students would greatly appreciate a choice in their schedule.