Walking down a quiet hallway, 4 large glass doors open; the deafening sound of 8th graders yelling at each other flooded out of the small hallway. Looking left and right all to see are students, on the ground, walking around, trying to be heard over the chaotic noises of their peers.
Since the start of the year, 8th graders and teachers alike have been affected by their chaotic morning in the hallway. However, 8th grade teachers such as science teacher, Kate Thomas, have been searching for a solution to the problem at hand.
“We figured it was an opportunity to allow teachers to stay close to their classrooms, so they can get their rooms ready in the morning in hopes that more students will attend tutorials.” Assistant Principal Megan Snyder said,”The hallway plan is strategic, so if students are actually doing what they should in the hallways it actually cuts down from the time spent in the halls and walking around so it eliminates any safety issues.”
Even though the point of starting the school day in the hallway was to help both teachers and students, things haven’t exactly gone as planned.
”We, as teachers, want tutoring time, and our students need quiet environments to focus.” Says Thomas, ”This year 8th graders have more tested subjects that require more tutoring time. So if we don’t have quiet environments it is harder for our students to grasp the concepts we are trying to teach.”
However, 8th grade teachers have been searching for solutions to their morning predicaments.
”A possible solution is for teachers to come from around the school and help monitor, which however won’t work because they are on duty monitoring the other students. Another possibility is that students go to their first period classes and sit in their assigned seats without phones, since students aren’t allowed to use their phones in the classroom even before school. And 8th graders want social time, and we can’t keep them in one spot, so potentially they can go to the cafeteria and have 3 or 4 teachers monitor them with plenty of space to allow them to move.” Thomas said.
And, 8th grade teachers like Thomas aren’t the only ones with hallway issues, 8th grader Vivian Beeby has experienced a fair share of the effects the hallway has caused.
”Sometimes I have tennis practice in the mornings,” Vivian said,” and I normally eat afterwards, but since I’m not allowed to eat in the hall I have to eat alone in the cafeteria.”
8th graders and their teachers agree the mornings in the hall aren’t as successful as they could be, and teachers like Thomas are making attempts to cause change.
”If Mrs. Snyder says no,” Thomas said,”We will go back to the drawing board and try to come up with a plan that will make everybody happy.”
